ALEKSANDAR KOTEVSKI
LEADER OF CELLOS
Aleksandar was born in 1980 in Bitola. He began his music education when he was 14 years old at the Music High School in Bitola. His talent became evident only six months into his studies when he won 2nd prize at the national competition in 1995. In 1996 he won the 3rd prize at the national chamber music competition.
After completing his secondary education, he continued his studies at the Faculty of Music in Skopje in the class of Prof. Dushka Tasevska, later graduating and earning his Master’s degree in the class of Prof. Zhivko Firfov. He attended masterclasses with Kirill Rodin, Kirill Kravtsov, Yevgeny Ksaveryev, Prof. Jennifer Clark (Royal Academy of Music in London), Prof. Catherine Mackintosh (Royal Academy of Music in London), as well as a baroque and chamber music seminar with the Medici Quartet in Dubrovnik.
Aleksandar has also attended lessons with Alexander Rudin and David Gregoriyan. As a soloist he has performed with the Chamber Orchestra of the Faculty of Music at the Autumnal Musical Festivities, with the Macedonian Philharmonic, the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, the Mostar Symphony Orchestra. He has been a member of the orchestra of Jeunesses Musicales Macedonia, the Macedonian Philharmonic and its Chamber Orchestra, the International Orchestra of Sarajevo in 2003 and the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra. As a member of multiple orchestras and chamber ensembles he has performed in: Croatia, Germany, Austria, Italy, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Albania, Indonesia, Spain, USA, China, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Dubai, etc. He has also collaborated with the ensemble for contemporary music Alea and with the ensemble Sorbo in Dubrovnik. Aleksandar is a member of the cello duo Kotevski – Pejic, performing in Macedonia, Serbia and the Macedonian Cultural Centre in New York. He is a member of the Trio V.A.M, whose members also include Marija Gjoshevska and Vladimir Kostov. The trios appeared at the Ohrid Summer Festival, the Macedonian Cultural Centre in New York and other events in Macedonia, Croatia, etc.
He is a permanent member of the film music orchestra F.A.M.E.’s.
From 2003 – 2007 he was the leader of the cellists at the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra. From 2007 – 2011 he was the leader of the cellists at the Macedonian Opera and Ballet, where he also worked as Artistic Director from 2011 – 2014. In 2013, Aleksandar organised the tour of the Macedonian Opera in Indonesia, where the ensemble performed in the Aula Symphony Hall and the Tzu Chi Temple, a televised performance reaching 50 million viewers. The fund-raising concert collected over 350,00 euros for the victims of the tsunami which hit the Philippines. From 2014, he is the leader of the cellists at the Macedonian Philharmonic. In 2015 he performed as a member of the Chamber Orchestra of the Macedonian Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall in New York City.