IRENA PREDA

"What a beautiful voice! She is wonderful!"

- Montserrat Caballé

"Everyone melted when she sang!" - His Majesty Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

"She moved me! From the moment she stepped on stage, her appearance, her connection with the public—this is a real singer! And her voice... aaah! I look forward to the flowering of this artistic path!"

- Rolando Villazón

Soprano Irena Preda studied at Trinity College of Music in London, where she graduated with honours and the highest grade of the year, and then went on to complete her Master's degree with honours at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She mastered her skils with opera singers such as Montserrat Caballé, Teresa Berganza, and Sir John Tomlinson, and her acting with actors Jeremy Irons, Jonathan Pryce and Imelda Staunton. 

She made her debut in the role of Carmen in Bizet's Carmen at the Greenwich Theatre in London and in Slovenia as Nina in the new Slovenian opera Ljubezen kapital by Jani Golob at SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana. In addition to Slovenia, she has performed with renowned soloists and orchestras in England, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, India, Italy, Israel, Canada, Macedonia, Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Europe, Slovakia, Scotland, Sweden, Sri Lanka, and the USA. In Slovenia, she has performed several times with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, RTV Slovenija Symphony Orchestra, and Ave Choir, as well as the SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana Orchestra, and in Croatia with the Ivan Zajc Rijeka Orchestra. She works with composers both in Slovenia and abroad and she also gave a solo recital at Washington's Kennedy Centre.

Irena Preda performed in front of Queen Elizabeth, in the British Parliament in Westminster Cathedral, at the World Expo in Shanghai, and at the United Nations. In Spain, she was invited by the legendary Montserrat Caballé to perform with her at a concert of Puccini's arias. In London, she performed with Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic, and three times at the Prešeren Awards. In Slovenia, you can see her in as many as four theatre productions: Gremo vsi! (co-author), Srce na dlani at the Slovenian Youth Theatre, for which he and Polona Janežič wrote the music, Rebeldias posibles (Possible Rebellions), a play written and performed in Spanish, and Zraka!, with directors Janez Janša, Irena Tomažin, and Boštjan Narat, where Irena is also a co-author. She works successfully with the international tango band Del Plata, with whom she performed at Mont Orgueil Castle on the island of Jersey and at the National Theatre in London. She performed with jazz and gospel ensembles in top jazz clubs, such as London's Ronnie Scott's, and also participated in the Sounds of Slovenia project, with which she presented the Slovenian musical tradition in a modern version to the world.   Since 2012, she has been running her own singing school with students in Slovenia, the USA, South Korea, Denmark, and Taiwan. As of 2019, she is also a mentor and occasional conductor at the Urban Voices Project, a choir of people experiencing homelessness on Skid Row in Los Angeles. In Washington, Irena Preda held a master class in singing technique for the singers of the Capitol Hill Chorale and a singing technique workshop for actors at the Slovenian Youth Theatre and the Ljubljana Puppet Theater. In Slovenia, she is a mentor to several vocal ensembles.

Ona magazine named Irena Preda one of the 50 best Slovenian women, and her portrait by the author Uroš Abram was displayed in the National Gallery in Ljubljana.

Photo: Andrej Križ

Petra Koprivec is a concert pianist, professor, composer, and the director of Sofia Academy. She began playing the piano at the age of three and presents herself as a solo pianist, chamber music player, piano professor, and soloist with established symphony orchestras such as Slovenia's National Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra and Budapest's Danube Symphony Orchestra.

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She is a prize winner of national piano competitions, a Gallus protégée and a protégée of AS foundation, a winner of the scholarship for specially talented musicians in Velenje, Slovenia for five years in a row, from 2010 to 2014 and a prize winner of the “Prešeren award".

Mastering her skills at three conservatories of music: the Franc Liszt Academy in Budapest with dr. Laszlo Baranyay, the Conservatory of Music in Ljubljana with professor Dubravka Tomi - Srebotnjak, and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels with world-renowned pianist Alexandar Madzar earned her two master degrees with honors (2013) and distinction (2016). She is writing music for acting and dance performances. In 2017, she formed Luminarte, a sextet that performed her own compositions and musical arrangements.

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Petra Koprivec co-founded Pianist's Corner, a new association based in Brussels, with Umut Vicdan in November 2019, where they opened a new venue - the very first place in Belgium hosting boutique house concerts with the world's most established and renowned artists, publishing them online - and is now expanding her organisation by opening Sofia Academy. Her most recent and authentic project is her new Brussels-based Jazz Trio, with fellow musicians Alessio Campanozzi (IT) on double bass and Pierre Hurty (FR) on drums. A trio has a distinct sound; they perform her original compositions, which can be described as a blend of jazz, classical, and traditional music, emphasizing the importance of complex and diverse rhythms combined with sophisticated, beautiful melody and elegant harmonies.