Jure Smirnov OstirViolin Violinist Jure Smirnov Ostir completed his Master’s Degree from the Royal Academy of Music London where he studied under the tuition of Levon Chilingirian. He has received prizes in several international competitions, including first prize at the Ars Nova International 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 Competition. He has received masterclasses from Maxim Vengerov, James Ehnes, Sylvia Rosenberg, Igor Ozim, and András Keller as part of the Wigmore Hall String Quartet Masterclass Series.
Jure has given solo recitals in Italy, Russia, Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Romania and the United Kingdom. Recent solo and chamber music performances include recitals at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Freemasons Hall, Colston Hall, Teatro di Bibiena Mantua, Drapers’ Hall, Sala Kameralna Łodz, Halesworth Arts Festival, Truro Arts Festival and Festival Velenje. Jure gave the world premiere of ‘Strune Strasti’ with the Domžale- Kamnik Symphony Orchestra in 2014, a work composed by renowned Slovenian composer Tomaž Habe. He also gave the world premiere performance of ‘Our Story’, for the BBC Grenfell Documentary with Gareth Malone, and a world premiere of ‘Quiet London’ for countertenor and string quartet by Alex Woolf, commissioned by the Arts Society. He was a soloist with the Mendelssohn Chamber Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, has led the Royal Academy Symphony Orchestra and worked with the English Chamber Orchestra and Britten Sinfonia. He was selected to work closely with the London Philharmonic Orchestra as part of their Foyle Future Firsts programme of 2020/21. Jure is a member of Fitzroy String Quartet. He plays on 1860 Francesco Maurizi violin, on generous loan from the Harrison-Frank Family Foundation. |