B i o g r a p h y
Ivana Ćetković, an exciting, vibrant, expressive and inspiring Serbian violinist has maintained a wide and varied career as concerto soloist, recitalist, orchestral and chamber musician.
Born in Serbia to a family of musicians Ivana began to play the violin at the age of 4. At the age of 12 she was accepted to a prestigious music boarding school in Ćuprija, Serbia and completed a special 4-year string program.
At the age of 17, after coming 2nd at the International Konjović Competition she was asked to join St George String Chamber Orchestra with whom she has performed in all the main concert halls in Belgrade and throughout Serbia as soloist and as solo violin and has been a member of from 1998 and a principal Second Violin 2000 until 2004.
Ivana has received Bachelor’s degree (HONS) in Violin Performance from Faculty of Music Arts in Belgrade, Serbia. Very soon after graduating Ivana won a full scholarship to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London where her teachers included David Takeno, Arisa Fujita and Jacqueline Ross. At the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Ivana received PGDip and Master of Music with Distinction. After completing the Postgraduate and Master studies she was awarded a 2-year fellowship at the Guildhall School with special focus on Chamber Music and Period Performance allowing her to further expand her interests in Baroque Violin performance and allowing her to work closely with and alongside Rachel Podger and Pavlo Besnosiuk.
Ivana has performed as a soloist and a chamber musician at various concert halls such as Wigmore Hall, Barbican Centre, Queen Elisabeth Hall, Purcell Room, St John Smith Square as well as all around England and UK. She made her US début in 2008 touring Georgia with Da Salo Solisti performing Mozart’s A Major Violin Concerto. Soon after this she was asked to guest lead Manchester Camerata and perform Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto as a soloist. Most recently Ivana performed B. Britten violin concerto with Slaithwaite Philarmonic Orchestra in Huddersfield. In 2020 she is very excited to be once again performing A .Campling violin concerto in London, concerto written and dedicated to her in 2017.
Ivana maintains busy free-lancing career as a principal violin in many UK orchestras, BBC Philarmonic Orchestra, Oxford Philarmonia, Royal Liverpool Philarmonic Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Bornemounth Symphony Orchestra, Halle Orchestra and Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
Still a passionate chamber musician Ivana regularly performs all around UK with a pianist James Adutt as a part of violin and piano Duo Elmbourne Ensemble founded in 2011.
Ivana currently lives in London, England but her work takes her all across Europe. She was a CoLeader of Innstrimenti Kammerorchester in Innsbruck, Austria. Since 2017 a member of Sinfonieorchester Liechenstein. Always looking for new musical adventures Ivana was a leader of Thursford Christmas Spectacular Orchestra for the winter season musical that runs for two months every year around Christmas time and focuses on producing a show that tries to bring Broadway 1950's back to our present stage.
In May 2019 she has been appointed a leader of new up and coming orchestra London Symphonic Rock Orchestra with whom she was touring all over the world with famous tribute bands such as Abba and Queen.
Since 2021 Ivana has been part of new exciting project / show The Rock Orchestra by Candelight. It has taken her all over the world and as of November 2023 she has been appointed Musical Director of this show and continues to travel the world with them performing iconic music of famous Rock bands in the 90’s and 2000.