DIRIGENT
Predrag Gosta has been recognized as one of the most interesting and multi-faceted conductors of his generation. He is the artistic director of New Trinity Baroque, a widely-acclaimed and recorded period-instrument orchestra in London; the music director and chief conductor of the Gwinnett Ballet Theatre in Atlanta, USA; the artistic director and chief conductor of the New Belgrade Opera and the Makris Symphony Orchestra in Serbia; and the artistic director of the Belgrade Early Music Festival and the Belgrade Baroque Academy. He also served as the assistant conductor of the National Philharmonic in Washington DC and was a faculty member at Oxford College of Emory University in Atlanta.
Gosta was initially trained as a violinist, since the age of six, but later continued his studies in singing, harpsichord and conducting. After starting his studies at the Belgrade Music Academy, he continued his undergraduate education in voice and harpsichord at Trinity College of Music in London, where he received a full scholarship together with a full scholarship from the Leverhulme Trust. Subsequently, he finished postgraduate studies also at Trinity, after which he moved to the United States where he received three Master of Music degrees (in voice, choral and orchestral conducting) at Georgia State University in Atlanta. A recipient of a graduate assistantship and several scholarships - including the prestige Regents Opportunity Scholarship - his further studies in conducting were with Gustav Meier (USA), Jorma Panula (Finland), Colin Metters (UK), Ennio Nicotra (Italy), Alexander Polyanichko, Vladimir Ponkin and Andrei Anikhanov (Russia), Jonathan Brett (England), Dejan Savic (Serbia) and Emmanuel Siffert (Switzerland). Currently, Gosta is conducting doctoral research at the Faculty of Music of the University of Oxford and is a Junior Member of the Christ Church in Oxford. His work focuses on the English opera between 1790 and 1850.
Equally at home with the concert, opera or ballet, Predrag Gosta performed in USA, United Kingdom, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Mexico, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro. He collaborated with artists such as sopranos Evelyn Tubb and Juilliane Baird; mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux; contralto Marijana Mijanovic; baroque violinists Florian Deuter, Ilia Korol, John Holloway, Antoinette Lohmann and Ingrid Matthews; recorder virtuosos Marion Verbruggen, Emma Murphy and Karolina Bäter; harpsichordists Steven Devine and Ottaviano Tenerani; lutenists Anthony Rooley and Michael Fields; baroque trumpet players Justin Bland and Nathaniel Mayfield; and many others. He appeared at festivals such as the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, Boston Early Music Festival and Amherst Early Music Festival in the USA; Dartington International Summer School and Festival in the UK; Sastamala Gregoriana Festival in Finland; Korkyra Baroque Festival and Varaždin Baroque Evenings in Croatia; Budva Theatre Festival in Montenegro; and the Belgrade Early Music Festival in Serbia – to mention a few. His guest conducting engagements include renowned orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Russian National Orchestra in Moscow, the St. Petersburg State Capella "Glinka", the National Philharmonic in Washington DC, and others. He has been engaged as a guest music director in opera houses in Biel and Solothurn (Switzerland), Ruse and in Burgas (Bulgaria), Lexington (KY), Lüneburg (Germany), and his native Belgrade (Serbia), performing operas such as Mozart's "Lucio Silla" and "Mitridate", Puccini's "Madama Butterfly", Handel's "Orlando" as well as Monteverdi's "L'Incoronazione di Poppea" and "L'Orfeo", for which he received the Best Opera Award from the magazine "Musica Classica" as well as the Artist of the Year Award from the Serbian Association of Musicians (UMUS).
Predrag Gosta is an active recording artist with over a dozen recordings to his credit with his period-instrument ensemble New Trinity Baroque (including a critically acclaimed CD of Purcell's opera "Dido & Aeneas"), three with the acclaimed London Symphony Orchestra (produced by the Grammy Award-winning artist Michael Fine and recorded by the Grammy Award-winning engineer Wolf-Dieter Karwatky at the Abbey Road Studios in London), and two with the Makris Symphony Orchestra. As an active educator, he regularly presents masterclasses in historical performance practice and in conducting. Gosta is a member of the Conductor's Guild, the British Harpsichord Society and the Royal College of Organists, among others. He is the President of the Makris Music Society in Washington DC (which promotes the music of composer Andreas Makris), as well as the principal editor of the UrtextEditions.com and the Mediterranean Press.
SELECTIONS FROM THE PRESS:
Mozart: Mitridate, re di Ponto (Theater Solothurn, 13/04/2018)
Solothurner Zeitung, 16/04/2018
...Als Glücksfall für die Produktion erweist sich Predrag Gosta. Der serbisch-US-amerikanische Dirigent gilt als Spezialist für Alte Musik und erarbeitete die schwierigen, barock angelegten Partien mit seinen Sängerinnen äusserst detailliert, folgte ihnen mit dem spritzigen Sinfonie Orchester Biel Solothurn bis in die kleinste Phrasierung. Fazit: Mozarts Jugendwerk und frühe Seria wurde vom Tobs-Ensemble sehens- und hörenswert aufbereitet.
Silvia Rietz
Berner Zeitung, 16/04/2018
...Das Sinfonie Orchester Biel-Solothurn unter der Leitung von Predrag Gosta serviert ein rhythmisch aufgeladenes und tänzerisch-höfisch verspieltes Mozart-Soufflé der Extraklasse bei dem auch die feinen Töne und einzelne Instrumentensoli transparent aufblitzen.
