Faculty of Music University of Arts in Belgrade

Faculty of Music University of Arts in Belgrade

Mladen Đorđević (1969), Serbian trumpeter and pedagogue, graduated from the Faculty of Music in Belgrade (1990) and received his master’s degree at the same faculty (1993), in the class of Dimitar Angelov. During his studies, he was the laureate of numerous regional competitions, including the prize of the Association of Musical Artists of Yugoslavia in Zagreb (1991), at that time the most significant music competition in the former Yugoslavia.

In 1995, he became a trumpet professor at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade, where he still works today as a full professor and head of the Department of Wind Instruments. From 2005 to 2011, Mladen Đorđević also taught trumpet at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, and from 1998 to 2012 at the Music Academy in Cetinje (Montenegro).

He began his professional career in 1987 with the RTS Symphony Orchestra, after which he joined the Belgrade Philharmonic in 1989, working there until 2011 as the principal trumpet. Alongside his orchestral work, he built a solo career and quickly became one of the leading trumpet soloists not only in Serbia but throughout the Balkans. From 2013 to the present, he has been the principal trumpet of the RTS Symphony Orchestra, while also performing with the renowned “FAMES” Orchestra in Skopje (North Macedonia), specializing in film music recordings for international cinematographic projects.

During his orchestral career, Mladen Đorđević has performed with many world-renowned conductors and soloists (Zubin Mehta, Vasily Sinaisky, Uroš Lajovic, Bojan Suđić, Cristian Mandeal, Emil Tabakov, Mstislav Rostropovich, Iván Fischer, Boris Berezovsky, Marta Argerich, Ivo Pogorelić, Maxim Vengerov, Sreten Krstić, among others), as well as with the most relevant orchestras of Serbia and the Balkans. His rich solo career has taken him to prestigious concert halls worldwide, often collaborating with leading trumpet players of today. Notable performances include concerts with Éric Aubier and the “Amien Brass Orchestra” (Amiens, France), the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Trumpet Gala with Gábor Boldoczki and the Ferenc Liszt Orchestra of Budapest (Schwerin, Germany), the Trumpetissimo Gala Concert with Gábor Boldoczki and Sergei Nakariakov with the Prague Philharmonia (KNU, Belgrade, Serbia), the premiere performance of Dejan Despić’s Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra with the RTS Symphony Orchestra (KNU, Belgrade, Serbia), the Mokranjčevi dani Festival – “Anthology of Serbian Trumpet” (Negotin, Serbia), a tour of Ukraine with the “St. George Strings” performing Telemann’s Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra in D major in the halls of the National Philharmonic in Kyiv and Lviv, a China tour with the Belgrade Philharmonic performing Arutiunian’s Trumpet Concerto (Beijing, Shenyang, Dalian), Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 with the Belgrade Philharmonic (BEMUS Festival, Belgrade), and many others.

Mladen Đorđević’s repertoire encompasses the entire trumpet literature – from the Baroque to the 20th century. In his solo career, he has devoted special attention to promoting new works by Serbian composers, some of which were dedicated to him: Lazarevo bdenije – Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra by Svetislav Božić, Sonata for Trumpet and Piano by the same composer, The Revelation of St. John – for solo trumpet and choir by Jugoslav Bošnjak, Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra by Dejan Despić, Laura – Jazz Suite, Capriccio Trumpissimo, Sonata for Trumpet and Piano, Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra by Ante Grgin, as well as Esperanza Nueva for Trumpet and Piano and Serbiana for Trumpet and Piano by Dragana Jovanović.

In 2004, Đorđević founded the ensemble Jazzical, with which he performed in Paris (France), Craiova (Romania) and Belgrade, presenting Claude Bolling’s challenging Toot Suite for trumpet and jazz trio – a fusion of classical and jazz music that requires virtuosity and technical mastery from the soloist. Since 2011, he has also been a member of the brass quintet BC Brass, consisting of leading soloists from the Ljubljana, Zagreb, and Belgrade Philharmonics. This ensemble has given numerous concerts across major music centers in the Balkans – Ljubljana, Zagreb, Zadar, Split, Skopje, Budva, and Belgrade – and in 2020 released the CD Opera Brass, featuring opera overtures arranged for brass quintet.

Mladen Đorđević is the recipient of the Belgrade Philharmonic’s Gold Plaque and the Silver Medal of the University of Arts in Belgrade.

His CD“ Anthology of the Serbian Trumpet“ was named Album of the Year 2024 by the magazine Muzika Klasika.

Discography:

• CD “Anthology of the Serbian Trumpet” – works by Serbian composers for trumpet and piano, in collaboration with Uki Ovaskainen (piano), PGP-RTS, 2024.
• CD “Trumpi and Jazzical” – works by C. Bolling, A. Grgin, and M. Garson for solo trumpet and jazz trio (FMU Belgrade, 2011).

• CD “Music for Trumpet and Organ” – with Maja Smiljanić Radić, Baroque works for trumpet and organ (FMU Belgrade, 2011).
• CD Éric Aubier (Ivan Jevtić – Complete Trumpet Works) – performed second trumpet in Divertimento for Two Trumpets and Orchestra (Harmonia Mundi, 2002).

• CD Jugoslav Bošnjak: Orchestral and Choral Cosmogony – featured in The Revelation of St. John for solo trumpet and choir (PGP RTS, 2008).
• CD “RTS Symphony Orchestra” – featured in Ivan Jevtić’s Concerto for Trumpet and Trombone (PGP RTS, 2000).
• CD by pianist Tatjana Ranković – featuring Shostakovich’s Concerto for Piano and Trumpet (IBOX, NY, USA, 2010).

• CD “Ante Grgin: Portrait” – featuring Laura for Trumpet and Orchestra (MarcOphon, Switzerland