Music alumna ready for first album

By Kate Luce

Natasha Stojanovska, Master of Music ’11, is producing her first album, putting a spotlight on female composers from Eastern Europe. Composers that Stojanovska will present include: Grazyna Bacewicz and Maria Szymanowska from Poland, Zara Levina from Russia, Dora Pejačević from Croatia, and Bojana Petrovich Aleksova from Macedonia. The album will also feature Stojanovska’s original compositions.

“I am originally from Macedonia, and this is where I started my dedicated musical education with renowned European teachers Nade Stojkova, Margarita Tatarchevska, and Todor Svetiev, at the Music Conservatories of Prilep, Bitola and Skopje. During my bachelor’s studies I moved and continued my education in the States,” Stojanovska explains.

Stojanovska has always had an interest in music. She received her undergraduate degree in Piano Performance at Lynn University, Conservatory of Music in Boca Raton, Fla. Subsequently, Stojanovska graduated from IU South Bend in 2011 with a Master of Music in Piano Performance and stayed to receive her Artist Diploma in 2013.

“I learned Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto when I was 20 years old while working with Dr. Roberta Rust at Lynn University. In addition, a CD recording that I continuously listened to, admired, tried to learn from, and even imitate to the same level, was the album of Alexander Toradze and Valery Gergiev with the Kirov Orchestra. This is what inspired me to visit IU South Bend when I was looking to start my master’s degree. In a way, it was like a dream come true,” Stojanovska remembers.

During her time on campus she was a member of the prestigious IU South Bend Piano Studio. She studied with the celebrated Toradze and his assistant, senior lecturer, Ketevan Badridze. Badridze is now the interim Martin Endowed Chair of Piano at IU South Bend. Stojanovska felt musically nurtured, inspired, and motivated by both of the professors, and she proudly represented Toradze’s Piano Studio in a number of performances, competitions, and festivals around the United States, Europe, and Asia.

“I loved being here in South Bend, I was able to practice a lot and focus on my work without much distraction. It was the perfect place for me to grow musically with the great education I was receiving. I loved being able to perform on the Toradze Studio Recitals almost on a monthly basis. This was just a very motivational experience. In South Bend, I also met my host parents, Dan and Lois Holm, who have become my American family ever since, and I feel blessed to be a part of such a loving and caring environment of South Bend,” Stojanovska shares. While pursuing her Artist Diploma at IU South Bend, she worked as an assistant in a Music Theory course and as a Collaborative Artist at the University of Notre Dame’s Sacred Music Program. These opportunities gave her the chance to work with two more incredible musicians and mentors, Jorge Muñiz, department chair & professor of music at IU South Bend, and Carmen Helena Téllez, professor of conducting at Notre Dame. Both have influenced her musicianship outside of piano performance; collaboration with Helena Tellez and compositional skills with Muñiz.

It was Helena Téllez, who suggested that Stojanovska take on this album project. From there, Stojanovska researched and discovered all of these female composers from Eastern Europe. In addition, it was Muñiz, who motivated and inspired her musical writing, as she does include two of her own original works.

“Often, these composers were suppressed and overshadowed by prominent male composers at the time. The reason I have chosen this topic is that these composers lack recognition and they deserve to be acknowledged, appreciated and performed,” Stojanovska explains.

Some of these composers have never been recorded before, and their scores are only found in a few libraries around the world, thus making Stojanovska the first person to record these pieces.

Funding for the album came almost unexpectedly for Stojanovska. She has recently started her “SSS Stojanovska Salon Series” which are intimate and more personal performances for smaller audiences, where people are able to enjoy the music up close. SSS events are usually held in people’s homes who own a performance piano.

After performing a recital at the home of Joan and Yatish Joshi, the couple became the primary sponsors for Stojanovska’ s album. Thus, Stojanovska will be dedicating her album to the memory of Georgina Joshi, who was herself very interested in the works of women composers.

Stojanovska recorded her album at IU South Bends Louise E. Addicott and Yatish J. Joshi Performance Hall in January of 2020 and the album is currently in post-production. The CD’s producer is Helena Téllez and Grammy award winning recording engineer, Dan Nichols.

Stojanovska is currently working towards completion of her Doctorate in Piano Performance and is a member of the Piano Studio of James Giles at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.