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Maksim Mrvica

by Jera from Naklo, Slovenia

"To play classical, one must love classical music itself to play it well."
Maksim's cover photo of his album 'Pure' (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Maksim_Mrvica.jpg/220px-Maksim_Mrvica.jpg)
Maksim's cover photo of his album 'Pure' (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Maksim_Mrvica.jpg/220px-Maksim_Mrvica.jpg)

My hero is the Croatian piano player Maksim Mrvica. He was born in Sibenik, Croatia, on May 3rd, 1975, so he's 37 years old now. He knew that he'll be pianist, when he was eight years old, in 1984. Today, 29 years later, he's one of the best and most famous piano players in the world, but his way to success wasn't easy. His parents, mother Slavica and father Karmel, knew nothing about classical music and even though they were surprised about their son's new passion, they've supported him all the way long.

His teachers didn't need much time to figure out that Maksim had a rare talent and sense for music, so they put him in Sibenik's state music school. That was the first time when he wanted to become concert pianist and he realized he'll have to work hard and practise much time to achieve his new goal. Although, today he admits, he didn't do as much practise, as he should sometimes. Playing the piano meant everything to him, even in the hardest times of his life, when the war broke out. In those times, he met a piano teacher Marija Sekso in the basement of Sibenik's music school, where he enjoyed in practising and forgot about the war and everything bad that was happening around him.

Even though those times were horrible, a light appeared at the end of Maksim's tunnel, when he entered his first competition in 1993. He worked really hard to reach high standards he knew they were expected from him. In Sibenik, there was still war, but Zagreb, where the competition was, was peaceful. Only 18 years old Maksim has charmed the judge just by appearing there and once he started to play, the audience was thrilled in a minute. People gave him a big applause, and after his performance the judge immediately announced him as the winner. Maksim says this was one of the best experiences in his music career and that he'll never forget it.

After that, he went on to study at the Music Academy in Zagreb. He spent five years studying with his professor, Vladimir Krpan, there. Then he spent a year at the Franz Lizst Conservatorie in Budapest and won the first prize at the Rubinstein Piano Competition. He moved to Paris in 2000 and met a Croatian compositor Tonci Huljic in 2001. He writes compositions for Maksim. Some of the most famous are: Claudine, Still Waters, Somewhere In Time and LeeLoo's Tune, that was written for Maksim's daughter LeeLoo. Maksim's first crossover studio album, The Piano Player, was released in 2003. This album has been followed by Variations I&II (2004), A New World (2006), Electric (2006), Pure (2007), Pure II (2008), Appassionata (2010) and The Movies (2012).

Maksim Mrvica (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Maksim_Mrvica.jpg/220px-Maksim_Mrvica.jpg)
Maksim Mrvica (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Maksim_Mrvica.jpg/220px-Maksim_Mrvica.jpg)

He's torn between London and Tokyo, because he's been performing in several countries, mostly in Asia. He's been in Slovenia for several times by now, too. I've been on two of his concerts he had in Krizanke, Ljubljana, and I have to say I was really thrilled by his performance. He can play the piano very fast and even the cover songs of classical music sound great in his performance. I think he has become famous because of his talent and because of his performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumble-Bee. Today we can hear his crossover piano works more often that the classical ones. The best things I like about him are his look, kindness and the way he plays the piano - with sense for music.

Page created on 12/20/2012 2:58:09 PM

Last edited 12/20/2012 2:58:09 PM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.

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