Ivan Petrovic-Poljak was born in Croatia in 2004. He has been playing the piano since he was eight years old. He was a student at the Vatroslav Lisinski Middle School of Music in Zagreb in the class of Prof. Olga Cinkoburova. Since 2022, he has been studying at the Music Academy in Zagreb in the class of Prof. Ruben Dalibaltayan.
He receives a scholarship from the Academy of Music in Liechtenstein and takes part in the intensive music weeks and activities that take place there.
Ivan qualified for the semifinals of the “International Competition Young Virtuosos Lidiya Kouteva” in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2023. He was the only pianist to take part in the final of the “Eurovision competition for young musicians” in Montpellier in 2022.
He has been national winner five times, three times in the solo category and twice in the chamber music category. He was the absolute winner of the “EPTA Croatia International Competition” and has won around 30 first prizes in national and international competitions. His most recent achievements are the 1st prize and the special prize for his Liszt interpretation at the “Liszt-Bartok Piano Competition” 2020 in Sofia (online), the 1st prize at the “Radovljica International Piano Competition” in 2021. Ivan won the “Croatian National Competition”, in the group of academy students with the maximum score. He’s the national champion for the 5th time in a row since 2015.
He also received the 1st prize and the special prize at the “Virtuosi per Musica di Pianoforte Competition” in Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic, 2019 and the 1st and special prize at the “Piano Talents Competition” in Milan, Italy, in the same year. In 2020, he was the winner of the “Croatian Election for Eurovision Young Musician Contest” and won the 1st prize and the special prize at the “Young Virtuoso International Competition” in Zagreb, the 1st prize at the International piano competition for Young Musicians in Enschede, 2024.
Ivan gave two solo concerts in Poland organized by the Croatian Honorary Consulate in Kraków and solo concerts in Pozega, Croatia. In 2023, he performed with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra.
Ivan won the 2nd prize, special prize for the best interpretation of a work by a Ukrainian composer and EMCY prize at the “Kharkiv Meets Zurich” International Vladimir Krainev Competition for Young Pianists.
Solo piano:
J. S. Bach: Prelude and fugue in D major, WTK 1, BWV 850
J. S. Bach: Prelude and fugue in F major, WTK 1, BWV 856
J. S. Bach: Prelude and fugue in G major, WTK 1, BWV 860
J. S. Bach: Prelude and fugue in B-flat major, WTK 1, BWV 866o
J. S. Bach: Prelude and fugue in c minor, WTK 2, BWV 871
J. S. Bach: Prelude and fugue in c-sharp minor, WTK 2, BWV 873
J. S. Bach: Prelude and fugue in f-sharp minor, WTK 2, BWV 883
J. S. Bach: Prelude and fugue in g minor, WTK 2, BWV 885
J. S. Bach: Toccata in e minor, BWV 914
J. S. Bach: Partita in c minor, 826
W. A. Mozart: Sonata in B-flat major, K281
J. Haydn: Sonata in E major, Hob.XVI:31
J. Haydn: Sonata in G major, Hob.XVI:40
L. van Beethoven: Sonata in C major, op. 2, no. 3
L. van Beethoven: Sonata in E-flat major, op. 31, no. 3
L. van Beethoven: Sonata in C major, op. 53, “Waldstein”
L. van Beethoven: Sonata in f minor, op. 57, “Appassionata”
F. Schubert: Sonata in a minor, D. 784
F. Chopin: Nocturne in b-flat minor, op. 9, no. 1
F. Chopin: Etude in a minor, op. 10, no. 2
F. Chopin: Etude in c-sharp minor, op. 10, no. 4
F. Chopin: Etude in F major, op. 10, no. 8
F. Chopin: Etude in c minor, op. 10, no. 12
F. Chopin: Etude in g-sharp minor, op. 25, no. 6
F. Chopin: Etude in c minor, op. 25, no. 12
F. Chopin: Fantasie in f minor, op. 49
F. Chopin: Polonaise in A-flat major, op. 53
F. Chopin: Scherzo no. 4 in E major, op. 54
F. Liszt: Transcedental etude no. 8 in c minor, “Wilde Jagd”, S. 139
F. Liszt: Transcedental etude no. 10 in f minor, S.139
F. Liszt: Grandes etudes de Paganini, no. 3 in g-sharp minor, “La Campanella”, S. 141
F. Liszt: Grandes etudes de Paganini, no. 6 in a minor, S. 141
F. Liszt: Concert etude no. 2 in f-sharp minor, “Gnomenreigen”, S. 145
F. Liszt: Hungarian rhapsody no. 2 in c-sharp minor, S. 244
F. Liszt: Mephisto Waltz no. 1, S. 514
F. Liszt: Sonata in b minor, S. 178
F. Liszt: Sonetto 104 del Petrarca, S. 161
F. Liszt: Sonetto 123 del Petrarca, S. 161
F. Liszt: Polonaise no. 2, in E major, S. 223
C. Gounod/F. Liszt: La valse de l’opera Faust, S. 407
S. Rachmaninoff: Etude-tableau in e-flat minor, op. 33, no. 6
S. Rachmaninoff: Etude-tableau in E-flat major, op.33, no.7
S. Rachmaninoff: Etude-tableau in c minor, op. 39, no. 1
S. Rachmaninoff: Etude-tableau in a minor, op. 39, no. 2
S. Rachmaninoff: Etude-tableau in a minor, op. 39, no. 6
S. Rachmaninoff: Sonata no. 2 in b-flat minor, op. 36
A. Scriabin: Sonata no. 3 in f-sharp minor, op. 23
J. Strauss/A. Grünfeld: Soirée de Vienne, op. 56
M. Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit, S. 55
Chamber:
L. van Beethoven: Piano trio in c minor, op. 1, no. 3
F. Mendelssohn: Piano trio no. 1 in d minor, op. 49
P. I. Tchaikovsky: Piano trio in a minor, op. 50
With orchestra:
L. van Beethoven: Piano concerto no. 3 in c minor, op. 37
E. Grieg: Piano concerto in a minor, op. 16
F. Liszt: Piano concerto no. 1 in E-flat major, S. 124
