MONIKA LESKOVAR AND IVANA ŠVARC GRENDA

Monika Leskovar (Kreutztal, Germany, 1981) received her secondary musical education in Zagreb, at the Elly Bašić Music School, in the class of Dobrila Berković-Magdalenić.
She has been studying under David Geringas at the Musikhochschule in Lűbeck since 1996. She hase taken part in numerous master courses (V. Dešpelj, M. Flakman, D. Grigorian, S. Sondeckiene, E. Schoenefeld, D. Geringas etc.).
She has been performing in concerts ever since she was eleven years old. She has won top awards at highly regarded international violoncello competitions so far. The list of works that she can perform encompasses almost the entire standard repertoire for violoncello. She shows a special inclination towards chamber music.

A result of her collaboration with pianist Ivana Švarc-Grenda over a number of years in this third compact disc of theirs with a selection of works for violoncello, composed in the 20th century.

Ivana Švarc-Grenda (Zagreb, Croatia, 1970) gratuaded in piano from the Academy of Music in Zagreb, under Zvjezdana Bašić. In 1988, she also enrolled at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, in the class of Marian Hahn, where she was awarded her master´s degree in 1993.

She also studied at the Hochschule der Kűnste in Berlin, as well as the Mozarteum in Salzburg, under Hans Leygraf. She has been performing in concerts ever since the age of twelve.
The emphasis of her repertoire lies on piano music of the 19th century, especially that of Frédéric Chopin. Ivana Švarc-Grenda shows inclination towards chamber music.
She has been working with cellist Monika Leskovar since 1994.