Passion for piano and creativity of playing together brought Dubravka Vukalovic and Bruno Vlahek together into D&B Duo. Their first concert as a duo in Lausanne in 2006 was an instant success and was praised for extraordinary performance of two piano works by Rachmaninov and Bernstein. Having met during their soloist studies at the Lausanne Conservatory of Music, they have been guided in duo playing by Swedish pianist and chamber music expert Dag Achatz. Since then, their popularity is constantly growing by series of appearances in cities such as Amsterdam, Barcelona, Dubai, Berlin, London, Geneva, New York, Palma de Mallorca, Shenzhen, Madrid or Monte-Carlo – where they became laureats of the Monaco's International Competition for Piano-Four Hands in 2013. In the same year they made their Asian debut, having performed in some of the finest concert venues of China, where critics highlighted the „brilliant virtuosity of their dialogue“. They were first Croatian pianists to perform monumental cycle "Visions de l'Amen" by Olivier Messiaen which they presented at the 50th anniversary of the Music Biennale Zagreb. Their performances were broadcasted on TV and radio stations in many countries. In their repertoire, which consists of original works and arrangements for piano four-hands and two pianos, important place have works of living composers, some of which are dedicated specially to them. They are appointed professors at the Katarina Gurska Conservatory in Madrid and give masterclasses throughout world.
Dubravka Vukalovic was born 1984 in Varaždin (Croatia) where she received her first music education from professor Olimpija Vojvoda at the Varaždin Music School. She continued her education at the famous Central Music School of Moscow's State Conservatory P. I. Tchaikovsky, graduating summa cum laude from the class of Alexander Mndoyants. Afterwards, recognized as a special talent, she got admitted directly to the third year of studies at the Lausanne Conservatory of Music in the classes of Dag Achatz and Jean-François Antonioli. In 2010, she obtained her master degree in the class of famous Brazilian pianist and conductor Ricardo Castro as a scholarship holder of Swiss Foundation Max D. Jost. For many years, her academic and artistic projects were supported by Foundation of British Family Hallam. Furthermore, contacts with artists and pedagogues such as Rudolf Kehrer, Anatoly Katz, Jean-Bernard Pommier, Ralf Gothóni and Evgeny Mogilevsky had an important impact on her career. She gave her debut at the age of 14 as a soloist with Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra and subsequently won the first prize at the Zlatko Grgoševic international piano competition in 2000. She regularly performs as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, in Asia, North and South America and Russia. She performed at festivals such as ILAMS London, Glinka Festival in Moscow, Archipel Festival of Contemporary Music in Geneva, Festival de Primavera in Palma de Mallorca, Music Biennale Zagreb, Dubrovnik Festival, Los Nocturnos de Cibeles in Madrid, Piano Series in Spanish Royal Palaces of La Granja and El Escorial etc. In 2009, she performed in duo with renowned French violist Christophe Desjardins and collaborated with Swiss-French ensemble "Namascae" beside Eduardo Leandro. In the same year, she appeared as a soloist in Ravel's Piano Concerto with Bahia Symphony Orchestra in Brazil. Her concert appearances were recorded and broadcasted on TV and radio stations in Croatia, Netherlands, Russia, Spain and on Radio Suisse Romande (Espace 2).
Bruno Vlahek was born 1986 in Zagreb (Croatia) where he graduated piano with Vladimir Krpan as one of the youngest students in history of the Music Academy. He pursued postgraduate studies at the Conservatoire de Lausanne with Jean-François Antonioli and at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne with Vassily Lobanov, where he also studied composition and improvisation. From 2010-13, he was guided by legendary Dmitri Bashkirov at the Queen Sofía College of Music in Madrid. He is laureate of the international piano competition such as those in Paris, Lyon, Shanghai or Lleida, received a title of the Young Musician of The Year 2010 in Croatia, and won prizes such as Swiss Prix Paderewski, Yamaha Foundation's Award in Madrid, Pnina Salzman Memorial Award in Israel and Artists on Globe Award 2014. For his achievements he was awarded by the Honorary Diploma of Her Majesty Queen Sofía of Spain. He regularly gives recitals and appears with leading orchestras throughout Europe, in Asia, Africa, North and South America and Russia. He performed in prestigious halls such as Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, Liszt Academy in Budapest, Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, Gasteig in Munich, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Shanghai Concert Hall, Seoul Arts Centre, and at the festivals of Bolzano, Dubrovnik, Vienna, Moscow, Palma de Mallorca, Dar es Salaam and Verbier. His performances were broadcasted on TV and radio stations such as British BBC3, Dutch NPO4 Radio, Catalunya Ràdio or Radio Suisse Romande, for which he recorded Saint-Saëns's 2nd Piano Concerto with Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne. He has composed more than 50 orchestral, chamber, solo and choral works of various genres which have been performed on five continents in cities such as New York, Chicago, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Cambridge, Lisbon, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Seoul or Singapore, and at the ISCM’s World New Music Days 2010 in Sydney (Australia). He won the 1st prize at the XXXIII International competition 'Cristobal Halffter' in Spain 2012, 3rd prize at the 'Fidelio' Composition Competition 2018 and the Croatian discographic award 'Porin' for the best classical composition of the year 2018. His works have been published in Croatia, United Kingdom and USA.
Free recital (retiring collection)