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IstraIn, on July 5th, 2023, 19. BAROMUS FESTIVAL delighted the audience with the piano concert: from meditative melodies to virtuosity

The program of this year’s BaRoMus Festival in Rovinj continued with a concert called Piano Triathlon, where famous pianists Matej Meštrović, Antonija Pacek (HR/AT) and Matthew Mayer (USA) performed. On the traditional festival stage in the Rovinj church of St. Frances, three pianists presented their original compositions and performed their own compositions in front of a large audience. Those gathered had the opportunity to get to know the unique musical worlds of each of the artists who, each in their own way, managed to achieve a very nice interaction with the audience. Compared to the first part of the program of this year’s BaRoMus, where the emphasis was on the great European musical tradition, this concert brought somewhat more casual, but no less interesting sounds of contemporary artists.

On stage, the audience had the opportunity to hear performers who are also the authors of their own works, which certainly added a great value to this concert. Antonija Pacek amazed the audience with her subtle and emotionally imbued performances of her own compositions (If Only Time Allowed, Night, Awakening, To You, River). Her compositions with a neoclassical atmosphere under the slight influence of minimalism and pronounced melodic charm enchanted the audience.

Pacek created a magical atmosphere and allowed listeners to immerse themselves in her musical universe permeated with magical musical landscapes. It is about an artist whom German music critics compare to Ludovico Einaudi, and her music is called a symphony of emotions that the artist convincingly conveyed to the audience, causing deep reactions in the listeners.

… The performances of three extremely successful artists with significant careers and their direct communication with the audience intrigued concertgoers who had the opportunity to enjoy three very complementary, but also different musical personalities. From the hypnotic and meditative moods of the compositions of Antonija Pacek and Matthew Mayer to the emphasized virtuosity of Matej Meštrović, the concert proceeded in a beautiful crescendo, and the audience saw off the guest artists with long applause. …

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DUBROVACKI DNEVNIK, on July 1st, 2023, SPECTACLE at the Rector’s Palace: Standing ovations for music virtuosos

A standing ovation is one of the most beautiful recognitions an artist can receive. This is exactly how the Dubrovnik audience in the Rector’s Palace awarded Viennese musician Antonija Pacek, American classical star Matthew Mayer and Croatian virtuoso Matej Meštrović at the Piano Maniacs Triathlon concert. A special musical evening that will be remembered for a long time was held as part of the Midsummer Scene Festival.

“After the spectacular concert in the Duke’s Palace, impressions are still forming. There is no greater and more beautiful gift for all of us artists than when the audience rises to their feet and doesn’t let you off the stage!” – declared pianist Matej Meštrović and added: “Truly a wonderful energy, a synergy of all three of us with the audience. I think that was really felt last night at the concert, which I’m sure all three of us will remember for a very long time. Nevertheless, it is the Rector’s Palace, one of the world’s most beautiful stages. One wonderful, emotional evening full of emotions. The audience showed how much they enjoyed it. I thank the organizers of the Midsummer Scene Festival. I believe we will see each other again next year!” This concert was an opportunity for the Dubrovnik audience to meet the American virtuoso Matthew Mayer, who showed why he is one of the brightest stars of classical music at the moment. The reunion with Antonija Pacek and the Croatian pianist Matej Meštrović took us on an unforgettable musical journey. All three musicians showed how much they enjoy music in their own unique way. They transferred that feeling to the audience, who only had words of praise after the concert.

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DULIST, on July 1st, 2023, Three top pianist put on a musical spectacle at the Rector’s Palace

Piano Maniacs Triathlon brought together good friends – Viennese musician Antonija Pacek, American classical star Matthew Mayer and Croatian virtuoso Matej Meštrović on Friday evening in the Rector’s Palace. It is a spectacular concert that took place as part of the Midsummer Scene Festival. …

Special attention was attracted by the talented Croatian pianist and composer, with an address in Vienna – Antonija Pacek. Her latest album, Seasons of Life, was released in March 2022, and according to music critics, it brought a refreshingly unpredictable edge of creativity to the neoclassical realm. Critics call her concerts a symphony of emotions, and her music is played on numerous radio stations around the world, including Classic FM Radio in London, FM Classic in New York, Klassik Radio in Vienna, Shades of Classics in Canada, Whisperings Radio in the US and to others.

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Kathodik Italy, on June 29th, 2023, CD review written by Luciano Feliciani

With her unmistakable delicate, sweet and ethereal touch Antonija Pacek “returns to the recording scene” with her album ‘Night’ a truly beautiful, deep and inspiring piano and orchestral album. Her beautiful music flows harmoniously expanding into wide-ranging, soft, disembodied and spiritual melodies. In fact, the delicacy of a musical thought that aims to create deep and intense emotions shines through from each piece. Eleven tracks of great emotional depth, some performed with the ‘Felt Piano’, whose suffused sound makes it even more intimate and fascinating. Some bonus tracks complete the recording work, such as the orchestral Awakening and Hopeful, which with the use of string carpets are even more dense and expressive. A beautiful meditative and contemplative CD, which manages to give us deep emotions. Antonija Pacek still hits the mark with her intimate and personal compositional style that knows how to get straight to the heart of the listeners.

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One World Music Radio in UK, on June 30th, 2023, “Night” album review by Steve Sheppard

“Night”

Antonija Pacek has been a name that has been a constant companion musically for me throughout the years of the pandemic; music is indeed a panacea, one that creates images and healing as it goes, here Antonija delivers a vast body of work to her fans and listeners entitled Night, and within the constraints of this new album we find some of the most tender and touching material from the artist yet.

So let’s now start this journey through a piano based wonderland with the artist now, and our first few explorative steps are taken with the piece Night. This quite beautiful piano performance has passion, emotional, tension and a fluency of tone and timbre like few openers these days have, and I must say this is a sublime start to this musical journey indeed. Antonija follows that moving opus up with one of the finest piano pieces I think I have heard this year with, To You. Here we hear artistry in motion, we feel the emotive resonances of her performance; when I first heard the tones of this track it was an instant like, and I fell in love within seconds with what is a truly beautiful composition.

Awakening is film score standard, this song is a wondrous manifestation of sound and vibrations, the orchestral elements are beautifully arranged, and once more the musician has brought to us a composition of  pure class, one that is bathed in a stunning light of performance so grand and empowering. Felt piano is a difficult medium to use, but Pacek does a wonderful job on the next two pieces, which are indeed both of the Felt variety in Hopeful and Touch. Her technique and eventual soundings are pretty perfect, with the melody being the prime mover in both pieces.

When we arrive at the track Grace my cup runs over with joy, this is solo piano at its very best, fluency, a textured performance, one with colours and energies of utter tranquillity and calm, all abound within this powerful yet tender creation. The light hearted qualities of this next track are cleverly presented on the song A Child’s Game; yes this is a composition that does what it says on the can, but here is an arrangement that contains so much inside, the gentleness of presentation contains a confidence of what may lay ahead.

We can now move to a tribute manifestation as we listen to For Alina, this happy refrain flows like a crisp mountain stream in March, whilst drifting into the following track entitled Like a Bird, here I believe that Pacek has achieved the energy of one of our winged creatures, through her aspects of musical freedom, that one will find within this track, at times anthem like, but joyous and simply unchained in a beautiful melodious fashion. The sadness of this next piece is almost palpable and called Sky’s Crying. The more I listen to this Felt piece, the more I remember days of my own sadness, as I wallowed in the mists of suffering, as grey skies loomed and tears fell in cascades from the clouds above, but things change, they always do, however this stunning reverie is incredibly composed and performed.

The perfect piece ends the album, well in a fashion, but I will explain briefly, however here lays a track that somehow seemed familiar to me and called Thank You. Music does that to us from time to time, it touches parts that have remained dormant, only waiting for the right chord vibration or tone to resurrect them into your life once again, never the less, this delightful composition was the perfect one with which to end the album with. Now a brief explanation to my aforementioned statement about ending the album, because after Thank You will find no less than 6 bonus tracks to enjoy, making this an amazing 17 track compilation of creative genius, the said compositions you will already have heard on the release, but performed in alternate styles.

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DULIST, on June 29th, 2023, PIANO MANIACS TRIATHLON Music spectacle of globally renown pianists in Rector’s Palace

Three world-renowned pianists are coming to Dubrovnik to present an interesting project that is different from others. The Piano Maniachs Triathlon will be held on Friday, June 30 in the Rector’s Palace, and it gathers three privately good friends – Viennese musician Antonija Pacek, American classical star Matthew Mayer and Croatian virtuoso Matej Meštrović.

“I expect the concert to be extremely successful, different, special and original. Full of positive energy in any case. All three of have a special way of creating interaction and connecting to our audience. That energy will transfer to the audience in any case. All the more so since each of us has many performances and concerts behind us!” – said Matej Meštrović before the concert and added: ‘It is one of the most important things, for each of us artists, that the audience enjoys what what we do, play and create!’ …

Special attention will no doubt be created by the talented Croatian pianist and composer, with an address in Vienna – Antonija Pacek. Her latest album, Seasons of Life, was released in March 2022, and according to music critics, it brought a refreshingly unpredictable edge of creativity to the neoclassical realm. Critics call her concerts a symphony of emotions, and her music is played on numerous radio stations around the world, including Classic FM Radio in London, FM Classic in New York, Klassik Radio in Vienna, Shades of Classics in Canada, Whisperings Radio in the US and to others.

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RYL, on June 4th, 2023, “Night” album review by Mia Medakovic

“Night”

Antonija Pacek brings a refreshingly unpredictable edge of harmony and creativity to the film music/neoclassical realm, with her beautiful and intimate yet powerful new album “Night”.  It is her brand new, sixth album, again, composed, performed, and recorded by Antonija. The album starts with the composition that goes under your skin, also titled “Night” – quite emotional, touching, and personal. It was inspired by her recent car accident, having her youngest daughter present in the car as well, and by saying goodbye to their family dog. These sad happenings are reflected in a tune that is a mix of introspection, feelings of helplessness, but also hope.

“To You” is the following track, and it also came out as a single in March 2023, and has been quite well streamed on Spotify. The melody signifies expressing her emotions of love and gratitude to the person that is love of her life. Love is a strong and powerful force in our lives, and Antonija depicts it well in this composition.

Antonija’s composition “Awakening” was so subtly and softly orchestrated by a young, talented Fanch Parker, and the melody is uplifting as well as full of positive outlook for the future. “Hopeful” and “Grace” were dedicated to her dear friend, who is battling cancer, but Heike stayed hopeful, graceful, and giving to others (through music workshops and virtuoso guitar concerts) despite her circumstances and visits to the clinic. These two melodies make you think about life; they help you be introspective and inspire you to roll your own films in your head. There is always one song dedicated and sparked by Antonija’s three children, and this time, it is the song “A Child’s Play”. It is simple and beautiful.

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One World Music Radio, on Dec. 19th, 2022, Single review by Steve Sheppard

“Hopeful by Antonija Pacek”

I believe that if you can create the title of a song, in the musical form within your composition, then you have succeeded, you have layered the texture that drifted across the creative part of your creative mind and painted that picture successfully.

Antonija Pacek has done just that on her latest single Hopeful, this felt piano piece, which includes outstanding orchestral version as well, is a soft, gentle and tender manifestation of musical interpretation of the word hope, with wonderful ease.

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Dubrovacki Slobodna Dalmacija, on June 28th, 2022, concert review

“Antonija Pacek performed a concert at Sponza, Lidija Begic spoke about the history of Statute of Dubrovnik…”

Croatian – Austrian composer of film music Antonija Pacek performed an emotive concert at the palace Sponza in Dubrovnik, as a part of 8. edition of Midsummer Scene Festival. This monumental palace seems to be made for compositions, inspired by the sea and summer feeling. Pacek also performed her composition “Summer Tale” that was inspired by her stay on the island of Lopud…

 

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Dubrovacki List, on June 28th, 2022, concert review

“Antonija Pacek’s Emotive Concert at Sponza”

Croatian – Austrian composer of film music Antonija Pacek performed an emotive concert at the palace Sponza in Dubrovnik, as a part of 8. edition of Midsummer Scene Festival. This monumental palace seems to be made for compositions, inspired by the sea and summer feeling.

 

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Gloria, written by Damir Leljak, on April 14th, 2022

New album, the choice of the week: “My Four Seasons”

Antonija Pacek… published the fifth album “Seasons of Life”. She composed and recorded all of the compositions, and her good friend, Davor Rocco, mastered the album. All of the compositions were created in 2020 and 2021, only “Lost”, which has two versions on the album, was created in 2013, as the composer’s mother passed away.

What inspired you for this album? Life during a pandemic and the seasons. So the snowy winter and snowflakes turned into ‘Winter Waltz’, for ‘Summer Tale’ I was inspired by the sea and inner peace when I was with my family in our summer house, and for the song ‘Fall Train’ a dream about trains and my daughters that I was searching in the carriages. ‘Life Is…’ is a music vision of what life is to me, and I left the title open so that others could define it in their own way. …

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One World Music Radio, written by Steve Sheppard, on March 10th, 2022

“Seasons of Life” by Antonija Pacek

Seasons of Life is a wonderful 14 track piano based album by Antonija Pacek, one that creates such a radiance of colours and textures, all of which drift and coalesce around the eager listener with a sense of utter joy, here on this latest sojourn through music we are gifted a special treat indeed. From the off we dance into the heart of the album with Winter Waltz, this is but one of many tracks that will enthral the listener, the one that encapsulated my soul was the moving and emotive refrains of Rain Drops with oboe, this duo of instrumentation was simply profound.

The piano of Pacek is outstanding; the artist is clearly an intuitive creator of meaningful melodies and structures. Fall Train is a good example of that aforementioned statement, fluent, flourishing, but also tender and thoughtful, whilst Sadness again with oboe adds such a depth of mood and reflection into the proceedings, in what is an incredibly moving opus.

There are many highlights in this album that really deserve multiple listens; the concluding track is certainly one of them and called Spur of a Moment. The tempo of this arrangement is simply delightful, with a happy texture and it’s carefree, but joyous construction, this is without doubt a very classy way to finish the release.

Seasons of Life by Antonija Pacek is a veritable tapestry of tone and warm colours, …to enjoy, piano on its own, or with added instrumentation, all are thoroughly enjoyable, at times deeply moving, and always fluent and artistic, and Pacek’s delightful skill set manifests one of the most listenable piano based albums of the year thus far.

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Stereo Stickman, written by Rebecca Cullen, on Feb. 5th, 2022

“Antonija Pacek Seasons of Life”

Composer, artist and cinematically focused musician Antonija Pacek brings a refreshingly unpredictable edge of creativity to the Neo Classical realm, with her superb, intimate yet powerful new album Seasons Of Life.

Consider the joy and journey of Winter Waltz as an opener, the freedom of expression combined with the changing stages, and indeed the skill of the playing. It immediately lifts the mood of the room, captivates, and impresses. The music does what it’s supposed to – instils a feeling, delivers escapism, distraction, and moves the listener to new states of calm and contemplation. …

The echoing emotion and addictive simplicity of the rise and fall in Lost and Found makes for a personal favourite. The brilliantly impressive playing and style of Spur of a Moment does too, perhaps for entirely different reasons.

In short, this project is a dream to spend time with, and promptly invites keen interest in the entire Antonija Pacek catalogue to date – within which there are many, many hidden gems to help light up even the dreariest of winter days. Faultless ability, heartfelt commitment, presence and patience within each composition. A pleasure to know about.

