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The Serbian pianist, Miroslav [Misha] Dacić [Dacic] (pronounced "Datsich"), was born into a family with a musical tradition, and first became established in the public eye when at age 11 he performed Haydn’s D major concerto under noted Yugoslav conductor Mladen Jagusht. By this time he had already decided to dedicate his life to piano, and was enrolled in the class of J. Kerkovitch at the Nish elementary music school. He completed only his first two years of music secondary school under the tutelage of D. Atchimovitch before enrolling in 1994 in the class of Professor Kemal Gekich at the Art Academy of the University of Novi Sad, where he also worked extensively with Alan Fraser.
Misha Dacić has numerous first prizes from various competitions, such as Yugoslav regional piano competitions in 1988, 1989 and 1991, the First Piano Competition in Novi Sad Yugoslavia in 1992, and the Yugoslavia Competition for Young Pianists in 1993 and 1994. Here in 1993, the 50th anniversary of Sergei Rachmaninov’s death, he also won a special first prize for the best interpretation of works by that composer. As well in 1993 he won the silver medal and another special prize for the best performance of a Rahmaninov work at the International Piano Competition in Novi Sad. In 2002 he won top honours at the Premio Silvio Bengalli Competition for Pianists in Piacenza, Italy.
In addition to winnig many competitions and awards within his native Yugoslavia, Misha Dacić was the youngest competitor at the 1996 Liszt Competition in Budapest. His appearance there prompted Lazar Berman, a member of the jury, to invite Misha to the Music Institute of Imola, Italy, where he studied under Lazar Berman from 1997 to 2003. In Italy he has performed regularly in cities such as Milan, Venice, Messina, Syracuse, Stresa and Modena, and his 2002-2003 season included cities such as Milan in October 2002 and Bologna in February 2003. He was invited to play at the Festival in Lecce, Italy in July 2003 and at the Martha Argerich Festival, in Bologna, in June of that year.
In the summer of 2002, Misha Dacić and Alan Fraser went into the studio at the Art Academy of Novi Sad to make a demo CD. In only 6 hours of recording and an intensive 18-hour editing session the next day, they came up with the material found on Alan Fraser's mp3.com sound file page. Later that year Gisella Brodsky, Director of the Miami International Piano Festival, listened to that recording with tears in her eyes and immediately invited Misha to make his American debut at her Festival.
After his stunning American debut at the Discovery Series of the Sixth Miami International Piano Festival in May 2003, Misha Dacić quickly became a sought after soloist throughout the USA and was featured at Ravinia's Rising Stars Series in Chicago, followed by performances at the Gilmore Keyboard Festival Rising Stars Recital Series in Kalamazoo, the Xavier University Classical Piano Series in Cincinnati, The Golandsky Institute International Piano Festival at Princeton University, Frederic Chopin Society's Concert Series in Minneapolis and the Leschetitzky Piano Series in New York.
Internationally, Misha Dacić performed at the “Martha Argerich Project Festival” in Lugano in 2003, Switzerland, and at the Miami International Piano Festival in Lecce, Italy. He has also performed at Festivals in Guatemala City and Antigua, at the International Antalya Piano Festival in Turkey, and as a soloist with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra for the Tourmaline Pianist's Series at the Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro, and with the National Symphony of Panama at the ASM Festival in Panama City. In 2007, Dacic performed at Steinway Hall, in the Miami International Piano Festival with the S. Rachmaninov concertos and in Guatemala, Panama, Jamaica, Italy and Spain.
Forthcoming engagements include several duo recitals with the violinist Ida Haendel under the auspices of the United Nations, a Tango project with the Grammy award winning pianist/composer Pablo Ziegler, and a collaboration with the Argentinean bandoneon player Hector del Curto.
Misha Dacić is a recipient of the support of Patrons of Exceptional Artists. On the basis of his appearance at the Miami International Festival of New Artists in 203, he was invited to study at the University of Miami, also under full scholarship. He now lives in Miami and continues to study with Alan Fraser. He is currently also studying piano with Professor Frank Cooper and jazz with Professor Phillip Strange. Kemal Gekic, Frank Cooper, Lazar Berman and Valentina Berman, and Jorge Luis Prats are counted among his mentors. |