Peter Wäch
Der Stimme der Kritik, 14/04/2018
...Der Eindruck, den die Produktion hervorruft, wäre nicht so nachhaltig, wenn sich nicht eine Riege von Könnern in ihren Dienst gestellt hätte. Das beginnt mit dem sehr beachtlichen Dirigat des Barockspezialisten Predrag Gosta, der bereits bei "Lucio Silla" vor einem Jahr eine Stimme veranlasst hatte, bei seinem Eintritt in den Orchestergarben nach der Pause "Bravo Maestro!" zu rufen. Dieser Ruf sei hiermit für "Mitridate" nachgeholt... Das Sinfonie Orchester Biel Solothurn, erfahren mit dem Stil des jungen Mozart, spielt engagiert, wach und federnd und führt die Zuhörer zu den überraschenden Schönheiten der Komposition mit der Beiläufigkeit souveräner Maestria. Das Orchester in Mailand kann nicht anders geklungen haben als das der Premiere in Solothurn. Jedenfalls nicht besser...
Michel Schaer
Monteverdi: L'Orfeo (New Belgrade Opera / Madlenianum, 18/11/2017)
Musica Classica, 06/02/2018
The Award for the Best Concert Performance in 2017 goes to "L'Orfeo" by Monteverdi, presented by the New Belgrade Opera and Opera-Theatre Madlenianum on November 18, 2017, conducted by Maestro Predrag Gosta.
Aleksandra Paladin
Mozart: Lucio Silla (Theater Solothurn, 21/04/2017; Theater Biel, 08/04/2017)
NZZ am Sonntag, Zürich, 30/04/2017
...Dirigent Predrag Gosta dirigiert Mozarts Frühwerk leichtfüssig und so klug ausgehorcht, dass man die Ohren gar nicht tief genug in den Orchestergraben hineinstecken kann. Das Sinfonieorchester Biel Solothurn nimmt Gostas Ideen begeistert auf...
Christian Berzins
Berner Zeitung, 25/04/2017
...Das Sinfonie-orchester Biel-Solothurn unter der Leitung von Predrag Gosta lässt die Frische dieses selten gespielten Dreiakters in reichen Schattierungen erklingen und wirkt selbst nach zwei Stunden unverbraucht...
Peter Wäch
Solothurner Zeitung, 11/04/2017
Dirigent Predrag Gosta... geleitete das Sinfonie Orchester Biel Solothurn mit Esprit, tänzerischer Dynamik und satten Klangfarben durch die Partitur. Vorwärtsstrebende Musiker im Graben sowie ein homogenes und junges Ensemble auf der Bühne liessen die Produktion auch musikalisch glänzen.
Silvia Rietz
Der Stimme der Kritik, 09/04/2017
...Mit diesem "Lucio Silla" schuf das kleinste Stadttheater der Schweiz den Höhepunkt des Opernjahrs, jedenfalls soweit der Horizont der "Stimme" reicht. Am Champagnertisch treffen sich die Gäste wie in Trance. "Diese Kostüme!", ruft die ehemalige Kostümfrau der Münchner Staatsoper. "Diese Stimmen!", strahlt die Klavierspielerin. "Und erst die Intelligenz, mit der die Räume geschaffen werden!", stellt der Grafiker fest. Man spricht von nichts anderem als vom Glanz dieser Premiere. Dann geht die Vorstellung weiter. Dirigent Predrag Gosta betritt den Orchestergraben. Da ruft eine laut vernehmliche Stimme aus der Galerie: "Bravo, Maestro!" Wenn so viel zusammenkommt, kann man, ohne zu übertreiben, von einem Ereignis reden.
Michel Schaer
Dido and Aeneas (CD, New Trinity Baroque, 2004)
Opera Magazine March 2005
There's clean singing from the choir, and impeccable work from the 13-piece band (including five continuo players). Predrag Gosta shows good musical instincts, and, unlike some period performers, you feel he’s willing to depart from the strict letter of the score if they lead him that way…
Early Music America, October 2009
An excellent 2002 Edition Lilac recording [of Purcell's "Dido & Aeneas"] featuring Predrag Gosta leading the Atlanta-based Chorus and Orchestra of New Trinity Baroque... This is a wonderfully colorful yet always musical performance. It is what Noorman attempted but failed in the Parrott recording. Gosta's ensemble is excellent... the playing is so sensitive and secure. The choral work is excellent, too, with a true sense of character projected by the nameless witches, sailors, and attendants. ...Recording definitely well worth acquiring – a true sleeper.
REPRESENTATIVE OPERATIC REPERTOIRE:
G.F. HANDEL: Acis & Galatea, Orlando, Giulio Cesare, Alcina, Ariodante
C. MONTEVERDI: L’Orfeo, L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria
W.A. MOZART: Lucio Silla, Mitridate, Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte
G.B. PERGOLESI: La Serva Padrona
G. PUCCINI: Madama Butterfly, La bohème
H. PURCELL: Dido and Aeneas, King Arthur, The Fairy Queen
S. STORACE: The Siege of Belgrade
G.PH. TELEMANN: Pimpinone
G. VERDI: La traviata, Un ballo in maschera