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Kathodik Webzine, written by Luciano Feliciani, on Jan. 11th, 2022

“Antonija Pacek’s Seasons of Life”

The next release is ‘Seasons of Life’, the new, intimate and introspective record by Croatian composer and pianist Antonija Pacek. Her sweet, otherworldly and delicate style evolves even more in this new album, also crossing the timbre of other musical instruments, such as the oboe or the strings, which enrich the sweet melodic lines composed by Pacek, giving it new light. Compositions such as “Lost”, “Rain Drops” or “Life Is …”, “Lost and Found”, “Sadness” follow each other, creating suggestions and intense emotions that land in the depths of everyone, gently caressing the soul through sweet harmonies and inspired melodies. In their simplicity, melodies succeed to create beauty. They are musical “whispers”, now nostalgic and melancholic, now sunny, which guide us, through light thoughts, towards unusual, soothing emotions. An album to be listened to in an intimate, almost secret way, following the melodic lines that lightly accompany us to new and ethereal shores of the imagination.

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Webster University Newsletter, written by Mauro-Eduardo Ortiz-Bustamente Dec. 13th, 2021

“Spotlight: Webster University Alumna and Faculty Member Antonija Pacek Releases New Album”

Webster Vienna Private University faculty member and alumna Antonija Pacek is also a neoclassical composer, a pianist, and a professor of psychology. Yellow Rose Records will be publishing her newest, the fifth album “Seasons of Life” on March 18, 2022, and four singles from the upcoming album are already available on major streaming platforms: “Lost,” “Sadness,” “Rain Drops,” and “Life Is…”. U.S.-based Parma Recordings published her fourth album, “Forever,” and Take Effects Review wrote: “Forever often carries a captivating romantic spirit and an exceptional performance that will have you hanging on every note.” …

Melodies made of tension and deliverance, crafted by passion, inspiration, calm – sometimes sad moments – Antonija’s music is soothing, empowering, and moving. The “Seasons of Life” album was named after titles such as “Winter Waltz,” “Springtime,” “Summer Tale,” and “Fall Train” — and all are a passionate expression of life in different periods of the year.

“Sometimes springtime does not need to be joyful and fluffy, considering the current circumstance with the pandemic, so this is reflected in this composition,” Pacek said. Whereas the calming and meditative nature of the ocean inspired her to write a joyful song “Summer Tale.” Her music reminds us of our memories, our present happenings and gives us hopes, and it will resonate with every generation.

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One World Music Radio review, written by Steve Sheppard on Nov. 17th, 2021

Rain Drops by Antonija Pacek and Sanja Romic

The combination of Antonija Pacek and Sanja Romić on piano and oboe respectively is truly something to marvel at and thoroughly enjoy, and I can testify to that, I am on my third play in a row, and each time I feel more, I hear more, and I am engaged more by the imploring tones that emanate from it, this is wonderfully special, and perfect also for the now, the latter half of autumn.

The mournful reflectivity by Romić’s oboe seems to dance with the narrative of Pacek’s piano with such great beauty; it is one that manifests something very memorable and textured. This I feel is a symbiosis in music at its very best, and I am sure that a big chart will come from the result of this ultra-skilful and well-crafted performance by both artists.

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One World Music Radio review, written by Chrissie Sheppard Oct. 19th, 2021

“Sadness” by Antonija Pacek and Sanja Romic

There has been much to be sad about over the past couple of years, but now as I listen to the single entitled Sadness by Antonija Pacek and Sanja Romić, I can feel all of that emotion being brought forth, allowing me to release it to the world, not holding on to the emotion that it had brought to me.

The wonderful piano of Antonija Pacek combined with the oboe of Sanja Romić make a very powerful tool to move the emotions. I love the mournful sentiment within the arrangement, but one that constantly has that hint of better times to come.

This is a sure winner for the artists, and a must listen to by anyone who loves music that will move them deeply.

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Mondo Reale Magazine, written by Antonia Rizzo Oct. 10th, 2021

AUTHOR’S MUSIC, interview with Antonija Pacek

We meet Antonija Pacek, a great Croatian international neoclassical pianist, who has lived for many years in Vienna with her husband and three daughters. She recently signed a record deal with “Yellow Rose Records” from Australia that will release Antonija’s fifth album, “Seasons of Life”. Her fourth album “Forever” was released in October 2020 with Parma Recordings and Take Effects Reviews magazine wrote: “Forever often brings an enchanting romantic spirit and an exceptional performance that will make you hang on every note.” At the end of September, “Forever” had 103,000 streams on Spotify. To promote her second album “Life Stories” and her third album “Il Mare”, Antonija in 2018 and 2019 travelled throughout Italy and played in five cities, including the famous Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome and the Teatro dal Verme in Milan. Her acclaimed debut album “Soul Colors” was released in 2014 by Autentico Music in Germany and was signed by Warner Chappell. German and Italian critics commented on Antonia’s compositions as follows: “a female response to Ludovico Einaudi”, “similar to Erik Satie as well as Keith Jarrett’s Cologne concert”, “a concert that goes directly to the soul”, “music close to meditation of angels”, “Pacek, rebirth of the great classics”, and “music as beautiful as a radiant jewel”. Antonija is also a psychologist, she teaches in several international universities in Vienna. …

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Donna Oggi, written by Vito Conversano Sept. 24nd, 2021, Photography by Filipp Nemenz and Dean Tosovic

Ready New Album by Antonija Pacek

an excerpt:  “Antonija lives next to Vienna with her husband and three daughters for many years. She is a neoclassical composer for film music and a pianist. She recently signed a contract with “Yellow Rose Records” from Australia, which will release Antonia’s fifth album Seasons of Life. Her fourth album Forever was released in October 2020 by Parma Recordings, and Take Effects Reviews magazine wrote: “Forever often carries an enchanting romantic spirit and exceptional performance that will make you follow every note.” By the end of Sept. “Forever” has had 103 000 streams on Spotify. To promote her second album Life Stories and her third album Il Mare, Antonija is 2018-2019 traveled throughout Italy and played in five cities, including the famous Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome and the Teatro dal Verme in Milan.

Her acclaimed debut album Soul Colors was released in 2014 by Autentico Music in Germany and was signed by Warner Chappell (“publishing” contract). German and Italian critics commented on Antonia’s compositions as follows: “a female response to Ludovico Einaudi”…

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Pianeta Salute, written by Michele Cennamo Sept. 22nd, 2021, Photography by Filipp Nemenz and Dean Tosovic

“Seasons of Life” by Antonija Pacek

an excerpt: How did the cooperation with Sanja Romić from Novi Sad come about?

In short, at the beginning of the year, I attended the Be Your Own Manager (BYOM) course for musicians, which was online and was organized by a former intendant for the Vienna Concert Hall.I met Sanja Romić from Novi Sad at that course, which lasted 13 weeks. BYOM alumni independently organized the largest online Nextus Festival of classical and neoclassical music, where Sanja and I performed independently. The festival lasted 4 full weekends and 34 musicians from all over the world performed, so we had great speakers every weekend, who would have a great talk about music, creativity, today’s leaders. Listening to Sanja with her colleague on a guitar, her oboe made me cry. Sanja’s performance moved me to tears because she was sincere and full of emotion. Music brought us closer, and although we never saw each other outside the online world, the idea was born to send her my two compositions, “Sadness” and “Rain Drops”, for her to hear them, and to feel if they “resonate” with her. She listened to them carefully and wrote a beautiful arrangement for the oboe, and played those parts. I feel she understood my emotions and built on them. The compositions are of a melancholic character and are inspired by sad life events. “Sadness” is dedicated to everyone who felt the health problems of their loved ones and felt helpless. “Rain Drops” can be described as drops of sadness in the world of a woman who does not find support from her loved ones in creative aspirations, who are poorly paid…

Davor Rocco mastered our piano and her oboe in beautiful units, even though we recorded each part geographically far from each other. Two great compositions were created. We plan to continue our cooperation. I plan to send her “Springtime” composition and “Winter Waltz” so that she could embellish them with her beautiful oboe.

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Cronaca Oggi Quotidiano, written by Michele Minnicino on Sept. 22nd, 2021, Photography by Dean Tosovic

“Seasons of Life”, a new album from pianist and composer Antonija Pacek

an excerpt: Plans with your new album, “Seasons of Life”

My next album “Seasons of Life” will be released next year, but it’s already fully completed. There are a total of eleven compositions, and I gave this album such a title because I wrote songs like “Winter Walz,” “Springtime,” “Summer Tale,” and “Fall Train,” and they were inspired, as always, by true life stories.

I signed a contract with the great record label “Yellow Rose Records” (YRR) from Australia, whose young team works fantastically, and they have a lot of great neoclassical composers on their list. That music house recommended that we start with singles, because this way I can put them on more “playlists” on various streaming platforms. The first double single “Lost” was released in piano and orchestrated version on August 13, 2021, and in one month since its release “Lost” has already almost 30000 streams, which is a pretty good result for neoclassical genre. I was very happy to be working with Sanja Romić on my two compositions “Sadness” and “Rain Drops”, for which she arranged the oboe, and played her part beautifully and emotionally with my piano. YRR will release “Sadness” as a single 24.9. and “Rain Drops” 22.10. this year on 54 international streaming platforms and we are really looking forward to it. “Life is…” will be on the YRR compilation of the best compositions before Christmas, and I am very honored that they chose that composition from my new album.

I signed a contract with the great record label “Yellow Rose Records” (YRR) from Australia, whose young team works fantastically, and they have a lot of great neoclassical composers on their list. The label recommended that we start with singles, because this way I can put them on more “playlists” on various streaming platforms. The first double single “Lost” was released in piano and orchestrated version on August 13, 2021, and in the first week since its release it has 7000 streams, which is a pretty good result for neoclassical music. I am especially looking forward to working with Sanja Romić on my two compositions “Sadness” and “Rain Drops”, for which she arranged the oboe, and played her part beautifully and emotionally with my piano. YRR will release “Sadness” as a single 24.9. and “Rain Drops” 22.10. this year on 54 international streaming platforms and we are really looking forward to it. “Life is…” will be on the YRR compilation of the best compositions before Christmas, and I am very honored that they chose that very composition from my new album.

How and when do you get inspiration for work, composing? My composing comes at different and unexpected times. It’s always inspired by people, some emotional events, watching a movie or a dream that really impressed me. This summer I wrote a “Summer Tale” composition because I was inspired by the sea, that summer “vibe”, some inner peace when I am with my family in our summer house on Lopud. That composition is cheerful in nature.

When I attended an interesting Be Your Own Manager course for musicians, I met a lot of amazing musicians, especially classically trained ones. This environment inspired me a lot, so I wrote “Winter Walz” (which my friends and family say is one of the most original and one of the most beautiful compositions I have written), “Springtime”, and “Life is …” . The title “Life is …” I deliberately left open for each person to define for themselves what life is for them when they listen to the composition. …

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RYL, September 2021, written by Mia Medakovic-Topalovic

A Summer Vibe

A woman from Osijek who lives next to Vienna with her husband and three daughters for many years, Antonija Pacek is a neoclassical composer for film music and a pianist. She recently signed a contract with “Yellow Rose Records” from Australia, which will release Antonia’s fifth album “Seasons of Life”.

What’s the plan with your new album, “Seasons of Life”? My next album “Seasons of Life” will be released next year, but it’s already completed. There are a total of eleven compositions, and I gave this album such a title because I wrote songs like “Winter Waltz,” “Springtime,” “Summer Tale,” and “Fall Train,” and they were inspired, as always, by true life stories.

I signed a contract with the great record label “Yellow Rose Records” (YRR) from Australia, whose young team works fantastically, and they have a lot of great neoclassical composers on their list. The label recommended that we start with singles, because this way I can put them on more “playlists” on various streaming platforms. The first double single “Lost” was released in piano and orchestrated version on August 13, 2021, and in the first week since its release it has 7000 streams, which is a pretty good result for neoclassical music. I am especially looking forward to working with Sanja Romić on my two compositions “Sadness” and “Rain Drops”, for which she arranged the oboe, and played her part beautifully and emotionally with my piano. YRR will release “Sadness” as a single 24.9. and “Rain Drops” 22.10. this year on 54 international streaming platforms and we are really looking forward to it. “Life is…” will be on the YRR compilation of the best compositions before Christmas, and I am very honored that they chose that very composition from my new album.

How and when do you get inspiration for work, composing? My composing comes at different and unexpected times. It’s always inspired by people, some emotional events, watching a movie or a dream that really impressed me. This summer I wrote a “Summer Tale” composition because I was inspired by the sea, that summer “vibe”, some inner peace when I am with my family in our summer house on Lopud. That composition is cheerful in nature.

When I attended an interesting Be Your Own Manager course for musicians, I met a lot of amazing musicians, especially classically trained ones. This environment inspired me a lot, so I wrote “Winter Walz” (which my friends and family say is one of the most original and one of the most beautiful compositions I have written), “Springtime”, and “Life is …” . The title “Life is …” I deliberately left open for each person to define for themselves what life is for them when they listen to the composition. …

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Bliz News, July 9^th, 2021 in Dubrovnik, Croatia

First palm on Lopud and a promise with a piano concerto

On the fourth day of the Ponta Lopud festival, the film Promise (La Promesse, 1996) was shown, directed by the Dardenne brothers, chosen by Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski, was shown. … The piano performance of the celebrated Antonija Pacek was an ideal introduction to the third open-air film screening, with a magical Lopud sunset over the sea.

 

Dubrovacki Vjesnik, July 5^th, 2021 in Dubrovnik, Croatia

Ponta Lopud Festival 

On the fourth day of the Ponta Lopud festival, the film Promise (La Promesse, 1996) directed by the Dardenne brothers, screened by Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski, was shown. Before the screening of the film, the locals of the island of Lopud thanked the co-organizer Tilda Grossel Bogdanović for presenting their beautiful Mediterranean island to the whole world, as well as for organizing a new festival that aroused great interest among the islanders and Dubrovnik residents who followed the three film screenings. The piano performance of the celebrated Antonija Pacek was an ideal introduction to the third open-air film screening, with a magical Lopud sunset over the sea.

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Ponta Lopud Festival Press, July 4^th, 2021 

Musical Introduction to the Lopud Film Nights

The performance of the celebrated pianist Antonija Pacek will be an ideal intro to the third open-air film screening, with a magical Lopud sunset over the sea as a backdrop

Antonija Pacek grew up in Croatia, and after studying psychology in Vienna and the University of Cambridge in the UK, she chose the Vienna area as home to her family. However, she has never forgotten Croatia and is always happy to return to it, especially to the Lopud summer house.

“As soon as I found out about the preparations for the Ponta Lopud Festival, I didn’t hesitate for a moment, but called Tilda, the organizer of the Festival immediately and expressed my desire to become a part of this great art project. Fortunately, she accepted my proposal wholeheartedly. I am absolutely delighted that I have the opportunity to contribute with my music to the first Ponta Lopud Festival and that Lopud was chosen to host this creative event, as it is truly magical and inspiring. I hope that it will become a place where the great creative minds from all over the world will get together regularly, which I am really looking forward to! ”, said Antonija about her cooperation with the Festival and added,

“I have chosen a few of my own compositions for the performance at the Ponta Lopud festival: If Only Time Allowed, a love story that could have been, but never was, Sofia, about one of the kindest people I know, who has been unjustly punished for a bad fate, and Lost, dedicated to all of those who had to experience a horrific pain due to losing someone we deeply loved.”

