Dimitrije

Vasiljevi is an award-winning jazz pianist and composer who has been

hailed as a strong jazz player with an impressive vocabulary and a powerful modern
improviser who shows promise that he will be a new voice in modern jazz (Tony
Germain - Berklee College of Music). His music, iridescent and captivating, a cascade
of weaving twists and turns (All About Jazz), represents an innovative combination
of the gentle flavor of European jazz with intricate musical landscapes full of exotic
rhythms and sophisticated harmony. From his native Serbia, where he was a
member of prominent jazz ensembles and performed extensively throughout
Europe, Dimitrijes journey has taken him to Berklee College of Music in Boston
where he received a number of prestigious awards including the Jazz Performance
Award and Piano Department Achievement Award. Dimitrije then completed his
Master's degree in jazz performance at New York University Steinhardt, where he
was also an adjunct professor of jazz piano. Currently, he is a doctoral candidate
majoring in jazz performance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
School of Music under the mentorship of John "Chip" Stephens. Dimitrije has been
awarded a "Creative and Performing Arts Fellowship" at the start of his DMA
program and is currently holding a Teaching Assistantship position at the same
university. Dimitrije is performing extensively at jazz venues and concert halls in
New York City and Chicago area and in in winter 2015 he will tour the US with a jazz
quintet APEX. In spring 2014, he had a very successful solo piano concert at
Carnegie Recital Hall in NYC, as well as concerts at the United Nations in NYC and
Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. In December 2014 he performed twice at
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana, IL and In April 2013, he released
his debut album as a leader "The Path of Silvan" consisting entirely of his original
compositions and in July 2014 he released his second album "Metaphor"- the
original music for solo jazz piano. In 2008, Mr. Vasiljevi has won both, a third jury
prize and the audience prize at the prestigious Montreux Solo Jazz Piano
Competition in Switzerland. Earlier this year he was a finalist of both, Luminarts
Jazz Competition in Chicago and Kate Neal Kinley Memorial Fellowship
Competition. Dimitrije performed with the jazz greats such as Joe Lovano, Chris
Potter, Charles Chip McNeill, Tito Carrillo, Marko Djordjevic, Klemens Marktl, and
Brad Shepik, among others. Mr. Vasiljevi has been described by jazz masters as:
a rare example of a musician whose qualities - sensibility, virtuosity, harmonic and
melodic invention - all converge towards the same point: a music of deep and
rewarding beauty. (Jean-Michel Pilc)
Possessing tremendous command and control of the piano - a contemporary pianist
to watch out for!" (Martin Bejerano)
his music is beautiful, full of bright melodies and strong rhythms, and his command
over the piano is astounding. (Chris Potter)