JURE SMIRNOV OSTIR, VIOLIN TEACHER
Violinist Jure Smirnov Oštir is fast becoming one of Slovenia’s brightest young soloists. He has received prizes in several international competitions, including first prize and the Alfredo Marcosig Award for the best violinist at the Ars Nova International Competition in Italy, first prize and overall winner at the Societa Jupiter Competition in Italy, the Gold Award at the Slovenian National Music Competition, the Sir John Barbirolli Memorial Award, and first prize at the CAVATINA Intercollegiate Chamber Music Competition. He has received masterclasses from Maxim Vengerov, James Ehnes, Sylvia Rosenberg, Igor Ozim, and also András Keller as part of the Wigmore Hall String Quartet Masterclass Series. Jure has given both solo and chamber music recitals in Italy, including at the Teatro di Bibiena Mantua, Russia, Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, and the United Kingdom. He regularly gives recitals with his brother Miha as part of the Smirnov Duo, including performances at the Festival for Young Musicians of Ljubljana, Festival Lent, Festival Velenje, and Festival Bled. Recent chamber music performances include recitals at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Freemasons Hall, Colston Hall, Drapers’ Hall, Regents Hall, and the Halesworth Arts Festival. He has performed as soloist with the Mendelssohn Chamber Orchestra, and in 2014 he gave the world premiere of ‘Strune Strasti’ with the Domžale Kamnik Symphony Orchestra, a work composed for and dedicated to him by renowned Slovenian composer Tomaž Habe. The latest performances include the world premiere of ‘Quiet London’ for countertenor and string quartet by Alex Woolf, commissioned by the Arts Society. Jure is supported by the Gallus Foundation Slovenia, the Rotary Club Slovenia, and was a Scholarship student at the Academy. He plays on a 1770 Gennaro Gagliano violin, on generous loan from the Royal Academy of Music.