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Kathodic, April 7^th, 2021 written by Luciano Feliciani

Antonija Pacek is a Croatian native pianist, who lives and resides in Vienna, where she also teaches Psychology at some universities. ‘Forever’ is her fourth album, this time produced by Navona Records. Her compositional style is characterized by a delicate and light piano touch, suitable for her intimate, melancholic, neo-romantic music, purely descriptive and full of emotions. A music that lovers of the neoclassical piano genre would greatly appreciate, for its simplicity and ability to convey emotions and sensations related to inner images, thoughts and moods. Sweet melodies that accompanied by pleasant arpeggios and harmonies, sometime melancholic and nostalgic, and then sunnier and more radiant, which delicately accompany the listener to discover his inner world.

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COVER STORY, Pianeta Salute magazine, “La Musica come Terapia”, Feb. 23^th, 2021, by Michelle Cennamo, coverphoto by Dean Tosovic

Music as a therapy

Croatian Antonija Pacek, Vienna-based, writes music as therapy, neoclassical composer and pianist with a master’s in psychology from Cambridge, recently recorded a CD “Forever” released by Parma Recordings in the USA. She lives with her husband and three daughters and creates songs that awaken hope and therapy in these difficult times

Although she had to postpone her tour in Italy, concerts in Vienna and on the island of Lopud due to the coronavirus pandemic, Croatian pianist, composer and psychologist Antonija Pacek did not allow herself to be discouraged and paralyzed. On the contrary, this strong woman composed new songs and release her fourth album “Forever” under the label of the American record company Parma Recordings. In addition, to promote her second album Life Stories and her third album Il Mare, Antonija toured Italy in 2018-2019 and played in five cities, including the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome and Teatro dal Verme in Milan. After Antonija’s concert at the Auditorium in Rome (2019), Italian Scena Critica reviewed her concert and wrote: “a concert that goes directly to the soul” and “(it) creates an evocative poetic love”. Vatican Newspaper reflected her concert in Teatro dal Verme in Milan in May 2019 and wrote: “(her music) is close to meditation of angels”. So she is well-known to Italian audience. Even Il Giornale Milano wrote an article titled: “The three styles of the keyboard: Einaudi, Allevi and Pacek – the plan is to tell emotion”. Antonija’s music indeed reaches our deepest emotions.

“My new album arose from the need for something cheerful and relaxing as a counterbalance to this sad and difficult time. When I write music, it’s a kind of therapy for me, and I hope it will be for those who listen to this album. Piano compositions such as “Gone Young” and “Before the Rain” reflect my empathy for people who feel anxiety, helplessness and suffering due to the pandemic and resulting economic crisis, whereas songs like “Forever”, “Light” and “Farewell to Sad” are full of light and restore optimism and hope”, explains the musician. adding that she was also inspired by the film “Before the Rain” starring a renowned actor and a singer Rade Serbedzija.

One of her best songs from the new album is “Sofia”, based on a real story. “Sofia is a friend of mine who has a harsh life. She has been trying to get pregnant for more than ten years, and her mother has been diagnosed with cancer for the second time. She has not seen her mother for a very long time, because she came to Austria from a poor country to meet the ends. Once she visited me and bitterly cried as she was very sad. A few hours later I created a musical story about her. I’m like a sponge when it comes to emotions: I collect them and pour them into a composition”, says Antonija, who was introduced to the world of music by her parents. Her father sang in the choir and was a self-taught harmonica player, so Antonija thinks she inherited a sense of music from him. And from her mother, who in her free time crocheted and thought of new cuts for clothes – she inherited creativity. From birth on, her mother played classical music on a gramophone to Antonija, most often Mario Lanza, Maria Callas, and arias from Giuseppe Verdi.

“When I was a little girl, she often took me to the national theater in Osijek to watch various operas and operettas. I remember that an aria or a composition would touch me so deeply that I would cry. Even as a small child, I was fascinated by the piano and longed to just touch it. But the only ones who could play the piano were our teachers from the kindergarten, so I imagined that tables around me were a piano, and I dreamed of playing something beautiful and tender”, recalls Antonija, adding that at the age of 6 she enrolled herself in the music school behind the building where she lived. A year later, she got a Petrof pianino, and in order to be able to afford it for her daughter, her mother made a lot of sacrifice and did extra work to afford Antonija this pianino. How did you decide to study psychology, how did you end up at Cambridge, how would you describe that experience? Along with music, psychology is my other big interest so it was a logical choice. Towards the end of B.A. studying psychology, the husband read some Croatian newspapers and found an article that the Soros Foundation gives scholarships to Croatian students to study at Cambridge. I applied to Cambridge and got a place. I sent a letter that I was accepted to Cambridge to the Soros Foundation, and they replied that I could not get a scholarship because I live outside Croatia. Since it was a shame to miss the place offered at Cambridge, my father sold his car, we sold my piano with tears, and with the help of my husband, who was earning modestly at the beginning of his career, we somehow made money for my master’s degree and my temporary life in England. I successfully completed that study, the experience was special, but also extremely hard. I do not only compose and perform my music, but also teach psychology at several universities in Vienna.

What connects music and psychology, and how much music can act psychotherapeutically? Does some kind of music have a particularly calming effect, and vice versa? Music and psychology are connected and I am happy to unite them. If we want to be introspective / retrospective, it is good to listen to light music with slower tempo that can be also sad. If we want to be more creative (divergent thinking), studies show that we need cheerful, happy music to generate more ideas. If we want to be energetic, we need a lively pace, for some it’s rock and roll, for some it’s something loud like techno or for some it is “Radetzky March”. Music affects our pulse and if the tempo is fast, our heart beats according to the rhythm of the song we are listening to. If the tempo is slower and the composition is calmer, melodic, then our pulse slows down, so we relax. People rarely know that we listen to music through our skin which absorbs the vibrations of music – so sometimes we get chills because something is very beautiful to us while listening.

Many people from my audience comes to me and cries, as they say that my music moved them deeply. So my music often touches people’s souls and hearts, and it brings a therapy to them. My biggest dream is to write music for more films, so far I wrote a score for a short film, Escape (a last year of the renowned actress Romy Schneider).

Full article:

Pianeta Salute magazine, Jan. 26^th, 2021, by Michelle Cennamo

Forever – Antonija Pacek

Have you listened to the new album Forever from Antonija? Her song “Forever” from the same titled album was broadcasted this week on Classic FM radio in London, but her other songs were also broadcast on Classic FM radio in New York, radio Klassik in Vienna and in many other countries.

Her songs create a universal language of emotions – there is a whole spectrum from sadness, melancholy to joy and hope – that mimic real life. The American reviews of her latest album are full of praise.

The New York Music Daily wrote: “Pianist Antonija Pacek plays vivid, often haunting songs without words. Her new album Forever draws on the highest of the High Romantic, but tersely and poignantly. The first track, Sofia is an absolutely shattering, toweringly angst-fuelled requiem without words, Chopin through the prism of 20th century Slavic balladry. In Deep Red, Pacek creates a conflicting piano ballad with Debussy and a bit of blues. Taken at face value, Wanna Dance has to be the most morose pickup line ever written: as sad waltzes go, this is killer. Pacek finally has fun shifting the melody to the left hand in the stadium-rock theme What’s Waiting for Me. The album’s “secret” track, Before the Storm follows a familiar descending progression, a castle dark, a fortress strong….a melody secret?”

Textura magazine wrote: “Before the Storm, recorded live at the Auditorium Parco della music of Rome, Italy, features a flattering portrait of the artist and also serves as a stellar introduction to anyone unfamiliar with the three previous albums.” Review magazine Take Effects reported: “Forever often carries a romantic spirit captivating and an exceptional performance that will keep you hanging on every note.” If you haven’t heard this great album, go to Spotfiy, Apple Music, Amazon or Youtube and surrender to its magic…”

Website: www.antonijapacek.com, Parma Recordings artist

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New York Music Daily review magazine, published on Dec. 30th, 2020

Poignant, Tersely Crystallized Songs Without Words From Antonija Pacek

by delarue

Pianist Antonija Pacek plays vivid, often haunting songs without words. Her new album Forever – streaming at Spotify – draws on the highest of the High Romantic, but tersely and poignantly. Her righthand typically carries a vocal line, the left either spare chords, arpeggios or a bassline. If you were the pianist in an artsy rock band, this album is what you would give the rest of the crew to learn. Any third-year student can play every track here. There are no solos, no dynamic shifts, just melody – and an invitation to write lyrics. One can only wonder what a great songwriter like Karla Rose or Hannah Fairchild could do with this. Every piano teacher should own this album: it’s the best kind of example of this type of music.

A cynic would say that there are a million wannabe youtube stars with sad rainy day solo piano or synthesizer playlists that rip off every classical composer from Bach to Dvorak. But this is a cut above. The first track, Sofia is an absolutely shattering, toweringly angst-fueled requiem without words, Chopin through the prism of 20th century Slavic balladry.

Pacek follows that with If Only Time Allowed, neoromantic righthand over Lynchian lefthand. Gone Young is another requiem, a portrait of someone obviously full of life cut down unexpectedly, and too soon. The title track is a saloony Tom Waits-ish theme. Lullaby has playful Asian allusions, while Light is a neoromantic analogue to the Church’s classic, haunted Bel Air. If Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen had been a neoromantic guy, he would have written Almost Goodbye.

Before the Rain is catchy, minor-key, almost amusingly insistent and youtube-friendly: it could be Yann Tiersen. In Deep Red, Pacek makes a conflicted piano ballad out of Debussy and a little blues. Inspiration runs thin toward the end of the record but picks up with. Taken on face value, Wanna Dance has to be the most morose pickup line ever written: as sad waltzes go, this is killer. Pacek finally has fun shifting the melody to the lefthand in the stadium-rock theme What’s Waiting for Me. The album’s “secret” track, Before the Storm follows a familiar descending progression, a castle dark, a fortress strong….a melody secret?

Filed Under: art-rock, chamber pop, classical music, film music, music, pop music, review

Tags: album review : Antonija Pacek : Antonija Pacek FOREVER : Antonija Pacek FOREVER review : Antonija Pacek review : classical music : film music : movie music : music : music review : yann tiersen

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Textura review magazine, published on Dec. 18th, 2020

ANTONIJA PACEK, Forever

Navona Records

Forever, Antonija Pacek’s fourth album and her first for Navona, presents a splendid portrait of the Vienna-based pianist and her neoclassical style. A native of Croatia, Pacek creates music of deeply personal character. Though it leans towards melancholy and tenderness, she aspires to encompass the gamut of emotional experience in her music. While grounded in emotional expression, Pacek’s romantic settings never lapse into vulgarity or kitsch when they retain their classical elegance.

“Sofia” is understandably melancholic, considering that it’s titled after a friend of Pacek’s who’s had a particularly difficult life; after details were shared with the pianist in an emotional encounter, the song “flew out” of Pacek, its emergence characteristic of her music. Delicate and bittersweet, “If Only Time Allowed” speaks to her acumen as not just composer but performer too when her rendering of the material is executed with sensitivity and grace. Sadness permeates “Gone Young,” which was inspired by 1985, a film that tells of a young AIDS-infected man disclosing to his family the details of his condition and its then-inevitable end. Rather than deny the facticity of death, Pacek chose to confront it head-on, especially when COVID-related deaths occurred so often during 2020. Similarly sombre in tone are “Almost Goodbye” and “Before the Rain.”

Not every song’s suffused with melancholy. “Light” makes good on its titular promise, and the gently radiant title track brims with optimism, the message clearly imparted that present-day woes will eventually end. “Deep Red” sees her venturing outside neoclassical for an evening reverie tinged with blues feeling and jazz inflection. Pacek’s music is also unfailingly pretty, no better illustrations than “Lullaby” and “Inner Child,” which were inspired by the time she spent with her children during the pandemic. As stated, the fourteen settings, including the dramatic closer, “Before the Storm,” recorded live at the Auditorium parco della musica in Rome, Italy, present a flattering portrait of the artist and also serve as a stellar introduction to anyone unacquainted with the three earlier releases.

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Take Effects Reviews magazine, published on Nov. 3rd, 2020

ANTONIJA PACEK, Forever

Navona, 2020

8/10

Listen to Forever

The composer and pianist Antonija Pacek brings us an album of minimalistic piano songs, where her classical and pop influences are illuminated amid a very soulful execution that touches on the spectrum of human emotion.

“Sofia” starts the listen with Pacek’s sublime keys in a stirring setting of divine beauty, and this continues to the flowing melodies of “If Only Time Allowed”, as well as the introspective spirit of “Gone Young”.

The middle of the album offers us the calm, elegant “Almost Goodbye”, while “Deep Red” moves lightly with much agility alongside some jazz qualities that leave an indelible impression.

Further on, “Wanna Dance” recruits a hypnotic quality as Pacek gets a bit more firm with her delivery, and she exits on the live “Before The Storm”, where her careful and gorgeous song craft resonates warmth and timelessness.

This is Pacek’s 4th album, and while a listen entirely of just piano might be resigned to background music for less capable hands, Forever often carries a captivating romantic spirit and an exceptional performance that will have you hanging on every note.

Travels well with: Craig Madden Morris– Chamber Music For Our Times; James Lentini– Through Time And Place

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Gloria portal, published on October 22^nd, 2020, written by gloria.hr, top photography by Dean Tosovic and in the middle by Franco Garzarolli

Album “Forever” Pianist and composer Antonija Pacek: ‘I believe that something in me sought balance’

The musician would like that listeners create their own ‘imaginary films’ when they listen to her music, which is both comforting and adventurous.

A little light in these pandemic days is brought by the long-awaited album “Forever” by Antonija Pacek, which comes out on October 23, 2020 to be published by Parma Recordings – Navona Records. The pianist, composer and psychologist Antonija Pacek, lives and works in Vienna, approaches music with an open heart, sincerely instilling emotions into every single composition on the album. It is precisely this understanding and deep empathy with the current, difficult situation in which many are due to the corona-pandemic, that has enabled the maturation of Antonia’s own creativity, to find a new musical language in the existing one. Her music evolves.

“I believe that something in me was looking for balance: on the one hand it was empathy for people who face hardship because of illness or lost jobs, and on the other, it was an inner need for something cheerful and relaxing as a counterweight to this sad and difficult. I hope this album will be a kind of therapy for others. Honestly, when I write music, it’s a kind of therapy for me as well”, Antonija told us.

It would not be far-fetched to imagine this kind of music in a well-made, profound film, romantic or in other genre for dramatic scenes. Her sensitive, shimmering piano-tone vitalizes her soulful songs, which carefully balance out notated and improvised parts. All of that is being made for the listener to get lost into the highly emotional connotations of “Forever”. One might call the album “music for imaginary movies” and indeed, it is intended that way. Antonija wants her listeners to create their very own “imaginary movies” when listening to her music, that is both comforting and soothing. You do not hear much music these days that is aiming at the imagination of the listener. “Forever” is one of those rare gems. Are there many more? Ludovico Einaudi, perhaps, some might say.

