Ivan Krpan
Ivan Krpan was born in Zagreb in 1997. He graduated in piano from the Academy of Music, University of Zagreb under the guidance of Professor Ruben Dalibaltayan. In 2023, he completed the postgraduate Konzertexamen program at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln in the class of Professor Claudio Martinez Mehner. He completed his primary and secondary music education at the Blagoje Bersa Music School in Zagreb under Professor Renata Strojin Richter. He has won first prizes at regional, national, and international competitions.
He received first prizes at the international piano competitions EPTA Belgium International Piano Competition in Brussels, Mladi virtuozi in Zagreb, the International Piano Competition in Enschede (Netherlands), and the International Competition for Young Pianists in Ettlingen (Germany). He attended masterclasses with professors Dalibor Cikojević, Siavush Gadjiev, Đorđe Stanetti, Kemal Gekić, Pavel Gililov, Klaus Kaufmann, and András Kemenes. He received the Dean’s Award in 2014 and the Ivo Vuljević Award for Best Young Musician in 2015. In 2016, the Rector of the University of Zagreb awarded him special recognition for his international achievements. The Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra named him Young Musician of the Year for 2016.
A major breakthrough in his career came in 2017 when he won first prize at the prestigious Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition — one of the world’s most renowned piano competitions. In the final round, he performed as a soloist with the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento under conductor Arvo Volmer, winning over both the jury and the audience with his performance of Piano Concerto No. 5 by Ludwig van Beethoven. He is the recipient of the Croatian national Vladimir Nazor Award as well as the Rector’s Award for achievements in 2017.
His victory in Bolzano led to numerous engagements, including performances in Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom. He has appeared in some of the world’s leading musical centers, including Leipzig, Munich, Weimar, London, and St. Petersburg. In Berlin, he recorded a studio session for Idagio featuring works by Frédéric Chopin and Robert Schumann. He collaborated with the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and performed a series of concerts in Japan. He also toured South Korea in 2018 and 2024 under the auspices of Steinway & Sons.
In addition to his solo career, he is active in chamber music, collaborating with fellow musicians in performances of piano quintets and works for violin and piano. During his studies in Cologne, he developed an interest in historical instruments and historically informed performance practice, giving several concerts featuring works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin, and Franz Liszt on period instruments. Since 2023, he has worked as an assistant at the Academy of Music, University of Zagreb.