Petrović-Poljak, Ivan

Ivan Petrović-Poljak was born in Zagreb in 2004. He began his musical education at the age of eight at the Rudolf Matz Music School under the mentorship of Professor Vesna Fretze. From the very beginning, Ivan demonstrated an outstanding sense for musical interpretation and exceptional technical skills, which led him to give concerts and participate in competitions by the age of ten.

Since 2018, he has attended the Vatroslav Lisinski Music School in the class of Professor Olga Cinkoburova, with whom he has been studying since 2015. Since 2022, Ivan has been a student at the Academy of Music in Zagreb in the class of Professor Ruben Dalibaltayan.

Some of Ivan’s recent competition achievements include First Prize and the Audience Award at the Enschede International Piano Competition in the Netherlands (2024), Second Prize at the “Svetislav Stančić” International Piano Competition (2026), Third Prize at the Pancho Vladigerov International Piano Competition (2025), First Prize at the Isidor Bajić Competition in Novi Sad (2021), First Prize at the “Boris Papandopulo” Competition (2026), First Prize at the Radovljica Competition (2021), First Place at the Croatian National Competitions (consecutively from 2015 to 2023), and victory in the Croatian national selection for Eurovision Young Musicians (2020).

In addition to competitions, Ivan has given numerous solo recitals throughout Europe, as well as concerto performances with orchestras, including the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, the Croatian Radiotelevision Orchestra, the Orchestre Radio France, the Budapest Dohnányi Orchestra, the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra, the Phion Orchestra, and the Sofia Soloists.

Ivan has also received numerous awards for his performing achievements, including eight “Oscar of Knowledge” awards from the Croatian Ministry of Science and Education and the Zagreb “Professor Balthazar” Award. For the fourth consecutive year, he has been a scholarship recipient of the International Music Academy in Liechtenstein, where he studies with Professor Ruben Dalibaltayan, Professor Milana Chernyavska, and Professor Pavel Gililov.

He has also participated in masterclasses with world-renowned professors such as Natalia Trull, Naum Grubert, Alexander Strukov, and others.