Petar Jankovic, Award Winning Classical Guitarist, Performs at Berea Convocation

International award-winning classical guitarist, Petar Jankovic, will perform at a Berea College convocation on March 8 at 8 p.m. With a multi-cultural string quartet comprised of brilliant women musicians performing Spanish and Latin American classical music, the performance will take place at Phelps Stokes Auditorium.

Described as a gifted translator of a composition’s emotional integrity, Serbian classical guitarist Petar Jankovic, is a professor at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. In 1985, Jankovic began his performance career and has since taught master classes and performed for audiences in the U.S. and Europe.

Jankovic began playing the guitar at the age of eight while in his native country, Yugoslavia, and his talent became evident soon afterward. Jankovic gave his first professional performance when he was only 16. By age 20 he was asked to share his expertise with beginning classical guitar students at the Community College in Belgrade.

As of now, Jankovic has released 4 albums. The first, “Romantico,” was released in 1998 and explores the sounds of romantic Spanish and Latino culture, with Jankovic’s interpretations of works by Albeniz, Torrobba, Pipo, Piazzolla, and Ponce. In 2002, Jankovic released his “Bogdanovic, Brouwer, Dyens” CD featuring pieces by these famous classical guitar composers. In 2008 “Leyenda” was released which features works by Villa-Lobos, Albeniz, Tansman, Granados, Dyens and Merlin.

Jankovic received his bachelor’s degree from Belgrade Music Academy in 1995. Three years later he received an Artist Diploma in Guitar from Indiana University Jacbos School of Music where he also earned his earned his master’s degree in 2002. During the mid-nineties, the I.U. Jacobs School of Music invited Jankovic to pursue the prestigious Artist Diploma Degree under the guidance of Maestro Ernesto Bitetti. Still devoted to sharing his expertise with others, Jankovic developed a guitar program at Franklin College in Indiana in 1997 and taught at the University of Indianapolis music department from 1999-2006.

This performance is part of the Stephenson Memorial Concert Series. The Stephenson Memorial Concert Fund was established in 1987 by the late Louis B. Stephenson Jr. and Edna M. Stephenson in memory of their daughter, Nancy Anne, a pianist who died early in her life.

Following his death a few months after his retirement, the concerts were designated as also honoring their son, John B. Stephenson, president of Berea College, 1984-1994.

In many ways, the multiple programs each year are chosen to reflect the interests of Nancy Anne, in the piano as a solo and ensemble instrument, and of John, in traditional world and ethnic music and dance that foster an understanding of diverse cultural traditions, in contemporary themes that expand an awareness of frontiers, in humor and storytelling, and in the exploration of a sense of place – whether in Appalachia or Scotland. Many thousands of students come to appreciate the fruits of this memorial series.