Rita Kinka

The Serbian pianist, Rita Kinka gave her first recital at the age of 13 in 1975. She completed her master studies at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade (prof. Dušan Trbojević, 1983) and Academy of Arts in Novi Sad (Arbo Valdma, 1981). She continued her master studies at the Julliard School of Music in New York (class of György Sándor) thanks to the scholarship of Gina Bachauer foundation, which she won at the international Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels in 1987 as the most promising young artist. She completed her studies at Juilliard in 1989.

Rita Kinka has regularly performed in all the former Yugoslavian music centers and also in USA, Australia, Russia, Germany, Israel, Taiwan, Belgium, Croatia, Slovenia, Spain, Canada, Holland, France, Hungary, Bulgaria, Italy, England and Czechoslovakia. She has given over 700 recitals and performed as a soloist with orchestras in almost all European countries, as well as in the USA, Taiwan, Israel, Canada and Australia. Her repertoire ranges from works of J.S. Bach to the contemporary composers.

Rita Kinka has received a number of awards at the international piano competitions in Senigallia (1979), Vercelli (Viotti, 1981), Belgrade (Jeunesses Musicales, 1983), Zwickau (Robert Schumann, 1985), Sydney (1985), Munich (ARD, 1987), Bordeaux (Golden medal at the Festival, 1988), Washington (1990), Brussels (Queen Elisabeth, 1991) and Orlean (20th Century Piano Music Competition, Samson Francoise award, 1996). She was the first winner of the European Parliament Prix Femmes d`Europe reward for the best European interpreter of classical music, which was awarded to her in Brussels in 1991.

Rita Kinka made recordings for radio and television in many countries (Yugoslavia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, Austria, Germany, Belgium, France, Russia, Estonia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, England, Greece, Spain, Israel, Canada, USA, Australia and Taiwan). She made three CDs for the Digital Media Production (Brussels) and PGP RTS.

Rita Kinka also works as a professor of piano at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad.