Luka Šulić

Luka Šulić (born 25 August 1987) is a Slovenian-Croatian cellist.[1][2][3] He was a member of 2CELLOS, along with Stjepan Hauser.

Luka Šulić
Luka Šulić in 2017
Born (1987-08-25) 25 August 1987
Maribor, SR Slovenia, Yugoslavia
OccupationCellist
Spouse
Tamara Zagoranski
​
(m. 2017)​
Children4

Early life

Šulić was born in Maribor, Slovenia. Šulić's father, Božo (through whom Šulić has Croatian citizenship in addition to Slovenian), is from Dubrovnik, Croatia, and his mother, Alja, is from Izola, Slovenia.[2] His father is also a cellist, and many members of his family are associated with music.[4]

Career

Luka Šulić performs throughout the world, combining solo classical performances with those with his fellow 2CELLOS partner.[5] He has won a series of top prizes at prestigious international music competitions, including the first and special prizes at the VII Lutosławski International Cello Competition in Warsaw (2009),[6][7] first prize at the European Broadcasting Union “New Talent” Competition (2006)[8] and first prize at the Royal Academy of Music Patron’s Award in Wigmore Hall (2011).[9]

He has given a number of solo and chamber music appearances in Europe, South America and Japan in major venues such as Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Musikverein and Konzerthaus.[9][10][11] As a soloist he appeared with orchestras such as Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic, Russian Symphony Orchestra and others.[6][12][13]

Šulić began his musical education in Maribor when he was five years old. His father taught him how to play in the beginning and his mother practiced a lot with him.[14] When he was fifteen, he became one of the youngest students ever to enter the Music Academy in Zagreb in the class of Professor Valter Dešpalj, where he graduated aged only 18.[15] He continued his education in Vienna with Professor Reinhard Latzko.[16] Šulić finished his master's degree with Mats Lidstrom at the Royal Academy of Music in London in 2011.[17]

His mainstream success began when he decided to join forces with his friend and a former cello rival Stjepan Hauser. In January 2011, they uploaded a cello version of “Smooth Criminal” by Michael Jackson onto YouTube. Within just a few weeks, their video went viral, receiving over 7 million views almost immediately.[18][19][20] This led to a record deal with Sony MASTERWORKS and an invitation to join Elton John on his worldwide tour.[21][22]

The duo has appeared on national TV shows like The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Ellen DeGeneres Show (twice in six months), the Bachelor Wedding (Sean and Catherine), Today with Kathy Lee and Hoda and others internationally, such as Stefan Raab’s TV total in Germany.[23][24][25][26]

In January 2012, they appeared as the special musical guests on Fox’s hit TV series Glee where they performed “Smooth Criminal” in the Michael Jackson tribute episode. This was the first time that an instrumental duo had performed on the show in a guest spot.[27] The 2Cellos’ arrangement of the song, which featured actors Grant Gustin and the late Naya Rivera, debuted at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 Digital Songs Chart and landed the 2Cellos album in the Top 100.[28]

From 2011 through 2018, as a member of 2CELLOS, Šulić has released 5 albums of assorted musical genres, from pop and rock to classical and movie themes.

After the 2CELLOS US tour ending in 2019, Luka Šulić took a break from the duo to work on independent projects. He released an album Vivaldi: The four Seasons which peaked at #1 in November 2019.[29] It was recorded in Rome with the Archi dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia, conducted by Maestro Luigi Piovano. Luka said he has loved Vivaldi’s Four Seasons since he was a child and heard it on a tape in his parents' car. He always wanted to play the pieces on the cello. It took him two years to arrange the pieces for cello, note by note, while he was on tour with 2CELLOS. He chose Rome for recording as Vivaldi was Italian. He hopes the album will bring classical music a wider audience.[30][14][31]

Personal life

On 7 July 2017, then 29-year-old Luka Šulić married Tamara Zagoranski in an intimate ceremony in Slovenia. The pair had been together since 2015 and in December 2016 got engaged whilst on holiday in New Zealand.[32] They have two sons and a daughter together.

