Between Alpine Landscapes and Concert Tradition: Friedrich Gulda School of Music Students at the International Music Competition “Tomaž Holmar”
When young musicians from various countries gather in the northern Italian town of Malborghetto-Valbruna at the end of May, a unique musical atmosphere emerges for several days — focused, international, and shaped by the kind of artistic seriousness that often quietly accompanies major musical development. Now taking place for the 13th time in 2026, the International Music Competition “Tomaž Holmar” belongs to a category of competitions that place less emphasis on sheer virtuosity and more on artistic personality, expressive depth, and musical maturity. On May 24, three young accordionists from the Friedrich Gulda School of Music — Stefan Petkovic, Aleksandar Djuric, and Ivan Tečić — will participate in this international competition.
The accordion, in particular, has experienced a remarkable renaissance within the international concert scene in recent years. Long emancipated from traditional stereotypes, the instrument has firmly established its place within contemporary concert programs, chamber music formations, and international competitions. Competitions such as the “Tomaž Holmar” contribute significantly to making this development visible. Young performers encounter not only an international jury there, but also a wide variety of musical traditions, aesthetic approaches, and concepts of sound culture.
For emerging musicians, participation in such a competition means far more than the competitive aspect itself. It is the experience of engaging musically with colleagues from different countries, questioning interpretative approaches, and further developing one’s own artistic voice under professional conditions. Particularly in a discipline such as accordion performance — which combines high technical precision with sensitive tonal shaping — these developments often emerge in subtle details: in phrasing, in the balance between virtuosity and transparency, or in the ability to sustain musical tension across extended musical arcs.
The fact that several students from the Friedrich Gulda School of Music are represented simultaneously at an international competition of this kind also highlights the quality of an education that is not limited to technical excellence alone. Rather, it reflects an environment in which young musicians are encouraged early on to develop their own artistic language and position themselves within an international musical landscape.
Malborghetto-Valbruna itself provides an almost symbolic setting for this encounter. Nestled between alpine scenery and Italian cultural tradition, the town creates precisely the atmosphere that often defines international musical exchange: concentrated artistic work, spontaneous musical conversations, and the shared understanding that music is always also an act of cultural dialogue.
For admirers of classical music and contemporary interpretative artistry alike, this competition is therefore worth following not only because of its results, but above all because of the young artistic personalities already offering glimpses of where the international musical landscape of the coming years may be headed.