You can find Antonia’s music on all streaming platforms, and downloading of the CDs on Amazon.

www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6316/index.html

www.antonijapacek.com

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Refresh Your Life (RYL), published on October 8^th, 2020, written by Mia Medakovic, photography by Franco Garzarolli

 “Forever”

www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6316/index.html

www.antonijapacek.com

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B in Rome, published on September 23^rd, 2020

Antonija Pacek’s album “Forever” is coming out, between classical and pop music

 

 

 

Chronaca Oggi Quotidiano, published on September 23^rd, 2020, written by Michele Minnicino, photography by Dean Tosovic

“Forever” a new album from the pianist and composer Antonija Pacek coming out on Oct. 23rd

www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6316/index.html

www.antonijapacek.com

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Donna Oggi, published on September 22^nd, 2020, written by Vito Conversano

Antonija Pacek’s new CD

 

 

 

Pianeta Salute online magazine, published on September 21^st, 2020 by Mic

The new exciting neoclassical album “Forever” is coming soon

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Croatian magazine Gloria, published on June 4^th, 2020, written by Damir Leljak

Music as psychotherapy

Antonija Pacek from Osijek, a pianist and composer with a master’s degree in psychology from the University of Cambridge, has recently recorded a CD, lives in Vienna with her husband and three daughters, composed songs to awaken hope in these difficult times

Although she postponed her tour in Italy and concerts in Vienna, as well as on the island of Lopud due to the coronavirus pandemic, Croatian pianist, composer and psychologist Antonija Pacek did not let herself to be discouraged and paralyzed. Moreover, the woman from Osijek, who has lived in the Austrian capital for more than 25 years, will soon release her fourth album “Forever”, under the label of the American record company Parma Recordings.

“The album arose from the need for something cheerful and relaxing as a counterbalance to this sad and difficult time. When I write music, it’s a kind of therapy for me, and I hope it will be for those who listen to this album. Piano compositions such as “Gone Young” and “Before the Rain” reflect my empathy for people who feel anxiety, helplessness and suffering due to the pandemic and economic crisis, whereas songs like “Light” and “Inner Child” are full of light and restore optimism and hope”, explains the musician, adding that she was also inspired by the film “Before the Rain” starring Rade Serbedzija. She met him last year on the Brijuni Islands, and in January this year Rade invited her to perform together with him at the Akzent Theater in Vienna. Rade recited the song “On Pink Paper”, and Antonija accompanied him on the piano with her song “Sofia” from the new album.

“Sofia is a friend of mine who has had a harsh life. She has been trying to get pregnant for more than ten years, and her mother has been diagnosed with cancer for the second time. She has not seen her mother for a very long time, because she came to Austria from Armenia in search of a better life. Last year, she visited me, and bitterly cried when she opened up herself to me. A few hours later a song flew out of me. I’m like a sponge when it comes to emotions: I collect them and pour them into a composition”, says Antonija, who was introduced to the world of music by her parents. Her father, a manager at “Autorepreratura”, sang in the choir and was a self-taught harmonica player, so Antonija thinks she inherited a sense of music from him. And from her mother, who in her free time crocheted and thought of new cuts for clothes, inherited creativity. From birth on, her mother played classical music on a gramophone to Antonija, most often Mario Lanza, Maria Callas, and Giuseppe Verdi. “When I was a little girl, she often took me to the National Theater in Osijek to watch various operas and operettas. I remember that an aria or a composition would touch me so deeply that I would cry. I was fascinated by the piano and longed to just touch it. But the only ones who could play the piano were our teachers from kindergarten, so I imagined that tables around me were a piano, and I dreamed of playing something beautiful and tender”, recalls Antonija, adding that at the age of 6 she enrolled herself in the music school behind the building, where she lived. A year later, she got a “Petrof” pianino, and in order to be able to afford it for her daughter, her mother did extra work.

Click here for the full article in Croatian:

Pianeta Salute Online Italian Magazine, published on June 3^rd, 2020, written by Michele Cennamo

“Forever” coming out in June, the new album by pianist and composer Antonija Pacek

Challenges that our current situation brought us with pandemic, huge loss of life, economic crisis and yet an urgent need to relieve stress, find hope, and to focus on love rather than fear: these are the main themes that inspired the new album from Antonija Pacek: FOREVER.
Moments of darkness, in contrast to the need of light intertwine in the thirteen original compositions that the pianist of Croatian origin (but Austrian by adoption) created and interpreted in her fourth, highly anticipated album. The instrumental solo piano songs are melodic, seasoned with poetic imagination and unexplored sounds that speak directly to everyone’s soul!

Songs like “Gone Young”, “If Only Time Allowed”, “Before the Rain”, “Almost Goodbye” and “Sofia”, reflect Antonija’s deep and intimate empathy for people who suffer, who have lost too soon their loved ones, or who have great difficulties with their current situation due to the economic crisis. Many people feel very powerless, scared and powerless. The songs mentioned above contrast with compositions such as “Forever”, “Light”, “Inner Child”, “Lullaby” or “What’s Waiting for Me” which are uplifting, full of light, with love and gratitude as a focus, and they mean to bring hope back to people.

“Forever” will be published via Parma Recordings and compositions will be available on major streaming and digital download platforms (such as iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Deezer, Tidal, Google Music, etc.), and also on CDs.

In addition, in the coming weeks, the album will be broadcast by prestigious radio stations, including Vienna’s Klassik radio; Twentysound Radio in Berlin; Shades of Classics in Canada, Whispering Radio, Enlightened Piano Radio in the United States and certainly some other radio stations that Parma Recordings will organize.

Antonija Pacek has been able to convey a true passion in the way of playing and convey life through music to a multigenerational and multicultural audience.

Click here for the full article in Italian:

MUSIC MAP magazine, Milano, May 18^th, interview with Edda Forlini

ANTONIJA PACEK – Love is the strongest force that moves us…

Antonija Pacek (born in Croatia and living in Austria) – I met her for the first time about two years ago, through the press office and the person who hired me to do the press internship. This is our third interview. Antonija is a wonderful woman, full of gifts: as a pianist, she reminds me of the great Ludovico Einaudi.

Hi Antonija, this is our third interview: in June your new album titled “Forever” will be released. It will be either distributed digitally by Spinnup (Universal Music Group) or perhaps by an American music label. The songs on your album will be available on the main streaming platforms (such as iTunes, Google Music, Amazon, Spotify etc). In this new album, the songs were inspired by the current situation we are experiencing in this historical moment of economic crisis and the pandemic of the Coronavirus, in addition to the already existing global problems. This new album contains thirteen tracks of solo piano. The songs are melodic and go straight to the soul.

Please describe the songs that are most significant to you… ”All 13 songs have a special meaning for me, and certain emotions are related to the people or the situation that inspired them. I will open the album with “Sofia”, who is a friend of mine and has a deeply sad story (her mother was diagnosed with cancer for the second time, she is unable to have a child, but she would like to have it so much, and is facing existential difficulties). My emotions of sadness about her situation and my helplessness of not being able to help are poured into this composition. The second song will be “If Only Time Allowed” and it’s a sad love story, contemplating why sometimes love happens in an inappropriate moment. A poem inspired me to write this composition. Then there are several happy songs like “Light”, “Inner Child” and “Lullaby”, for which I am sure that my children awoke something inside me, since I lately spent a lot of time with them. So when you study and play with children, they certainly awaken your inner child, and this is reflected in this song. The songs such as “Lullaby” and “Light” were created with the need to calm down, to self-reflect and think positively. The song “What’s Waiting for Me” is actually a song of hope, which can be translated into what this time will bring us and what awaits us in the future.”

The songs “Gone young” and “Before the Rain” reflect your sensitivity for people who suffer from a loss of a loved one or because of the environmental and economic crisis. Tell us about these two songs: what inspired you to compose them? ” It is interesting that in this question you have chosen two titles from my new album that were both inspired by films that were based partially on real stories. “Gone Young” was inspired by a film, “1985” (by director Jen Tan), in which a young man returns home for the holidays and struggles to reveal to his conservative family that he is dying of AIDS like most his friends. All young generations died of the virus, just as today we have our elderly population dying from Coronavirus. Death as a theme, as it is something that is present in our new reality, so there is a focus in the here and now. “Before the Rain” was inspired by the film of the same title, “Before the Rain”, directed by Macedonian director Milcho Manchevski. There are three interconnected love stories under the threat of the civil war in Macedonia. There is a symbolic representation of how this part of the world has faced wars through various generations.”

Can you tell the audience which radio stations your songs will be broadcast on? Do you also want to tell me about the site where you can find all the information regarding your artistic activity while we await the release of your wonderful album?    ”It is difficult to say which exact songs will be broadcast on all radios, but I imagine that “Sofia”, “If Only Time Allowed”, “Gone Young” and “Light” could be the best songs for radio broadcasts, according to my point of view, even if all of the songs have their beauty. For more information go to my blog on www.antonijapacek.com.”

Tell me how the idea of this album was born and the song that takes its name from the title “Forever”… “Forever” is the title of a song and my latest album. It connotes my love for my husband and children, and is as big as the universe and is endless. Therefore, the universe is represented on my CD cover. Love is the strongest force that moves us.”

We are in a really difficult period of time because of this pandemic and many other things. In this time, we have rediscovered the value of simple things and it has been a period of reflection. What is your opinion on this delicate topic? Do you have anything else to announce or some news to reveal? ”I see the pandemic as a great tragedy, since I am a particularly sensitive person towards these sad situations. I am deeply saddened by any news of human death and suffering. With the start of pandemic control, the psychology lessons I am doing at two Vienna universities needed to be done online, so I taught from home. In the middle, I wrote songs and recorded them for the album. I spend the rest of my time with my family, and with two of my three daughters I have been doing a home schooling. Personally, I have to be very careful with the virus. In fact, in 1997 my spleen was removed after a car accident, so my immunity has been compromised. The whole family has been isolated from the start, and I’m going to have to take great care until the vaccine arrives. Fortunately, we have a large garden and we live in a small village outside the city, so we were often out with children in various activities. Exercise is important for immunity, so I train every day for about 20 minutes at home. By the way, I was planning a tour, but this will have to wait until we are have the medicine discovered. ”

Antonija, thank you for this lovely interview, and I hope that things will improve in the meantime so that you would be able to come back to Italy and we could see your concert here again. ”Thank you, Edda, for the excellent questions. I hope that vaccination will soon be available to bring our lives back to normal. I would be happy to return to Italy, to Milan to share my new music with you and others. Edda Forlini

Click here for the full article in Italian:

NEW CD “Forever” Review in Donna Oggi, published on 14.5.2020, written by Donna Oggi team Photography of the CD cover by Antonio Gonzalez

FOURTH ALBUM from ANTONIJA PACEK

Challenges that our current situation has brought us with pandemic, huge loss of life, economic crisis and yet an urgent need to relieve stress, find hope and focus on love rather than fear: these are the main themes that inspired Antonija Pacek on the new Forever album.

Moments of darkness, in contrast to the need for light, intertwine in the thirteen original compositions that the Croatian (but Austrian by adoption) pianist created and interpreted in her fourth, highly anticipated album. The instrumental pieces for solo piano are melodic, seasoned with poetic imagination and unexplored sounds that speak directly to everyone’s soul.

Songs like “If the time allowed”, “Before the Rain”, “Gone Young”, “Almost Goodbye” and “Sofia”, reflect Antonija’s deep and intimate empathy for people who suffer, who have lost too early their loved ones, or who have great difficulties with their current situation due to the economic crisis. Therefore many people feel afraid and helpless. The songs mentioned above are in contrast to compositions such as “Forever”, “Light”, “Inner Child”, “Lullaby” or “What’s Waiting for Me” which are uplifting, full of light, with love and gratitude in focus, and intend to bring hope back to people.

Forever will be published via spinnup (Universal Music Group) in June 2020 and the compositions will be available on the main streaming and digital download platforms (such as iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Deezer, Tidal, Google Music, etc.). In addition, the album will be broadcasted by prestigious radio stations, including: Vienna Klassik radio; Twentysound Radio in Berlin; Radio Kristall in Milan; Shades of Classics in Canada; Whispering Radio; Enlightened Piano radio in the United States. Antonija Pacek was able to convey a true passion in the way of playing and interpenetrating life, through music, to a multigenerational and multicultural audience.

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Click here for the full article in Italian:

NEW CD “Forever” Review in Cronaca Oggi Quotidiano, published on 12.5.2020, written by Michele Minnicino

“Forever” will be out in June, the new album of the composer/pianist Antonija Pacek

The new CD, “Forever” by the composer and pianist, Antonija Pacek will be released in June. Through her music, the artist will speak of darkness and light, reflecting the dramatic period we are living conditioned by the pandemic and the economic crisis.

In such a difficult moment, however, the need to relieve stress, find hope and focus on love rather than fear seems necessary and urgent. Starting from these challenges, Antonija Pacek got inspired to focus on the main themes of the new production entitled “Forever”.

The moments of darkness are contrasted by the need to find a new light and thus and the two opposing spectrums are united and are materialized in the thirteen original compositions that the pianist, of Croatian origin (but Austrian by adoption), created and interpreted in her fourth, highly anticipated album. The instrumental, solo piano compositions are melodic, seasoned with poetic imagination and unexplored sounds that speak directly to everyone’s soul.

The songs “Gone Young”, “If Only Time Allowed”, “Before the Rain”, “Almost Goodbye” and “Sofia”, reflect Antonija’s deep and intimate empathy for people who suffer, who have lost too early loved ones, or who have difficulties with the current situation due to the economic crisis.

The “Forever” album will be released by the Spinnup (Universal Music Group), a digital music distributor in June 2020 and the compositions will be available on the main digital streaming and download platforms (such as iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Deezer, Tidal, Google Music, etc.).

In addition, in the coming weeks, the album will be broadcast by prestigious radio stations, including Klassik radio in Vienna; Twentysound radio in Berlin; Radio Kristall in Milan; Shades of Classics in Canada, Whispering radio and Enlightened Piano radio in the United States.

The composer and pianist Antonija Pacek with her compositions has always transmitted all her authentic passion in the way of playing and interpenetrating life through music to a multigenerational and multicultural audience.

On the website https://antonijapacek.com/ you can find news and reviews published by various newspapers on previous albums and on concerts held in Italy in Milan, Rome, Turin and Verona.

Click here for the full article in Italian:

Concert Review (in May 2019 at Teatro dal Verme) in Vatican Newspaper, published on 31.5.2019, written by Dario Fertilio

Ambient Music

The great appointment of pianists from all over the World in Milan was an opportunity to consider, in a different light, the relationship between the public and classical music. 450 concerts of the «Piano City» festival – three days spent in May among theatres, private rooms, terraces, gardens, skyscrapers, parks, courtyards and museums – they have attracted usually distracted listeners, the same way that we usually meet on the bus, at work, or engaged in jogging, with headphones in the ears – an idea of music understood as a pure distraction, or a pleasant accompaniment.

But what really links people to the background sound that they prefer, during their activities? Only the desire to receive one vague inner relief, favored by acoustic isolation, something that underlines the moments of the day, more or less, like the sound of a movie? Or maybe something more: the stimulating possibility to discover new ideas, update memories, generate unexpected mental associations? It is such a state of soul, free from rational conditioning and from everyday worries, that music environment helps to create. What counts in this kind of experiences are the tone and atmosphere evoked by the performances, much more important than rhythm and musical structure; so the notes act as a link between the composer’s original inspiration and the particular, individual arrangement, perhaps inexpressible in words, of the listener. The place, the time, the mood are decisive where music meets, because everything is born only at that moment, and it is unrepeatable. When the Croatian pianist Antonija Pacek played, in a prologue to the festival, she proposed romantic and minimalist atmospheres. She sought and obtained the collective sharing of some existential themes, present in each of us, such as the lasting pain due to profound losses, disappointments linked to friendship and the sense of forgiveness, the faith evoked by the great natural phenomena (already mentioned in the title of her latest album “The Sea”), the sense of personal destiny and the value of loving fidelity, trust in successful completion of one’s actions and aspirations, the balance between sadness and happiness that is reached through inner meditation. In a similar way as the Icelandic pianist Olafur Arnalds has evoked the suggestions linked to the extreme nature of his island, including experimentalism between folk and electronic, he did not need explanations or presentations to touch the more intimate senses of listeners.

