With Special Guest:
STEFAN MILENKOVIC
It is our distinct pleasure to invite you to a very special Gala Dinner and Concert, on Saturday, January 9, 2010, at Orange County Performing Arts Center, Samueli Theater, 600 Town Center Dr, Costa Mesa, CA. Updated information concerning this event will be posted on the website regularly.
The event will include renowned Guest Stars from Motion Pictures, Television and Sports. Entertainment will be provided by:
To support our Parish Building Fund, a Silent Auction will be held at this event. Your donations of valuable items, such as estate jewelry, fine art or decorative arts, or vacation and travel gifts will be appreciated and will generously help to enhance the evening. Please present your valuable items to the Parish for consideration before January 1, 2010.
Violinist Stefan Milenkovich is recognized internationally for both exceptional artistry and his life-long commitment to humanitarianism. He came to world attention when, at age 10, he was invited to perform for the late U.S. President, Ronald Reagan, at the White House “Christmas Show”. This performance was followed by an invitation from the former Soviet President, Mikhail Gorbachev, to perform in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. He has also performed twice for Pope John Paul II in Castelgandolfo, Italy.
His international orchestral appearances include the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Belgrade Philharmonic, the Orchestra of Radio-France, the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Aspen Chamber Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Mexico State Symphony, the Orquestra Sinfonica de Estado de Sao Paolo in Brazil, and the Melbourne and Queensland Symphonies in Australia. He has worked with such renowned conductors as Lorin Maazel, Daniel Oren, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Lu Jia, Lior Shambadal and En Shao, among others. In 2002, he was proclaimed “Artist of the 20th Century” in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
Mr. Milenkovich is deeply committed to international humanitarian causes. He was appointed “Child Ambassador” of the First Children Embassy founded in Medjasi, Yugoslavia, during the war in Bosnia. In 2002, he received the “Lifting Up the World With Oneness Heart” award for his humanitarian activities, handed to him personally by the guru Sri Chinmoy. Most recently, he received the 2003 “Most Humane Person” award in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. He also participated in a number of gala concerts under the auspices of UNESCO in Paris, with such artists as Placido Domingo, Lorin Maazel, Alexis Weissenberg and Yehudi Menuhin.
Mr. Milenkovich’s 2009-10 season includes performances with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, Classic FM M-Tel Orchestra (Bulgaria), Varazdin Chamber Orchestra (Croatia), Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra, The Prairie Ensemble (US), as well as recitals and chamber music performances at the Ravinia Festival (Chicago), Manchester Music Festival (Vermont) , Zagreb International Music Festival, Ljubljana Festival. Also anticipated is the release of two major projects: the “Sarabande” project, and the recording of the 2 Violin Concertos by Karol Szymanowsky. Also, soon to be released is a DVD documentary about Mr. Milenkovich.
An avid chamber musician, he performs regularly at the Jupiter Chamber Music Series in New York City and is the founding member of Corinthian Piano trio featuring pianist Adam Neiman and cellist Ani Aznavoorian. Mr. Milenkovich also performed with Itzhak Perlman at the Perlman Music Program on Shelter Island, Long Island, where he served on the violin faculty from 2000-2004.
Mr. Milenkovich started his career at a young age, performing with his first orchestra at age 5. At age 7, he won the grand prize at the Jaroslav Kozian International Violin Competition. This unprecedented accomplishment opened opportunities and invitations to perform in over 30 countries. At age 16, Mr. Milenkovich played his 1,000th concert in Monterrey, Mexico. That same year, he was either a prizewinner or finalist in the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis (USA), the Queen Elisabeth Competition (Belgium), Hannover Violin Competition (Germany), Tibor Varga Competition (Switzerland), Rodolfo Lipizer Competition (Italy), Paganini Competition (Italy), Ludwig Spohr Competition (Germany), and the Yehudi Menuhin Competition (England).
Mr. Milenkovich’s discography includes 4 releases on the Italian label Dynamic, and numerous recordings for the Yugoslavian label, PGP. After teaching at the Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division for several years, he has recently assumed the position of Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.