Biography
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Education
David Strbac (1998) started his musical education in Belgrade, Serbia at Music School "Mokranjac" in the class of prof. Vladimir Radulovic, in 2007. From 2011 until 2016 he has been attending the music school "Stankovic" in the class of prof. Boris Djujic.
He is currently a student at the prestigious University for Music and performing Arts in Vienna, in the class of the famous guitarist and pedagogue Alvaro Pierri. David has attained his Bachelor of Arts degree at this institution in September 2020, starting his master studies immediately after.
During 2020/2021 he was chosen as one of the winners of the famous Anny Felbermayer-fonds scholarship reserved for the most talented and successful students of this University.
He has also won the "Concert-scholarship 2021" by Rotary Club Franz Schubert Vienna.
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He has received lessons and masterclasses from some of the world's leading guitarists and musicians, such as: Zoran Dukić, Costas Cotsiolis, Carlo Marchione, Marcin Dylla, Thomas Offerman, Marco Tamayo, Rovshan Mamedkuliev, Oman Kaminsky, Edin Karamazov, Paul Galbraith, Yorgos Panetsos, Kyehee Park, Istvan Roemer, Lukasz Kuropaczewski, Florian Palier, Xhevdet Sanathia, Josef Zsapka, Mihalis Kontaxakis, Dejan Ivanovic, Mihai Cojocaru and others.
Concert career
An active concert performer since a very young age, David has held his first solo recital in Belgrade, Serbia in 2010, when he was just 12 years old.
In the period from 2008-2010 David was a chosen as a soloist in the young talent program of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, called “Belgrade Children’s Philharmonic.” This program gave him the opportunity to take part in various TV appearances and concerts in many cities in Serbia, including even 2 solo performances in Serbia’s most prestigious classical music hall “Kolarac”.
Since then he held solo recitals in Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, England and N. Macedonia, receiving great reviews and reactions from the audience.
“Since the very beginning David’s command of the instrument and variety of sounds was obvious. Further on, we were able to enjoy his great ability to follow and connect musical ideas and maturity of his playing regardless of his young age, keeping our attention at full. Finally, Strbac completely won our hearts with his sensibility of Spanish melodies contrasting passionate and virtuous playing.” Maya Jordan, “Serbian Month in Great Britain” festival director after David’s concerts in London, UK in 2019 and 2020.
From 2017 on, he has been the leader of the project “Guitar evenings with students of Alvaro Pierri” that was established on David’s own initiative in collaboration with Austrian Society for Music. So far there have been more than 30 such concerts organized in Vienna, on which David performed with his colleagues.
David averages around 30 live performances per year, in various formats (Solo recitals, Chamber music projects, Guest appearances, Humanitarian concerts, etc.).
International awards
Strbac has won a number of international and republic awards at competitions for young guitarists, among which most important are:
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"Skopje international guitar festival", Skopje, N. Macedonia (I - 2020, no age limit)
"Visegrad Guitar competiton", Bratislava, Slovakia (II - 2021)
"RICMAV soloist music competition", Madrid, Spain (III - 2019, no age limit)
"Sinaia Guitar Festival", Sinaia, Romania (I - 2015)
"Giovani Chitarristi", Mottola, Italy (I - 2013)
"Guitar Art Festival", Belgrade, Serbia (I - 2013, II - 2015, III - 2010, 2016)
"Forum Gitarre Wien", Vienna, Austria (ESTA prize - 2015)
"Vojvodina Classic Guitar Festival", Novi Sad, Serbia (I - 2012)
"Republic Competition of Serbia", (I - 2012, 2014, 2016)
In 2018, he was awarded for the most successful concert in the 2017/2018 concert season by the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (among 50 other recitals).
Furthermore, Strbac himself was a Jury member on international competitions for young guitarists, such as “Pannonia guitar festival” in Serbia.
Collaboration with other musicians
David holds concerts in various chamber ensembles, most notably:
- the Cross Atlantic Trio (ex.Vienna Guitar Trio), touring South Eastern Europe in 2019, with an invitation of a follow up tour as well as a CD recording planned for the Summer of 2022.
- duo with a baritone Hartmut Shulz, playing music of the Middle ages and Renaissance, regularly performing concerts all over Austria
- Vienna Guitar Sextet, with whom he performed in the famous Vienna Konzerthaus in 2017, as well as in other extremely successful concerts in Serbia and Austria.
He also has a strong affinity for teaching, having taught both beginners and advanced players with a lot of dedication.
Since 2020 he is a teacher at the Music School "Klangwelt" in Vienna.
His long-term career goals are to become a regular performer at the biggest guitar festivals in the world as well as a renowned University pedagogue.
David Strbac will release his debut CD featuring Spanish music in 2022.