18-year-old Nikola Pajanović represented Slovenia at the Eurovision Young Musicians 2018

At the 19th edition of the Eurovision Young Musicians, which took place at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh on 23 August, the young violinist from Ljubljana Nikola Pajanović performed the 3rd movement of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto and was awarded the second prize in the amount of 3,000 euro. The first prize was awarded to Ivan Bessonov from Russia.

Six of the most talented musicians of Europe took to the stage and were introduced to an international public in Edinburgh. The six finalists of the competition represented Slovenia, the Czech republic, Germany, Hungary, Norway and Russia. Each of the finalists performed a 12-minute programme with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in front of a jury composed of Sir James MacMillan, David Watkin, Marin Alsop, Anna Meredith and Andrew Moore.

In the semi-final Pajanović performed an 18-minute programme featuring Paganini, Kreisler and the notoriously difficult works by the Belgian composer Ysaÿe. The young musician travelled to Scotland accompanied by his professor Gorjan Košuta and Danica Dolinar, head of the Slovenian delegation and editor of the Editorial Board of music and ballet broadcasts of TV Slovenia.   

Many Slovenian musicians have successfully performed at the Eurovision Young Musicians contest, which specialises in discovering new talent on the classical music scene and is organised by members of the European Broadcasting Union. Among successful participants in the past are flautist Eva Nina Kozmus, pianist Urban Stanič and cellist Karmen Pečar.

The 18-year-old Nikola Pajanović was born in Ljubljana and started playing the violin at the age of 6. Very early on, Nikola showed his love for playing the violin. At the age of eight, he won second prize and the Gold Recognition Award at the international competition Euritmia Povoletto in Italy. Since then, he has participated in numerous competitions and won many awards. He participated in the Slovene Young Musicians Competition of the Commission for Music and Ballet Competitions (TEMSIG) in the Ars Nova International Music Competition in Trieste, Petar Konjević in Belgrade, Leon Pfeifer and Dino Lipati in Bucharest, among others. He is currently studying at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana.