Petar Jankovic, guitar

Since beginning his professional music career in 1985, Petar Jankovic has delighted audiences at recitals and enlightened students in his master classes throughout Europe and the United States. As a performer at major competitions around the globe, his universally evocative sound has won high regard with the world's classical music community, and as a result, Jankovic has garnered numerous prestigious awards.

Jankovic began his guitar studies at age 8 in his native Yugoslavia, (presently Serbia) where he later earned a degree in classical guitar from the renowned Music Academy in Belgrade. While in Serbia, he became a two-time gold medal, silver medal, and two-time bronze medal winner at the National Music Competition. At age 16, he delivered his first professional performance, and by age 20, the Community College in Belgrade invited the young, talented Jankovic to share his expertise with beginning classical guitar students.  This marked the beginning of a distinguished teaching career that has developed alongside his successful performing career.

He went on to earn a master's degree from the Indiana University School of Music, and in the mid-90s, he pursued the esteemed Artist Diploma Degree under the guidance of Maestro Ernesto Bitetti.  Still dedicated to sharing his talent through both performing and teaching, Jankovic developed a guitar program at Franklin College of Indiana in 1997. At present, he lives in Indiana and is a professor at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, IN.

A rising star among the world's top musicians, Jankovic has never paused from honing his skills and developing artistically.  In 1998, he released "Romantico," a CD exploring the sounds of the romantic Spanish and Latino-American world, and featuring Jankovic's interpretations of pieces by famous composers such as Albeniz, Torrobba, Pipo, Piazzolla, and Ponce.  Commenting on this release, Serbian Studies, USA wrote: "Jankovic's interpretation points to his interest in presenting the inherent beauty of the musical phrase with great care...His interpretation testifies to his artistic maturity and dedication to the essence of the musical content of the works."  In 2002, Jankovic released his "Bogdanovic, Brouwer, Dyens" CD featuring works by the most prominent classical guitar composers living today. Luis Zea, a well-known Venezuelan composer and guitarist, perhaps best captured the essence of Jankovic's style when exclaiming, "He is a natural poet!" In 2008 Jankovic released his "Leyenda" CD featuring works by Villa-Lobos, Albeniz, Tansman, Granados, Dyens and Merlin.