Matija Kranjčić was born on the 17th of July 2002 in Zagreb, Croatia. At the age of eight, Matija started to learn playing the piano at the Elementary Music School “Rudolf Matz” in Zagreb, with teacher Ela Korbar. Currently, he attends Music Academy in Zagreb in the class of Đorđe Stanetti. At the end of 2022, he performed as a soloist with the Opatija Chamber Orchestra, under the baton of Damir Smerdel, in the golden ballroom in Opatija. Up to now, Matija has performed solo in Croatia (Sesvete, Varaždin, Dubrovnik, Samobor, Zagreb, Osijek, Split, Opatija, Marija Bistrica, Rijeka, Vela Luka, Križevci, Sinj, Novska, Jastrebarsko) and abroad (Italy – Trieste, Slovenia – Ljubljana, Velenje, Radlje ob Dravi, Czech Republic – Usti nad Labem, The Netherlands – Emmen, Amsterdam, Almere, Winssen, Serbia – Beograd, Austria – Graz). Matija had the pleasure and privilege of attending piano masterclasses with the following acclaimed pianists and pedagogues: Konstantin Bogino (Russia), Manana Kandelaki (Russia), Nina Patarčec (France), Ruben Dalibaltayan (Croatia), Julia Gubajdulina (Croatia), Nataša Veljković (Austria), Danijel Detoni (Croatia), Marietta Petkova (The Netherlands), and Jitka Fowler Frankova (Czech Republic). Since 2012, Matija won many first, second, and third prizes at regional, national and international competitions. Among the recent awards, he is happy to single out the first prize at the Jurica Murai Memorial International Competition in Varaždin (2022, Alink – Argerich Foundation). He has performed in duo with Laura and won 1st prize on National Chamber music Competition – 2018 and 2nd prize in 2019 (Zagreb and Opatija). He is the winner of the rector’s award at the Music Academy Zagreb (2022). Also, he has performed in duo with Jan Niković and trio with Jan and Goran Atalić. He is especially proud of great success in chamber music as in solo playing and it’s worth mentioning that he and his friends together represented their Music School all over Croatia.