Discography
  • Vivaldi: The four seasons (2019, Sony Masterworks)
  • along with Stjepan Hauser as 2CELLOS
    Main article: 2Cellos discography

Awards

Orders


Competitions
  • 1st Prize at the Royal Academy of Music Patron’s Award in Wigmore Hall (2011)[9]
  • 1st Prize for Schumann Cello Concerto and Special Prize for the best performance of Lutoslawski's Sacher Variations at VII Witold Lutosławski International Cello Competition in Warsaw (2009)[6]
  • 1st Prize at European Broadcasting Union "New Talent" Competition (2006)[8]

References
  1. "Biography". Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  2. "Gloria - EKSKLUZIVNO / Luka Šulić i Stjepan Hauser: Dečki od milijun dolara" (in Croatian). November 21, 2011. Archived from the original on November 24, 2011.
  3. "Čelist Luka ponosen, da je Slovenec". Slovenskenovice.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  4. "Luka Šulić virtuoz na violončelu; Pozdrav mojim Pilarima". www.dubrovacki.hr (in Croatian). Dubrovački vjesnik. Archived from the original on May 11, 2011.
  5. "2Cellos join Elton John for Harrogate concert". www.harrogate-news.co.uk. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
  6. "Luka Sulic Croatian cellist wins the first prize in Warszaw, Poland 2009". www.croatia.org. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
  7. "Hrvatskom violončelistu 1. nagrada u Varšavi". www.slobodnadalmacija.hr (in Croatian). Slobodna Dalmacija.
  8. "New Talent - History of Prize Winners". www.ebu.ch. Archived from the original on October 11, 2009. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  9. "Royal Academy of Music Patrons Award Prizewinners Recital". www.wigmore-hall.org.uk. Archived from the original on July 23, 2012.
  10. "Peter Fancovic, Luka Sulic, Jelger Blanken - Beethoven, Chopin, Franck, Liszt, Martinu, Tsjaikovski in Amsterdam". www.eventful.com.
  11. "Crossover Classical Music Sensation 2CELLOS Play Yamaha". www.news.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013.
  12. "On the Spring Board - Press Review of the EuroRadio Youth Concert". www.emcy.org. Archived from the original on March 31, 2016. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
  13. "Mladi violočelist Luka Šulić uz Australski komorni orkestar". www.vecernji.hr (in Croatian).
  14. Interview on Svijet klasike: 2CELLOS - Separately
  15. "Koncert: LUKA ŠULIĆ (1987) – violončelo". www.matica.hr (in Croatian). Matica hrvatska. Archived from the original on December 22, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  16. "Mariborski čelist bo z Eltonom Johnom nastopil tudi v Izoli". Radiotelevizija Slovenija (in Slovenian). MMC RTV Slovenija. May 9, 2011. Retrieved June 10, 2011.
  17. "2Cellos". www.yamaha.com.
  18. Marija Lokas (January 24, 2011). "VIDEO: Stjepan i Luka postali hit na YouTube u samo dva dana. I Hollywood je poludio za njima" [VIDEO: Stephen and Luka became a hit on YouTube in just two days. Hollywood went crazy for them]. Jutarnji list (in Croatian).
  19. "Hrvatski čelisti hit na YouTubeu" [Croatian cellists hit on YouTube]. Jutarnji List (in Croatian). January 24, 2011. Archived from the original on May 4, 2011.
  20. Glas Istre (January 23, 2011). ""Smooth criminal" na violončelu hit na YouTubeu" ["Smooth criminal" on cello hit on YouTube]. Novi list (in Croatian). Archived from the original on January 25, 2011.
  21. "Sony Masterworks". www.sonymasterworks.com/. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  22. "The Cello Shredders". www.online.wsj.com/. January 13, 2012. Archived from the original on September 8, 2012.
  23. "- YouTube". www.youtube.com/.
  24. "- YouTube". www.youtube.com/.
  25. "2Cellos – "Smooth Criminal" 2/7 Leno". The Audio Perv. February 8, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  26. "2 Cellos – Smooth Criminal (Aus Sendung #1641)". TV Total (in German). June 15, 2011. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  27. Paul Cashmere (February 9, 2012). "2Cellos Score A Hit From Glee". Noise 11. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  28. Sony MASTERWORKS (February 8, 2012). ""Smooth Criminal" Single Featuring 2Cellos and Glee's Grant Gustin and Naya Rivera Debuts At #10 on the Billboard Digital Songs Chart" (Press release). Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  29. "Chart History: Luka Sulic". billboard. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  30. "Superstar Cellist Luka Šulić Announces His First Solo Classical Recording". September 20, 2019.
  31. Luka Šulić - Med rockom in klasiko / TDD predstavlja
  32. "[PHOTOS] 2CELLOS Star Ties the Knot". July 10, 2017.
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