Ivana Črnjak Mag. art. dr. Phil. counselor

Ivana Črnjak completes the accordion elementary music school in Samobor in the class of prof. Marine Flanjak, after which he graduated from the secondary music school "Functional Music Pedagogy" in Zagreb in the harmonica class of prof. Marjana Krajna. In addition to high school education in the general gymnasium "A. G. Matoš" in Samobor and the high school of music "Functional music pedagogy" from his main subject of accordion, in parallel he is also taking cello music education at the music school "Ferdo Livadić" in Samobor.

He continues his further musical education at the «Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz», in the class of renowned classical harmonica pedagogues James Crabb and Geier Draugsvoll. She graduated in 2000. In parallel with his undergraduate studies in accordion, he also completed secondary music school for violoncello at the "Ferdo Livadić" music school in Samobor in the class of prof. Branka Hutterer, where he graduated with honors. He also continues to study his second instrument, violoncello, as the second main subject at the music academy in Graz, where he enters the class of prof. Master of Art. Jörg Zwicker, recognized Austrian expert for early music and baroque cello.

After graduation, he continued his postgraduate studies in Graz in the soloist class of prof. James Crabb, and finished it with excellent success in 2002. In addition to the harmonica soloist class, he is also completing the pedagogical course Instrumental-Gesangs-Pädagogik (IGP – instrumental music pedagogy course). The topic of her master's thesis was "Synästetische Konzepte in der Kunst der Impressionismus" ("Concepts of Synesthesia in the Art of Impressionism").

In 2002, after completing his postgraduate studies, he enrolled in a doctorate in philosophy in Graz, also at the «Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz» at the Instititut für Wertungsforschung, under the expert guidance of the mentor Univ.Prof. Ph.D. Andreas Dorschel. The topic of the dissertation is closely related to her previous musical commitment: "Das Akkordeon in Kroatien" ("The Accordion in Croatia"). In 2008, he passed the Rigorosum final exam and defended the topic of his dissertation, which also earned him the title of Doctor of Philosophy.

National and international competitions, seminars
During her education, she proved and confirmed her acquired knowledge at numerous competitions, both national and international, and won numerous prizes (1st prize in Pula 1989 and 1993, 1st prize in Castelfidardo - Italy 1990, 2nd prize in Pula 1991... ). In addition to solo performances, he also participates in competitions in chamber music categories (2nd prize in Pula 1995 – two accordion duo, 1st prize in Pula 1999 – accordion and flute duo).
He completes his musical education by actively participating in numerous seminars where he collaborates with world-renowned pedagogues and soloists such as Peter Soave (USA), Mie Miki (Germany), Vladimir Balyk (Ukraine), Matti Rantanen (Finland), Paolo Picchio (Italy). .

Employment
Since 2003, Ivana Cvetkovski has been permanently employed as a teacher at the primary and secondary music school "Zlatka Balokovića" in Zagreb, where she teaches accordion, cello and chamber music. During her pedagogical work, her students performed at numerous competitions (regional, state and international), and won numerous prizes in the solo categories, as well as in the categories of chamber ensembles.

Concert activity

As a reproductive artist, he performs with various ensembles, such as the Cantus ensemble (currently the most important ensemble in Croatia that deals with research and performance of modern music), and is a permanent member of the chamber ensemble Acoustic project. Recently, she has been most active as part of the Acoustic Project ensemble, which is a unique ensemble of its kind in Croatia and is composed of eminent Croatian instrumentalists. Its program is aimed at composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, and their main desire is to encourage and inspire Croatian composers in experimenting with sound and creating unusual sound combinations, as well as obtaining new possibilities provided by seemingly incompatible instruments. (more info at www.acoustic-project.webatu.com)