Only later, when the notes go out, there may be room for reasoning about essence of ambient music, with its precursors Erik Satie or Brian Eno, the explorations of space and the silences of John Cage, the elaborations of electronic sounds made by Karlheinz Stockhausen. Because what matters is that special emotional resonance expressed in definitions of the type: «Music invented by the ocean», «To listen to it at six in the morning», “Close to the meditation of angels”. And its very function is liberating: giving up intellectual references and abandoning oneself to the emotion, one ends up understanding that which usually remains hidden from ourselves, our intimate desire to feel a feeling deep, here and now, and the perception of what is outside and above us.

Annuario del Cinema Italiano & Audiovisivi 2019, written on April 18, 2019

Antonija Pacek’s Concert in Milan

The neoclassical composer and pianist comes to Milan with the concert that will present her new album: THE SEA – Concert with projection of pictorial works by the wave painter SUSANNA MONTAGNA – And poetic incursions with voiceover by DANIELA CAVALLINI – on Friday 10 May 2019 – 7.30 pm – THEATER FROM THE WORM, Via San Giovanni sul Muro 2, 20121 Milan – Single entry (including presale): € 25 – Tickets for sale on site and on Ticket One

There is an ocean of emotions that is intertwined in the thirteen songs that the composer and pianist Antonija Pacek, of Croatian origin but Austrian by adoption, has created and performed in her third, highly anticipated album, IL MARE, which will be interpreted live in Milan, after the numerous and positive results from her concerts in Vienna and Rome, now she comes to the Teatro Dal Verme on Friday 10 May at 7.30pm.
A concert-event that reflects the romantic and minimalist atmospheres that the artist has already had the opportunity to communicate with her previous works, “Soul Colors” and “Life Stories”, a true passion in the way of playing and permeating life through music.The concert will be accompanied by the artistic themed projections of the “wave painter” Susanna Montagna and by the poetic incursions, in a voice-over, by the actress Daniela Cavallini.
The new compositions that Antonija will play live, seasoned with poetic imagination and unexplored sounds, are inspired by intimate and always current themes: the challenges to which life puts us every day, the lasting influence of a great loss, the disappointments of the friendship and the sense of forgiveness, faith and trust in one’s actions and thoughts, the balance between sadness and happiness attainable through one’s introspection …
They are instrumental pieces that will surely strike the sensibility of the listeners of every story, geography and generation and that will be, in the program of the evening, integrated by other successful compositions that continue to earn acclaim in international tours in Austria, Germany, Croatia and South Africa and United Arab Emirates.
Antonija Pacek’s albums SOUL COLORS (2013), LIFE STORIES (2017) and IL MARE (2019) are available on the main streaming and digital download platforms (such as iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Deezer, Tidal, Google Music, and so on).

Full Article in Italian: https://www.annuariodelcinema.it/annuario/news-2/3884-concerto-a-milano-per-antonia-pacek

Interview in Donna in Affari Magazine, interviewed by Christina Montagni, published on 27.2.2019

Interview with the neoclassical pianist Antonija Pacek

Antonija Pacek, the composer and neoclassical pianist for the multigenerational and multicultural audience, on the occasion of her coming to Rome for the February 24th concert at the Auditorium Parco della musica, gave an interview to Donna in Affari

Antonija Pacek, composer and neoclassical pianist of Croatian descent, now residing in Vienna, on February 24th presented in Italian premiere at the Auditorium Parco della Musica her third album “Il Mare” released on December 7, 2018. The artist graduated psychology in Cambridge, and she taught in Vienna for 22 years. She explained that when composing her melodies, it is as if she were immersed in another dimension. Pacek’s pieces are in fact inspired by the emotions of life, depict a minimalist personality and tell the challenges of life to be overcome with determination, disappointments in friendship, forgiveness, a sense of faith and trust in one’s actions.
The concert-event that has received the patronage of the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia and the Austrian Cultural Forum, reflects romantic atmospheres, telling in music the beauties of her country as in her previous works, “Soul Colors” and “Life Stories” . In the last work “The Sea”, composed of thirteen original pieces, you can see mostly elements that signify nature, woods and water influencing all its musical pieces. In the 2019 tour, the international artist will touch Austria, Croatia and the United Arab Emirates in addition to Italy.
Here’s what she told us during our meeting.
Interview with Antonija Pacek

When did you start to cultivate your passion for music and what motivated you to continue in this direction? I was fascinated by the piano, which I first heard in kindergarten. At the age of six I enrolled in a music school to learn how to play this instrument and I remember that my mother made great sacrifices to buy a piano. The first song, “Tamed Courage”, I composed at the age of 11, and it was published in my first album. When I decided to stop the music school, I played in a local band with whom I wrote several songs together with the band’s guitarist. In my native country, at the outbreak of the war I was forced to move to Vienna and for a long time I could not afford to buy a piano. When I moved to Cambridge to study, there was a grand piano on the campus but it was locked in a room and I had to ask permission to play. At the end of the 90s my husband surprised me with a piano and from that moment I never stopped playing. I understood that only with music could I express my emotions, and was encouraged above all by family and friends. In 2009 I released my first demo which was distributed and sold via CD Baby. From that moment my music began to be broadcast on Whispering Radio in the United States.

In your latest work, “The Sea”, many emotions were poured inside. Where does this creative energy come from – so deep and meditative? The music I compose comes from the depths of my soul, especially when I see something unjust around me. Through music I tell stories and emotions honestly and it is this feeling that makes my compositions deep, meditative and poetic. People listening to my music that captures real and real feelings.

What is the message that you want to bring across to the audience by listening to your songs in “Life Stories”? Once again, through music, I tell stories of real life. The stories of this album are inspired by my family. “Sorrow”, “Lost”, “Reaching Sky”, “Your Love’s Here” are dedicated to the loss of my mother while “Soft Place” to my father, and “We Were Meant to Meet”, “Loving You”, “You Are My Whole World “and” Ecstasy “are inspired by love for my husband. “Strong” is a song that represents a moment of strength because it has allowed me to abandon the past to concentrate on my well-being and my family. Finally, “Little Lea” and “For Alina” are dedicated to my two young daughters. In this way I was able to honestly express my life (around me). Your music is defined as cultured because it refers to the neoclassical period. Do you think that this style matches your personality and why?I am an optimistic and positive person most of the time and I always look for something good even in difficult or negative situations. Personally, I listen to many musical genres and my compositions reflect this mix of genres, so many experts define my music as a fusion between classical, pop and soft jazz, while others define it as neoclassical. Basically, people who listen to my songs capture hope in life and this feeling reflects my personality very well. When you compose a song, do you conceive it by thinking to contribute to the growth of society or is it just a way to transmit your inner world?I express myself only in an intimate and honest way, and those who listen to my songs perceive a real feeling because it affects many emotional sides of ourselves. If my music then opens the way for other people to work through their challenges, then I can say that I can contribute to the growth of society.

The thirteen compositions of the album “The Sea” are instrumental, softened by the poetic imagination and unexplored sounds, while the 14th song is vocal. How was it inspired? The fourteenth song is called “the Sea” and is interpreted by the beautiful voice of Barbara Kier. This song is a goodbye to my mother who passed away in 2013. Inside of me I was aware that I would never see her again and that she would never know her grandchildren, listen to my concerts or my music. I can say that with this song I reached the highest introspective moment because I accepted her death forever.

How much has your second interest influenced the activity as an artist, that of psychology? Music is a universal language full of emotions and you do not have to translate it. Psychology studies the perception of how people deal with emotions. With music we are able to communicate our pain, joy, happiness, anxieties … music can be defined as therapeutic in this sense. There are studies that state that people can recover faster after surgery if the music is played during a delicate operation. For example, premature babies develop better if they are surrounded by classical music, Alzheimer’s patients react emotionally to music even if they can no longer recognize family members. It is shown that by listening to happy music one becomes more creative, and these elements are also embodied in psychology. Psychology and music are therefore more interconnected than people think.

For a certain period of your life as a teacher you were involved in investigating the nature of people. Are your compositions influenced by this passion?I think so! These activities and life experiences are somehow related. Who is your audience composed of?My audience can be defined as multinational and comes from different cultural contexts, different ages and who love to listen to different genres of music. Looking at the statistics I realized that my music is mostly heard in Italy, Germany, the United States, Canada, Croatia and Austria. This makes me happy because I realized that my music is hard to define, just as it is difficult to define my listeners!

Full article: http://www.donnainaffari.it/2019/02/intervista-alla-pianista-neoclassica-antonija-pacek/

Aricle, a concert review, from Scena Critica Magazine in Italy, written by Danila Scotton, on 26.2.2019

Fluid Water
A single date for the concert Il Mare by Antonija Pacek on Sunday February 24^th in the Gianni Borgna studio theater of the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome. Water, an indispensable element for mankind – our body is made up of two-thirds of this precious natural resource – represents genuineness, purity, transparency: the necessary ingredients that nourish (also) emotions. The melodies of the composer / pianist Antonija Pacek, “contaminated” by Susanna Montagna’s pictorial waves, remind of the winding movement of the sea. The projections of her visual works, together with the new pieces of the Croatian musician collected in the album Il Mare, create an evocative poetic love. Defined in Germany “Einauda for her minimalist introspections, Pacek plays between images and poems (the later of the atrocious Daniela Cavalinni who reads them), thus creating an interesting female “polyphony” imbued with poetic lightness. ”Strong”, “the Sea”, “Before the Storm”, “Forgive”, “Aloft”, “Floating”, “We Were Meant to Meet”, “Ecstasy”, “Expecting Nina”, “Late Fall”, “Waiting”, “Female Divinity”, “Viva Life”, “Magic Forest”, “Back to Faith”, and “Worth Living For” are the titles of the proposed pieces, a sound itierario (which deals with the theme of pain and happiness) of poems, images, paintings, music. All this (and more) and the leitmotiv of an interdisciplinary concert that goes directly to the soul, more and more lost among the criticisms of a society that is antagonistic to beauty. Antonija Pacek who found her key expression in the piano, wrote her first song at the age of 11. A troubled life, because, as she was still adolescent, she was forced to flee Croatia due to the war, moving to Vienna where she graduated in psychology. Subsequently, moving to Cambridge for the master degree to specialize psychology, she met her future husband, later father of their three daughters.

And it is precisely in English that she titles her songs, expressing passion for the piano, giving life to over seventy compositions. In 2013 she released the first CD, followed (in 2017) by “Life Stories”. In December 2018 the third album “Il Mare” was presented in the Austrian capital in the world premiere on 22 February, and at the Auditorium of Rome – the first Italian – on the 24th of this same month. Susanna Montagna, the “wave painter”, accompanies all the musical pieces with marvellous paintings of the sea, in which she captures the emotions. The projections of the full-screen waves on the backdrop of the theater, merge with the musical notes of the concert, evoking scenarios that told about life only the way artists know how to do.

Article from Reporters Magazine in Germany, written by Carlo Marino on 25.2.2019

ANTONIJA PACEK: scene from a concert

The composer and neoclassical pianist, Antonija Pacek, presented a new album in Rome: IL MARE (the Sea). The concert was accompanied by artful work of Susanne Montagna, the “wave painter”. The pianist and composer born in Croatia, started with her first piano lessons when she was 6 years old. Since then the sound of the piano is more than love at the first sight. Still she studied at the University of Cambridge, with the specialist area in “Investigation of Human Development”. And in Cambridge she started nurturing her passion for music. She is an artist that searches life within music.

Interview for Musica Intorno, published on Feb. 4th, 2019, written by Francesco Fravolini

“IL MARE”, THE EMOTIONAL DEPTH OF ANTONIJA PACEK

“Il Mare” by Antonija Pacek contains music inspired and elaborated by the emotions of life.
Our existence presents the challenges to be overcome with determination: the lasting influence of a great loss, the disappointments of friendship and forgiveness, the sense of faith and trust in one’s actions. A film in a bitter-sweet atmosphere where sad moments are deeply felt. The new album “Il Mare” is seasoned with the heart, because the emotions come from our innermost feelings.

A sea of ​​emotions is intertwined in the thirteen original compositions, which the pianist of Croatian and Austrian origin has created and interpreted in her third album: these are instrumental pieces topped with poetic imagination and unexplored sounds that will strike the sensibilities of the listeners of every story, geography and generation. During Antonija’s stay in her summer house, right next to the sea, the artist found a meditative clarity and a creative energy that led her to compose songs like “Forgive”, “Magic Forest”, “Viva Life”, “Back to Faith”… Antonija Pacek we want to understand the importance of emotions and the role of music in life.

Music is the soundtrack of emotions. How do you translate your real emotions into everyday life?
“I translate my emotions into music, into the compositions I create. I also teach various psychology courses to university students (and sometimes to corporations); I teach by including my emotions, hoping to inspire young people. People appreciate it and I get a lot of positive feedback.”

What is the main inspiration for creating your compositions?
“Life around me; the challenges, the losses, the joys that life presents; the nature; memorable books and movies.”

What does poetry represent in your life?
“As a student I liked to analyse poems during our literature courses. Journalists sometimes write that my music sounds poetic, which is a great compliment! I have also written some texts for my compositions, so sometimes I express myself in a poetic way. I love poetry and in March last year I organized a charity concert in Osijek, Croatia, with the great actress Sandra Loncaric: we called it “the evening of music and poetry”. Sandra has read the most beautiful poems of some famous Croatian writers and in between I played my pieces. The evening was well attended and, with the entire sum collected, we financed the purchase of communicators for the Ivan Stark elementary school, whose pupils are children with special needs. Sandra and I also did a little concert of poetry and music in that school, to touch the hearts of the students: it was very moving! Concerning concerts, the one at the Rome Auditorium (scheduled for 24 February 2019 at 6.30 pm, N.d.R.) will have some nice surprises. A famous Italian actress, Daniela Cavallini, was inspired by my new album, and wrote some poems. Daniela will introduce me to the Roman public and read some of her poems during the concerts. I feel honoured!”

Artists are sensitive people who are able to interpret society and different changes. On your last record, what did you want to highlight in a particular way?
“I am attuned to my environment. I feel sad stories and injustices that happen around me and I live them as if they were about me personally. Some movies and their stories can touch me also very deeply: it happened, for example, with film”1985” that I recently watched. All those feelings I pour into my songs.”

The challenges of life are different. Which is the most difficult to overcome and which musical melody is the most appropriate to console the audience?
“Music can be therapeutic. It can be healing and opening our emotional channels, to work though some of our current challenges and pains. The research has pointed out that sad music makes us later uplifted. This is an interesting point. But happy music can also bring people to feel joyful as well. I was told that, during my concerts, some people hold hands, that their thoughts float… Some come to me in tears, to thank me for the emotions never felt before; others simply hug me, even if we have never seen each other before. These are precious and priceless moments.”

Friendship, love, respect are some values ​​to re-evaluate. How do people understand this meaning in the new millennium?
“We live our life in a fast lane and sometimes friends are put aside. People are busy, working long hours and find it difficult to spend enough quality time with friends. The young people stopped spending time with each other, and rather text each other.

Love should be the fundamental value, but it is not so for everyone! Without respect, no true friendship and no stable relationship can be built. Last summer I felt that some of my friends had very different values and priorities than mine, and this shook up some of my respect and love I used to be giving them. So I wrote “Forgive” composition. We need to learn how to forgive and move on with our lives. We give some people second chance, and some people we decide to let go from our lives.”

How do you imagine a life without music?
“I do not imagine it, it would be colourless and empty.”

Music unites peoples and promotes peace. It is an effective way of communicating to overcome obstacles and discrimination. Would the improvement of our society be facilitated by a culture of music?
“Music is the universal language of emotions, you do not have to translate it! Sincere music goes straight to people’s hearts. With music we are able to communicate pain, joy, happiness, anxieties… Thanks to the music of the 60s and 70s, global revolutions have been made.”

Just to remind that Antonija Pacek was able to transmit a real passion to a multigenerational and multicultural audience, through her way of playing and interpenetrating life through music. After the success of “Soul Colours” and “Life stories”, a new tour is scheduled that will touch Italy, Austria, Croatia and the United Arab Emirates.
Full article:

Interview in Greenews, published on Jan. 18th, 2019, written by Gian Basilio Nieddu

Antonija Pacek: “The sea brings me creative energy and meditative clarity”
“The female response to Ludovico Einaudi”. This is how Italian music critics describe Antonija Pacek, the composer who grew up in Croatia, where she started writing music at the age of six. Then she graduated at the University of Cambridge and worked in Vienna in field of psychology. She is a true daughter of Europe. Antonija, after the albums “Soul Colors” (2014) and “Life Stories” (2017), came out in December with her latest work, which tells about the beauties of her country: the sea. So much nature in these thirteen original compositions, available on the major streaming and digital download platforms, awaiting the 2019 tour, which will touch Italy, Austria, Croatia and the United Arab Emirates. Here’s what she shared with us …
Q) Antonija, can you tell us about your latest album? Do you feel that a new phase has opened up compared to the previous albums?
A) The challenges to which life submits to us every day, the lasting influence of a great loss, the disappointments of friendship and the sense of forgiveness, a sense of trust in one’s actions and thoughts, a sad film, but also happy moments, are some of the main themes that inspired my new album “Il Mare”. It’s a good question what’s new in this album compared to my two previous albums: some say my music has evolved over time, and it’s true that this album was more inspired by nature than the other two …

Q) The album is dedicated to the Sea but one of the songs is titled Magic Forest. Do woods and water (two great natural elements) influence your compositions?
A) Near the summer house of my family, which is located by the sea, there is a large and beautiful forest. The whole island is surrounded by an intense and beautiful deep blue sea. For at least two months, during the year, my gaze dwells on these incredible landscapes and on nature. Above all, the sea brings me a meditative clarity and a creative energy. Being connected to nature inspires me and thanks to this feeling I wrote many of my songs.

Q) Croatia is in fact a tourist destination known primarily for its natural beauties …
A) Yes, Croatia is surrounded by untouched nature, in particular some destinations close to the Adriatic Sea. The water is very clear and is not polluted near the islands. This is very attractive for those tourists looking for quiet places and for those who love exploring nature. However the “authentic” music of Croatia have limited influence on my musical expression. I have lived a lot longer in Vienna than in Croatia …

Q) You are now an internationally known musician, but you also do a very demanding job: you deal with human development and psychology. How do you manage to reconcile these two spheres?
A) I like to teach psychology and I have done it for the last 22 years, but when I compose I feel like I’m “transported” and so I often feel during the concerts. The music and the composition seem therapeutic to me. I hope that my audience can also feel a kind of therapy by awakening some of their emotions that could emerge while listening to my melodies. It turns out to me – I was told by my audience – that some would have held the hand of their friend in my concerts, and that their thoughts would have fluctuated as if being in “another world” … Some friends have also confessed to me that they have been working through some unfinished stories of theirs while listening to my melodies, feeling completely inspired … Some come to me to thank me for the emotions they experienced during the concert, or they hug me to thank me, even if I’ve never seen them before. This is truly unimaginable and makes those precious and priceless moments. Here is the best connection between my activity as a psychologist and as a composer: the emotions in my music seem to be therapeutic for my listeners …

Q) What diagnosis would you make for the Planet? What are the main environmental problems that you should solve?
A) Global warming and melting glaciers on both poles of the Earth, but also the plastic that floats in the sea and then is pushed ashore on beaches, deforestation, oil spills into the sea. They are all, certainly, great dangers to nature!

Q) And how do you try to help improve this situation?
A) In my daily life I divide all the trash from my family and teach my children to do the same. If I see rubbish on the streets or near some beach, I pick it up and throw it in the bins. I also drive a hybrid car to pollute less …

Periodico Italiano Magazine, p.44-46, published: in Jan. 2019 issue
Written by Michaela Zanarella
Top subtitle: Considered the female response to Einaudi, the Croatian artist has climbed the rankings of iTunes and gained international fame

Antonija Pacek: “Through the music I speak about people’s lives”
A sound journey into the depths of the soul to bring out the many nuances of existence on the surface
The fingers on the keys, and there is an enchanting, authentic poetry. The piano has conquered Antonija Pacek as a child. She composed the first song at the age of eleven and since then she has managed to become a well-known artist, much loved also in Italy. The German press defined her as the female response to Ludovico Einaudi. Born in Croatia, as a teenager Antonija got to experience the war: her city was bombed. A series of lucky coincidences brought her to Vienna to an American university, where she studied psychology and graduated with honours. She was admitted to the University of Cambridge to take a master’s program. At the age of 21, she married and later became a mother of three girls. It is precisely in Cambridge that she began to take a serious interest in music: in her spare time she composed and played. In 2013 she released the first album “Soul Colors” with the German label Autentico Music. She received positive reviews and comments from the press. The album climbed to the top of the classical music charts on iTunes (in Germany) and in 2015 came a contract from Warner Chappell, a publishing branch of Warner Music. In 2017 a new project “Life Stories” marks another important milestone for her activities.
Her music also conquered Italy, in April 2018, as she was playing in Rome, Milan, Verona and Turin. Now with the album “IL MARE” she will return to tour in our beautiful country to share her emotions with us. The third album is rich with sound, feelings and life experiences. In the thirteen original compositions, Antonija tells everyday stories through unexplored sounds: she speaks about disappointments with friendships, losses, forgiveness, faith, joy. It is a journey into the soul, into the depths of the sea – a symbol of existence that alternates mountains of light and darkness, serenity and pain. The song ‘The Sea’ is a farewell to her mother figure, the acceptance of her death. Melancholy that is echoed in the water. ‘Forgive’ is a sad song, tackles the theme of forgiveness for the untruthfulness of some friendships. ‘Magic Forest’ is a mysterious and fascinating piece of exploration. Almost a vision. ‘Viva Life’ signifies a song full of joy, celebrates life and the family. In short, this album intertwines many emotions, colours, sounds, close to divine: it is necessary to listen and let go, to be transported by music and the waves of the sea.

Antonija Pacek, for a long time the piano was part of your life. How this great love was born?
It started in my kindergarten where our teachers played the piano and sang with us. At the time I was a very determined six-year-old girl who walked alone in the office of a public music school to ask a bewildered administrator if I could do the tests to play the piano. When the administrator asked this child where were her mother or father, she replied: “They are working”. And they were really doing it. “But how did you get here alone?” asked the perplexed administrator. I replied: “I live just around the corner, could I try playing the piano now, please?” For me, the sound of the piano was more than love at first sight. During my daily walks to and from the school, my mother and I would pass by the music school and, from the street, listen to the sounds of the piano coming from windows left open. During meals at home, I pretended to play the piano on the kitchen table. I enrolled myself in this school of music “around the corner” and I began with my piano lessons at the age of six and a half years.

In Croatia you experienced the war. How much did the music help you?
During the wartime I did not have a piano so I could not play anything. I did not even have enough money to go to concerts and listen to music. It is possible that some of my emotions and fears that I had at that time were processed and transported within some of my compositions only later. I got again my own piano in the late 90s and I started to compose more and more from 2006 onwards.

What does it mean for you to be considered the female response to Ludovico Einaudi?
What I understood is that the style of my music resembles the neoclassical style of Ludovico Einaudi. Being a woman, the German media named me “Einauda” and wrote “the female answer to Ludovico Einaudi” in various articles. All I can say is that I am very honoured by this comparison. I think that Mr. Einaudi and I have each our own “writing” in the music we create, but that the general style or the same genre is what connects our music. It seems to be a cinematic music – a fusion of classical music, pop and maybe soft jazz.

From your “Soul Colours” record release to the last “IL MARE”-is there a link between the two albums?
The great link between both albums, including “Life Stories”, is to have a strong emotional connotation in every composition. The music is sincere and comes from the depths of my soul. I’m always aware of what stories and emotions are in it, so I find it easy to name my songs every time I create them.

Friendship disappointment, faith, forgiveness, joy, the challenges of life: there is so much in this project. How would you define it?
Human stories through music. I tell our stories through a simplistic and humane approach. Each album is a mirror of our life, the stories we face every day. Through music I express stories of pain, faith, disappointments in friendship, forgiveness, joyous moments for which it is worth living.

Your music is profound, poetic, multicultural. In your opinion, is music a dialogue?
Thank you. Yes, it is an emotional dialogue. If the music manages to transpose you to another place, to help you work through some moments you didn’t have time to process, if it touches your heart and moves you to tears, if it helps you feel a sudden burst of joy and happiness, then it is a dialogue in which the emotions of an artist are sent to the public and they feel something in return.

You are often in Italy performing your concerts. But how do you see the current political situation here?
I love the Italian public, their temperament and the incredible sense for aesthetics. I also love the Italian cities full of history and beautiful buildings, but also its nature and its landscapes. Since I am a musician and a psychologist at heart, I do not feel competent enough to comment on the current political situation in the country. My husband would be an expert for this and would be able to handle these questions in an educated way.

Being a woman, a mother and an artist. How do you manage to combine all these commitments?
Because I love so much my family and to compose, I find the way to be fully present for my family and for my music. Sometimes I sleep too little or I do not watch TV or have not enough time to read newspapers (that is why your previous questions is not easy for me to answer). I need to prioritize around my most important values in life. Then everything fits into its place. Thank you for great questions.

An article published on Dec. 27th, 2018 in TG Music, Italy, written by Edda Forlini
“An Interview with Antonija Pacek, Composer of Soundtracks”
As the new album, IL MARE, from Antonija Pacek was recently published, the journalist Edda Forlini contributed with the editorial of TgMusic.it with an interesting interview.
Hello Antonija, on December 7 it was a release of your new album “The sea” that contains 13 songs plus bonus tracks. What do you want to convey to people with this record?

Hi Edda, thank you for this good question. Through music I try to convey true stories, some captured moments of my life and stories of other significant people who touch my heart. The songs were inspired by real life situations, some continuous challenges, some happy moments for which it is worth living, some introspective moments, my daughters, a captivating film or inspired by the sea.
This musical project is full of wonderful sensations and full of strong emotions. The song “The sea” you composed to say goodbye to your mother and as an acceptance of her physical disappearance. You made this wonderful song in two versions, one instrumental for the piano and the other in vocal version interpreted by Barbara Kier. Tell me about this song and what you intended with it when you reach the audience that listens to it …

As you said, the Sea is a farewell song for my mother who died several years ago. With my mind, I knew there was the end, that I will never see her again, that she will never be able to listen to my concerts or my new music. However, it takes some time to accept everything with the heart. When I wrote this song, it was the most introspective moment in which my heart accepted that she had been gone forever. Before I wrote the music and after some time the lyrics started coming out of me … That’s why I wanted to make, for the first time, a neoclassical song with the voice (in this case a beautiful and pure voice of Barbara Kier).

The song “Aloft” is inspired by the important film full of sadness, much appreciated by critics (created by the Director Claudia Llosa). The song is arranged with the cello to create more depth, orchestrated by Davor Rocco and Antonija Pacek, with Neva Begovic on cello. How did you discover this film? Did you already know this director?

Thank you so much for the introduction to this question. In very rare moments (as I barely find time to watch films in recent years), I just switched on a TV to watch a new film. And there was “Aloft”, the film from a Peruvian director Llosa, just starting, so it was a mere coincidence. The film went straight into the depth of my soul. It was so beautifully told a sad life story about a mother with children, one of which was very ill. It was a very sad story. After watching the film, I sat in front of my piano and the music started pouring out of me. The film created a profound impact on me. It is very rare that something like that would happen to me.

There is another wonderful song “Expecting Nina” which describes a beautiful moment, your first pregnancy. This is a special time for women who are more sensitive and receptive. Do you want to describe this song and the wonderful sensations you felt when you were in “Sweet Waiting”?

Absolutely. The wonder of waiting for a new family member is magical. I could not wait to meet my first girl (and so it was with my two other girls later), to get to see her, to experience motherhood. The feelings were of joy, curiosity, a bit of impatience, love and warmth. It is pure magic to have a child in your hands for the first time. All the pain and discomfort during the delivery are completely forgotten, vanished!

Personally, I go crazy when I hear “Magic Forest”, which focuses on the vision of a magical forest where you can meet magical people and understand them better as in a dream. It emanates a magical and mystical atmosphere. Antonija, describe this “Magic Forest” with your words …

The song is just different. I’m happy that you like it! “Magic Forest” travels from major to minor … but so it came out of me. It could also be a little jazzy. It’s when you meet people who are somehow mysterious, that intrigue you, that confuse you. When you meet these people sometimes, you have to think about who you are and what is your quest here. Some people and nature around you have the power, in some way, to shake you up. Sometimes there are some people who are teachers in our lives, but without possessing the actual “teacher” title.

This sensational album is available on all digital platforms. Antonija can communicate emotions that pass from intense pain to joy through her piano and her music, so this music can get to all generations and many cultures. In short, Antonija is a planetary artist known all over the world for her talent and her special energy that she transmits when she plays her songs. They tell about her life and femininity that unites every living being and every woman in the most beautiful and intimate moments of our life. After the great success of “Soul Colours” and “Life Stories”, your new tour is scheduled for 2019 that will touch various nations including Italy, Austria, Croatia, and the Emirates. Do you want to preview here some dates of your new 2019 tour?

Thanks for the kind words!
I have two concerts scheduled in Austria, Bad Vöslau in Hobi Raum on 11.1.2019 at 20.00
and in Vienna in the Kaisersaal (Kaiserstrasse 10) on 22.1.2019 at 19.30.
In Italy I plan concerts in Rome and Milan for the mid and end of March 2019.
In Dubai I will play a concert at an event for an international organization on March 6th. In Croatia I have scheduled two concerts in the summer of 2019, one on the island of Lopud and the second on the island of Brijuni. The dates will be announced soon and I will post them on the blog page of my website (www.antonijapacek.com)
Thank you so much for the excellent interview! The next interview Antonija might be speaking about her upcoming Tour in Italy.

Il Giornale Milano, issue from Dec. 9th, 2018
Written by Luca Pavanel
The three styles of the keyboard, Einaudi, Allevi and Pacek: the plan is to tell emotion
The news on the composers and virtuosos of the instrument, until the Dec. 18th Ludovico will be on stage at Dal Verme
A piano music for a friend, especially when it is pleasantly played. Able to express, tell about moods, emotions, sometimes as a journey into the unconscious. Three composers with different styles and depth: the master Einaudi, followed by Pacek and Allevi. At least two of them are returning to the spotlight, under the spotlight in the Lombard capital. A bit of history: it was 1996 when a gentleman named Ludovico Einaudi, with the album titled ‘The Waves’, broke through the wall of success, which became international. With a piano piece released three years after the music of ‘Piano Lessons’, signed by Michael Nyman.
For the master, he was a son of the Milan Conservatory, also trained in the class of the master Luciano Berio, earning a degree there. And today a beacon of the first magnitude of its kind, his production at first by some criticised, but it was profoundly hypnotic and described as Italian minimalism. Today it is very sought after and well listened; it is seen as a mix of genres between classical, pop, rock, world music and popular. without counting the author’s commitment to the soundtracks. Copiosa is his production, last recording was “Sandome no satsujin.” For the third consecutive year, the composer closes in his Milan – at the theatre Dal Verme on Dec. 18th – a concert season that led him to play at the Dubai Opera House, at Keshvar Big Hall in Tehran and at the Radio City Hall in NY, just to name a few. The master somehow over time has proselytized, who knows, possibly unconsciously. Among the most recent names, emerging and appreciated, is Antonija Pacek, who grew up in Croatia. The Croatian author already played in Milan. She has just published a new work. Speaking of her style, some call it great film music, others call it neoclassical, while others believe it needs just words to be interpreted. No matter of each label, the compositions written and performed by this musician, romantic with a soft spot for minimalism, directly affect the emotions of the listener. The last work of the pianist-composer, in fact, is her new album “IL MARE”; and she is preparing for a new world tour that will take place in 2019 in the four corners of the globe.
We close the list of capable musicians, with their compositions to make music “that engages” – compared to pop – even with an affordable language, someone who needs no introduction: Giovanni Allevi, by style detached from the other two. At the dal Verme on Dec. 19th, Allevi with his piano and 13 strings of the Italian Symphony Orchestra. He will assume the different roles of composer, pianist and director. The play list will alternate the seductive atmospheres of the new compositions and the most celebrated pieces of his twenty-year career.

DONNE E LAVORO: Antonija Pacek: A Sea of Emotions Through My Music
Written by/Scritto da: Olivia Chierighini , in DONNAD Amica Fidata on Dec. 6th, 2018
Antonija Pacek is an extraordinary and versatile woman. Born in Croatia and now living in Vienna, she obtained a master’s degree in psychology from Cambridge University (Department of Psychology of Intellectual Development), before becoming a lecturer at various universities and organizations, including the Webster Vienna Private University, where she joined forces with the legendary Dr. med. Phil. Zimbardo with whom she co-taught a course on exploring human nature. Parallel to her academic and professional career, Antonija is the mother of three daughters and is a very successful composer. On the day of the release of her album IL MARE – December 7, 2018 – she speaks about the emotions that guide her life and that inspired the thirteen extraordinary tracks that make up her latest masterpiece of neoclassical music.

You started playing piano as a child: what was an event that made you realize that that would be your passion?
In kindergarten, our teachers had a grand piano on which they played and sang. Even then I knew that this was the instrument I wanted to learn to play. I started with the music school at the age of 6 and I composed my first song when I was 11 years old.

Why did you choose to study psychology?
Because of the war in my country [in Croatia, in 1991, just 17 years old], I had to come and live in Vienna. I did not have a piano because it was not financially possible. So, my second choice was to study psychology. I received a scholarship and started my studies in 1992 at an American university in Vienna. I like helping people and teaching psychology, so it was a good choice for me.

What does it mean for you to compose? What is your personal interpretation of neoclassical music?
Composing transports me to another world, often calms emotions and is therapeutic (for example if something sad or unjust happens). Sometimes, after composing a song, I am still immersed for a long time in emotion: for example, if I meet other people, I can hear them talking around me but be distracted and not be sure of what they are saying. It takes me a few moments to get back to the “real world”. When I compose, I feel like I live in another space, a sort of parallel world.
The term “neoclassical” is just a categorization of my music, which I think is difficult to decipher even if some critics have defined it so. Instead, I believe it is a fusion of classical, pop and maybe soft jazz. I love listening to all kinds of music.

How was your last album born? How long did it take to get the form you wanted?
The compositions were born during the last year and a half, except for a few songs that I wrote 2-3 years ago but I had never published them before. “Worth Living For”, “Taste of Bitter” and “Back to Faith” are some of these “older” songs that were waiting for their time. Once I compose my songs, I rarely change their form. The song “Waiting” was the only one that evolved over the course of two months – as I continued to build new parts within it – but this is a rare situation for my songs.
I recorded them in my home studio, I mixed my music, and Davor Rocco mastered all the compositions. In my studio, I also recorded the beautiful voice of Barbara Kier for my song “The Sea”, and I made the first mix with my piano instrumental. Davor and I did the cello orchestration for the song “Aloft” and we recorded it in his studio in Zagreb with Neva Begovic – cello professor in that city – who interpreted [our arrangement]. All this required three months of dedicated work.

What were you inspired with?
With real life situations, the continuous challenges in life, but also with a realistic and dramatic film, happy moments, my daughters, with the sea.

What importance does emotion have for you and how do you balance it with rationality?
Emotions are intertwined in my music. All I hear when I create a song is in there. And I am aware of my emotions, which is why I also need my own rational side. Being aware of one’s emotions, occurs only with an analytical, rational mind. Emotional and rational should ideally be synchronized concepts. Sometimes we can be hijacked by strong emotions, which in a negative way interfere with our rational mind and, therefore, music helps to calm down and return to the full awareness of the rational self.

What do you think when they tell you that you are the female response to Ludovico Einaudi? Is there a “feminine” way of seeing music?
I am honoured that people compare me to Mr. Einaudi: he is a great and accomplished artist. The feminine within music would perhaps be a synonym of romantic, emotional, melodic; however, it is also possible to hear this in compositions of male composers, who are in touch with their feminine side. There are many romantics in the realm of music who are actually men. In terms of associations, I would say that a male way of seeing music would be more a concern for the technique, showing the mastery of the instrument, without necessarily worrying about the melody and emotions within the music.

What part does music have in your daily life? How does it intersect with the life of your family?
In recent years I rarely have extra time to be able to find the time to listen to the music of others [or to watch TV], in order to create, to practice piano, to teach and be able to spend enough time with my family. If it happens that my children are around the house and a melody comes to my head, it does not bother me to start writing my song even if they jump around, play near me or are lively.

What has been the professional and human event that you believe has touched you the most?
In terms of creating music, the loss of both my parents – which took place within six months – has created a profound emptiness, bringing immense pain and a sense of bitterness. I wrote a lot of music specifically dedicated to mom. The song “the Sea” is one of these.

What do you feel when you’re on stage and you perform in a concert? Was there a moment when you were afraid?
It is a mixture of excitement and fear. Of course, every time I’m on stage, I feel a bit ‘of anxiety, but I try to suppress it with my desire to tell my musical stories to the public, to communicate the expression of my soul to the souls of others.

Who are your points of reference, those that you consider your teachers or those who inspire you, when you compose?
The list here would be too long. I love classical music, opera, musicals, pop music (which I also listen to with my teenage daughter), rock, jazz. I do not appreciate traditional Austrian or Croatian music, but Irish folk music is so beautiful, poetic, and dancing. The list is huge and very mixed! The bottom line is that music touches me deeply.

What do you say to yourself to find the strength to do everything you do every day?
Love what you do, do what you love. You can easily find the strength this way, even when it’s hard, you do not give up easily.

If you had to go back in time, what would you do better or what would you change?
This is a good question. I imagine that I would like to have more patience, especially when there are stressful moments or I am sleep deprived.

What would you recommend to a young woman who wanted to be a professional musician?
To trust one’s own abilities and to have confidence in oneself, with the right intellectual honesty. To have something true to say through one’s own music or by interpreting the music of another composer.

What are your plans for the future?
I would like to play more concerts, to touch more people and make them confident in their challenges. I want to continue teaching psychology: sometimes I integrate my music in some seminars, for example on creativity and innovation. Creating music and educating people are really my favourite types of work.

Full Article: https://www.donnad.it/da-realizzare/racconti-di-donne/donne-e-lavoro/antonija-pacek-un-mare-di-emozioni-attraverso-la-mia

December Issue 2018 RYL Magazine, Serbia; interviewed by Mia Medakovic Topalovic
“IL MARE”
Antonija Pacek, a successful lady, composer, pianist, psychologist, was born in Osijek, and lives near Vienna. She studied psychology at the University of Cambridge, where she earned her M.Phil degree, and teaches at several Universities in Vienna. Next to composing, concerts, travel, Antonija manages to fulfil all of her professional and family duties. Some of her friends call her a “renaissance woman”. German media called her “a female response to Ludovico Einaudi”. Last Summer Antonija published her second album “Life Stories” and the most recent album was titled “IL MARE”.
Last year, around this time, we made our first interview. Then we presented your new album “Life stories”. What were the results coming after our interview?
“Life Stories” was streamed through Spotify, Deezer, Tidal and several other platforms, several thousand times in 36 countries on 5 continents, all thanks to spinnup, my global digital distributor of that album (part of the Universal Music Group). I had concerts in Italy, more specifically in Rome, Milan, Verona and Turin, and received beautiful impressions from the audience there, and great reviews after the concert. For example, L’Arena, a Newspaper in Verona, wrote that my music feels like the return of some old classics, and some songs were compared to Carol King (which is a huge compliment to me). Soon after my concert there, Milan’s Free Magazine has written that audiences can expect a “symphony of emotions”. Indeed, every city I played in Italy has delighted me, and the audience stayed deep in my heart.

What did you do by December 2018?
I lectured at two universities in Vienna, worked on a seminar on creativity and innovations for Duke Corporate Education in South Africa where I, between theory, played music for various group tasks to stimulate creative, divergent thinking and during self-reflective exercises (so-called arts-based learning). In March, I organized a charity concert in Osijek with our great actress Sandra Loncaric (this was called the evening of music and poetry, and from the concert tickets sales we financed the communicators for the primary school Ivan Stark, whose pupils are children with special needs). The concert took place at the Croatian National Theatre in Osijek and the intendant gave us the beautiful foyer at the theatre as his contribution. All tickets were sold out and we got a very nice and warm impression of the audience. Sandra and I also made a little concert in that school to touch hearts of the little students there. Subsequently, four cities in Italy followed in April. In addition, this fall I played a charity concert in a geriatric home in Vienna, which often organizes concerts for their residents as well as various creative workshops. People seemed to be deeply touched: some older women sat side by side holding each others’ hands, as they felt my music permeated through to them, some of the people came alone in their wheelchairs when they heard music in the hallways care. Their caretakers later told me, they never came to other concerts before. It was a pure magic!
Are you particularly proud of some of your music year?
I’m especially proud of this year because it was like no other so far. I am glad that I finally found the courage to organize two charity concerts, as it has always been my wish to do that. So many wonderful, sincere energies and emotions are given in return!

December Issue 2018 RYL Magazine, Serbia; interviewed by Mia Medakovic Topalovic
“IL MARE” continued, p. 120-121
At the age of 11 you composed your first composition. When you play it today, do you see little Antonija entering her music world?
When I play “Tamed Courage” I sometimes mention to the audience that this is my first composition ever written. Sometimes I’m surprised that I was so small, when I wrote something so serious. The child’s courage was tamed in the music school, where sometimes some of the teachers were somewhat abusive….

Has the first love been forgotten? Because you are a psychologist, pianist and composer, which of these three personalities do you prefer the most?
I like to teach psychology, but when I compose then I feel like I’m “transcended” and so I often feel at concerts. I think of these three personalities that I unite, I like the best my composing part. But I have to admit that I felt a kind of euphoria when I could teach and play my compositions to a group of business people to help them with divergent thinking and introspective exercises. That was quite a special experience.

Do you know how your music influences the listener? Who are your listeners?
People are holding hands in my concerts, their thoughts are floating to another worlds, to working through some of their events that stayed unprocessed. Some come to me in tears to thank me for the emotions they felt during my concert, or they hug me to thank me even if I have never seen them before. This is all unimaginable, these moments are precious and invaluable.

What do you like to listen to, which you could unconsciously interweave into your music?
I like to listen to Debussy, Chopin, Faure, Bocelli, Oscar Peterson, Matija Dedic, jazz and pop. Of course, my daughter let me listen to some new pop music, which I also like. But when I create and when I record an album, then I do not listen to anything because I need to hear my own, inner sounds. Probably unconsciously, I have some external influences when I hear different music, which somehow unconsciously goes into my compositions. Since I’m listening to different genres, so is my music very difficult to classify – possibly a fusion between classical, pop and some soft jazz music.

In one interview, you said the chords would come naturally out of you. How would you explain this?
The chords come from subconsciousness. I often hear fragments of my new songs and then sit down in front of my piano to finish the composition with improvisation. It’s very bizarre that when I finish composing, then it takes me a while to go back to “this world.” I feel a bit like I’m in some parallel world while I’m playing and composing music. If, soon afterwards, people say something to me, I’m not 100% aware of what they have said to me, I have to concentrate very strongly on them. Like they are a bit out of focus ….

What is your experience with concerts in Italy? You played in Rome, Verona, Milan, Turin? How did you find the Italian audience?
I wrote a lot of new music between the concerts. In Italy I even presented my two new songs – “Before the Storm” and “the Sea”. L’Arena wrote: “As a starter of her new work, Antonija offers” Before the Storm “and” The Sea “, with the second that focuses the lens: after a couple of hours the succession of chords remains in mind, similar to the cyclical movement of the waves.” And because of such a warm audience, I decided to call my new album IL MARE, which means the sea. There will be 13 new compositions, one will be orchestrated with cello, the song Sea will be presented as instrumental and then elaborated with vocals (a cross over style). I’m happy to say that my new album will be released in early December this year.

The theme of the Dec. issue of RYL Magazine is a quote from Kokan Mladenović, “If Sombor were Hollywood – only dreams cannot go bankrupt”. Do you find yourself in it?
Very much so, because as a composer I am full of dreams, which are never materialistic. We need to dream because I think when we stop doing it, it’s like we’re not alive anymore. Sometimes people around me inspire me, some of my strong experiences, or a movie. I always just want to sincerely express my emotions in all compositions. When I play, I want to express honestly my stories through music. And I dream how I will touch more souls, and succeed in “soul to soul communication”. Maybe with this, I might give some good therapy to the listeners just the way the process of composing my new songs gives me a certain therapy.

Free Magazine, Italy, 2.12.2018
“IL MARE” the new album of Antonija Pacek
Free Magazine has been endorsing Antonija’s music since the live concert at Teatro dal Verme in Milano. Free Magazine reviewed her concert to be, “symphony of emotions” in April, 2018. In this article,Ale Musella wrote about the inspiration behind the new album “IL MARE”, created by Antonija Pacek.
“There is a sea of emotions that are interwoven in the 13 original compositions that the pianist and composer of Croatian and Austrian origin has created and interpreted in her third, highly anticipated album. The instrumental pieces are seasoned with poetic imagination and unexplored sounds that will certainly appeal to the sensitivity of listeners of every story, geography and generation!”
Free Magazine also reports that the “IL MARE” will be published via spinnup (Universal Music Group) and will be available on the major digital streaming and download platforms (such as iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Deezer, Tidal, Google Music, etc.) worldwide as of this Friday, December 7th, 2018.”

“Antonija Pacek has been able to transmit to a multigenerational, multicultural audience a true passion in the way of playing and interpenetrating life through music.
After the success of “Soul Colors” and “Life Stories”, new tours and concerts are scheduled in Italy, Austria, Croatia, and the Emirates.”

The article also writes about the stories behind the compositions, and here is the excerpt:
“Before the Storm” – the opening song of the new album describes the challenges that Antonija faced with one of her children. Retrospection is the watchword: Antonija has carefully listened to her daughter’s heart and feelings, so the controversies have been resolved over time.

“The SEA” is a goodbye song to her mother, accepting her physical disappearance. An excerpt of the song that Antonija wrote for this composition says “your face reflected in the deep, deep blue sea, oceans of memories, right back, back at me, searching for the moments for the days full of glare, then rolling with the wave coming up for air… “. In the album, the piece has an instrumental version for solo piano (track 2) and a vocal version (bonus track 14) interpreted by Barbara Kier.

“Forgive” is a sad song, focusing on forgiveness, and it combines two stories: one related to the misfortune and difficulties of one of her dear friends, and another one is linked to the personal moods of Antonija connected to the disappointments of certain friendships. The artist says: “It seemed therapeutic to write this song and to find a strength to forgive”.

“Aloft” is inspired by the film of the same name: a sad, atmospheric, profound, slowly and thoughtfully told life drama. The song is arranged with cello to create more depth, orchestrated by Davor Rocco and Antonija Pacek, featuring Neva Begovic on cello.

“Late Fall” was actually composed a few years ago at the end of the fall season. The composition portrays a frustration that is experienced with the passage of time, sometimes too fast, sometimes too slow, which arises from the disappointment of not seeing fast results despite the immense work built with the heart. Yet it does not represent a song “downer”, because it is still imbued with energy to have the strength to go on and stay focused and motivated.

“Expecting Nina” describes a happy mood when Antonija was pregnant with her first daughter and was waiting for her arrival.

“Magic Forest” is focused on the vision of a forest where you can discover mysterious things, see new places and meet new people and understand them better, as there are often opportunities in life. A portrait of an explorative and mystifying atmosphere.

Terronian Magazine, Italy, 2.12.2018
“IL MARE” the upcoming album of Antonija Pacek
The challenges to which life submits to us every day, the enduring influence of a great loss, the disappointments of friendship and the sense of forgiveness, a sense of faith and trust in one’s own actions and thoughts, a sad movie, but also happy moments, are some of the major themes that inspired the new album by Antonija Pacek: “IL MARE” (the Sea). There is a sea of emotions that are interwoven in the 13 original compositions that the pianist and composer of Croatian and Austrian origin has created and interpreted in her third, highly anticipated album. The instrumental pieces are seasoned with poetic imagination and unexplored sounds that will certainly appeal to the sensitivity of listeners of every story, geography and generation! During Antonija’s stay at her summer retreat house right next to the sea, the artist found there a meditative clarity and a creative energy that led her to compose songs such as “Forgive”, “Magic Forest”, “Viva Life” and “Back to Faith”.
The “IL MARE” will be published via spinnup (Universal Music Group) and will be available on the major digital streaming and download platforms (such as iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Deezer, Tidal, Google Music, etc.) worldwide as of this Friday, December 7th, 2018.
In the coming weeks, the album will be broadcasted by the prominent Klassik Radio in Vienna, Austria; Twentysound Radio in Berlin, Germany; Radio Kristall in Milano, Italy; Shades of Classics in Canada; and on Whispering Radio in the USA.

Antonija Pacek has been able to transmit to a multigenerational, multicultural audience a true passion in the way of playing and interpenetrating life through music.
After the success of “Soul Colors” and “Life Stories”, new tours and concerts are scheduled in Italy, Austria, Croatia, and the Emirates.

Mosaik Magazine, December issue 2018
“Kulturmosaik” Antonija Pacek: “IL MARE“
At the beginning of December, the new album “IL MARE” of the pianist and composer Antonija Pacek will be released. A sea of different thoughts, feelings, but also sad moments, have inspired the artist to create the current CD with 13 new compositions.
The pianist and composer, with Croatian roots, took the past months to process every day’s challenges and with it connected feelings, as well as some friendship confrontations, the enduring influence of a great loss and the sense of expectations – interweaving these feelings into her emotional music.
In her third album “IL MARE”, she has designed, interpreted and interwoven musical visions and feeling worlds. A song “Aloft”, for example, was inspired by a film and arranged with cello. “The Sea” will be presented with the vocals of Barbara Kier, as a bonus track. These songs will be available worldwide since the beginning of December through the most important digital streaming and download platforms.

“When the soul plays piano”
Antonija Pacek will be playing concerts in Italy, Croatia, Austria and the Emirates – her previous concerts were successful. International press reviews confirm the musical passion with which the pianist reflects her soulful world. “Compositions that tell stories and awaken emotions – when the soul plays piano”, for examples, Klassik Radio (Vienna) reports. L’Arena (Verona): “’The Sea’ has got its goal: after a couple of hours, the succession of chords remains in mind, similar to the cyclical movement of the waves.”
Information about the artist under: www.antonijapacek.com

Interview for Music Map Magazine, Milan, 20.4.2018 by Edda Forlini
ANTONIJA PACEK “Composing can be a healing process when facing great losses…”

You arrived at the Teatro Dal Verme, the Temple of Music, where the best musicians of the world performed: how did you feel?        “Dear Edda, thank you very much for your good question. I felt a lot of respect and joy in the Dal Verme Theater, where many famous musicians also played. The atmosphere was very beautiful and exciting. the construction of the Theater is fantastic, right in the heart of downtown Milan. Thanks to my fantastic public relations manager, Elisabetta Castiglioni, the concert was sold out.”

In Italy you have arrived and you have been compared to Ludovico Einaudi. What do you think of this comparison? “Frankly, it was a great honor for me. Ludovico Einaudi is a very accomplished and great composer. It could be that people and music critics perceive some similarities in the way we compose music: it is minimalist, melodic and romantic. An the atmosphere is also very meditative (listeners can interpret their personal musical imagination in their head by listening to our music; they can experience certain emotions…).”

Do you listen to his music? “When I sometimes find the time in my demanding daily schedule, because of my work and taking care of three children, I like to listen to his earlier woks. My favorite compositions of Einaudi are “Le Onde”, “Una Mattina”, “Divernire”, “Fly”, and “I Giorni”, “Spring”, “Night” are also very beautiful.”

At what age did you make your first song? “At the age of 11. My music teacher was somewhat brutal with me and I composed a song called “Tamed Courage”. It was the second song I performed in my concerts in Italy. But interestingly enough, I enrolled myself in the music school completely alone. It was a strange sight. A determined six-year-old girl just walked into a public music school office alone to ask a confused administrator if she could do the music tests in order to learn to play the piano. When the administrator asked the girl where her mother or father was, she replied: “they are working”. “But how did you get here alone”,asked the administrator. And the girl replied, “I live just around the corner, could I try to play the piano now, please?”

What inspires you when you compose and play your music? “Daily life and childhood. People around me, some situations or even books that I read. Music can also be my therapy when I am sand or stressed. My music generally tells honest stories, which are directly inspired by various events. I regard the composing as a healing process when I faced some great losses in my life.” (Antonija refers to the losses of her both parents).

How was the new album “Life Stories” born? You got off with the new single “Ecstasy” (DJ Roberto Bedross, who had on one remix 2 mill. views, and singer Barbara Kier)… “Actually Roberto Bedross had over 2 million views on You Tube for his remix on “Una Mattina” – a composition by Ludovico Einaudi. Roberto loved my album “Life Stories” and we decided that he would remix my song “Ecstasy” for which I also happened to have lyrics. So I sent him the recording on the piano and I recorded a singer, Barbara Kier, and he made the final (beautiful) production. The song was at no. 6 in the pop/dance charts of Polish music radio. It has been broadcasted in five countries so far. Roberto Bedross is currently producing my song “Strong” for which I have also written the lyrics. Stay tuned for the new pop song… Thanks!”

L’Arena newspaper, Verona, 18.4.2018
Pacek, revival of the great classics (of below tracks)
If the success of a concert can also be seen from the copies of the discs sold at the end, then the people at the Santissima Trinità theater, queuing to buy the CDs, speak in favor of Antonija Pacek. The pianist of Croatian origins, residing in Vienna, held last night in Verona the penultimate (second to last from four) recital of her first ever Italian tour. Grouped by themes and inspiration, the pieces composed and played only at the piano are fluid, with a strong melodic connotation, so much so that they can be singed at first listening. On all, “Ecstasy”, is the song with the most accentuated rhythm. Not surprisingly, a remix version was also published, “pumped” by a DJ like Roberto Bedross who had already put his hands on a piece by Ludovico Einaudi, turning it into a wonderful dance piece. The name of the Turin composer is the first that comes to mind listening to Pacek, but the Croatian artist – who is a psychologist by profession, graduated in Cambridge – has different influences that are not limited to the author of “Divenire”.
In “Restless”, “without rest, tireless”, an emblematic piece of her production, taken from the debut album, “Soul Colors”, you can even notice a traditional Neapolitan song Cantabile – it’s just a suggestion that is not visible in the title, but it makes explicit the vast field from which Antonija draws her inspiration. The great classical composers are influencing her, in below tracks, but it is also perhaps pop music there as well. “Loving you”, apart from sharing the title with an Elvis Presley classic – but there is no melodic relationship – this is another song dedicated to her husband (“The first and only love of my life”, she revealed) and expresses her love in a romantic phrase, as opposed to another song that seems to be more influenced by pop music. It is not uncommon during her performance to remember the title of the song: the sequences of notes inspire the listener, also influenced by the title. As in “Reaching Sky”, the words of the title naturally flow within music. The verse floats between echoes of Carole King, Neil Young and Elton John: it would be a remarkable pop ballad. Even more convincing are the unreleased tracks, which will be part of the next album, the third after “Life Stories” published in 2017. As a starter of her new work, Antonija offers “Before the Storm” and “The Sea”, with the second that focuses the lens: after a couple of hours the succession of chords remains in mind, similar to the cyclical movement of the waves. • © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Giulio Brusati

Fedelta 03/2018

Some call it great music for the cinema, others call it neoclassical, others still believe it needs words to be interpreted. Beyond labelling and classification of the compositions-they are written and performed by Antonija Pacek, romantic with a weak spot for minimalism. The compositions certainly connect to the deepest emotions of the listener. From April for the first time in Italy, she will share her melodies live as she will be on Italian tour with four dates. The pianist and composer is defined by the German press “a female response to Ludovico Einaudi” and “music beautiful as a radiant jewel” and will be playing concerts in Rome on April 13th (Teatro di Villa Torlonia), going to Milano on April 14th (Teatro Dal Verme), in Verona on April 15th (Teatro SS. Trinita) and in Torino on April 16th (Circolo dei lettori).

Il Nuovo Corriere March, 27th 2018

“a female response to Ludovico Einaudi”

Antonija Pacek inserted in Carnet Verona
of April 2018.

The 1st tour of Croatian artist, graduated from Cambridge, with piano neoclassical minimalist music similar to Satie and Keith Jarrett – on April 15th in Verona

DONNA MODERNA
Antonija Pacek
Who is it? The press has already renamed her “the female response to Ludovico Einaudi”. Croatian, 43, wrote the first track at age 11, but because of the war, she began composing full-time almost 20 years later, when her husband gave her her first piano.

Life Paths program from Radio Klassik Vienna, broadcasted on Jan. 5th and 7th as well as on March 4th.

Gerlinde Wallner interviewed Antonija.

Find an excerpt of the interview on my blog.

Ezrome blog, March 2018

Antonija Pacek: first tour in Italy from a neoclassical pianist

Full article can be read: here.

Radio Klassik, January 2018

When the Soul Plays Piano

Antonija’s piano music and interview was broadcasted on Radio Klassik in Vienna, Austria

About the Composer and Pianist Antonija Pacek

Antonija Pacek grew up in a Croatian city, Osijek. Already as a kindergarten child, she knew that “the piano is my instrument”. At home as a child, she fantasized that a kitchen table were her piano, and she would let her little fingers dance over the surface of the table –the money was missing for a real piano. Later her mother took three jobs to simultaneously work on in order to afford a piano for her child. Antonija Pacek’s way to become a musician was anything but a straightforward path: it followed a war, fleeing to Vienna, a psychology study at the University of Cambridge. Today Antonija Pacek plays piano again and composes. She published two CDs with her compositions: “Soul Colours” and “Life Stories” – compositions that tell stories and awaken emotions. It feels as if Antonija Pacek’s soul itself takes place in front of the piano and the very inner, deepest side of her is audible.

The Interview and the story by Gerlinde Wallner

RYL Dec. 2017, Issue no. 34

Written by Anima Mundi
Photography from Antonija Pacek’s archive

 

“Music – Infinite Love”

Antonija Pacek, a psychologist, pianist, composer. This talented young lady has been building her professional career in Vienna. Direct and immediate, Antonija courageously entered the world of music, aware of her talents. Already in her childhood, she was surrounded by music, beauty, notes, which she has interwoven into her soul, and this has been coming out of her soul.

Her newest album “Life Stories” was published on June 11th, 2017, and it is an honest collections of her original songs. In “Life Stories”, Antonija chose compositions that signify her struggle with the deep losses as well as her travel toward happiness, joy and love of life itself.

“Life Stories” and the pop/dance version of the song “Ecstasy” is available on our market

on streaming and downloading platforms such as iTunes, Tidal, Spotify, Google Music.

 

Full article on: https://antonijapacek.com/ryl-dec-2017-issue-no-3/

Webster University Website, from Sept 2017

This interview with Carna from Webster University offers an exclusive look into what went into the making of the album ‘Life Stories’.

You find the full interview on the following pages:

Webster University Interview

http://webster.ac.at/article/alumna-album-life-stories

Mosaik, from Sept 2017

 

“The aim of my music is to move you.”

Antonija Pacek, mother of three, originally comes from Croatia. After living for several years in Vienna, she eventually settled down in Oberwaltersdorf. Although the young mother studied psychology in Vienna and Cambridge, her passion is music. Already as a small child, she did everything possible to learn to play the piano. This Summer her second neoclassical album, Life Stories, has been released – a delight for the ear and food for the soul!

Leipziger Volkszeitung, from 12.4.2014

So now there is a counterpart, a female response to Einaudi. Her name is Antonija Pacek, who comes from an Eastern European war-shaken country, studied Psychology, went to Vienna and published her debut CD now at the age of 39. As a pianist, she is a romanticist with a soft spot for minimalism. The way she dabs the piano keys is particularly beautiful, dreamy, nearer to fine pop than classical paragons. Everything carries an appealing easiness, everything flows into the big atmosphere of sense of well-being, which one should not scrutinize in an undermining way. Antonija Pacek composes her piano pieces herself, one composition goes there farther where the previous finished. It does not require the attitude of those who appreciate complex compositions, because the music gets directly to listeners’ hearts.

PlattenladennTipps, from 7. April 2014

Antonija Pacek//Soul Colours (New CD, Music Tips)

Vienna-based pianist and composer, Antonija Pacek, derives her music skills from the life elements. On her album ‘Soul Colours’ alternate buoyant melodies such as ‘Restless’, or melancholy-prone compositions such as ‘Mady in Agony’ or ‘Once in a Wintertime’. The compositions mirror our emotions, sensations and sentiments in a graceful manner.

‘Soul Colours’ features the distillation of a lifelong search of the musician for immediate artistic expression. Her notes, minimalistic, and yet spaciously enriching, penetrate the ear with a nonchalant lightness. Antonija Pacek excellently understands how to strike the chords with special intensity. Her unobtrusive music concept characterizes her piano playing, by which she prompts her compositions with sensuality and passionation. Pacek considers well a balance between notated and improvised parts, which ensure an additional suspense for her soulful miniatures.

‘Soul Colours’ is beautiful like a radiant jewel.

ARD, EINSWEITERgefragt from 25th April 2014

 

Antonija Pacek being interviewed about her new Album “Soul Colours” from “EINSWEITERgefrat” at TV Station ARD “Einsfestival”.