The Duo Kumpare – Vešligaj has been successfully collaborating for 10 years and has won numerous awards and recognitions, such as the 1st prize at the international competition Concorso “Musica insieme,” the 3rd prize at the international chamber music competition Concorso “Giulio Rospigliosi” in 2019, the Premio Campus delle Arti in 2019 in Italy, the award for the best performance of a domestic composer at the Lions Club “Grand Prix” international competition in Rijeka in 2013, the 1st prize at the international competition of the Italian Union “Istria Nobilissima” in 2013, and a special award for the (premiere) performance of a domestic composer in the Vinko Lesić concert series in Split in 2017 (Branko Okmaca’s Sonatina).

The duo stands out with performances in the “Glazbene staze” concert series at the Small Hall of Lisinski (2014 and 2015), the Vinko Lesić series in Split (2015 and 2017), and the Darko Lukić series in Zagreb. They are particularly noted for full-length concerts at the Small Hall of Lisinski (recorded for Croatian Radio) and at the Rector’s Palace in Zadar (recorded for Radio Zadar). They place a special emphasis on studying and performing works by Croatian composers. Kumpare and Vešligaj completed their artistic development program in chamber music at the “Accademia Musicale Santa Cecilia” in Bergamo and the “Accademia Lorenzo Perosi” in Biella under the mentorship of the renowned Russian pedagogue Konstantin Bogino. In 2019, they released their debut album “Cro-classic-ethno,” featuring works by Croatian composers for clarinet and piano, under the Menart record label.

David Kumpare was born in 1992 in Pula, where he graduated in the class of Branko Škare. He earned his clarinet degree at the Music Academy in Zagreb under the guidance of Assoc. Prof. Davor Reba. He spent a semester on internal exchange under the tutelage of Asst. Prof. Davorin Brozić. He has attended numerous masterclasses and training sessions with distinguished clarinetists and educators such as Tadej Kenig, Radovan Cavallin, Ante Grgin, Jože Kotar, Mate Bekavac, Chen Halevi, Sean Osborne, and Nikola Srdić. He achieved notable results in solo and chamber competitions (HDGPP – regional and national, the international “Daleki akordi” competition in Split, and the international Woodwind & Brass competition). He collaborates as an external associate with the Opera Orchestra of the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc and the B.B. Opera. He works as a clarinet teacher and conductor of the wind orchestra at the Ivan Matetić Ronjgov Music School in Rijeka.

Sandro Vešligaj was born in 1991 in Pula. He graduated from the piano and theory departments of the Ivan Matetić Ronjgov Music School in Pula. He completed his undergraduate and graduate piano studies at the Rijeka department of the Zagreb Music Academy under the mentorship of Assoc. Prof. Vladimir Babin, and in 2016, he completed his postgraduate specialist artistic studies at the Zagreb Music Academy, earning the title of University Specialist in Music. He has participated in and won numerous awards at national and international competitions (HDGPP 2007, 2011, 2013 (soloist), 2008 and 2011 (chamber ensembles), Young Virtuosi in Zagreb 2010, Pianoforte-Poreč 2010, Chopin Golden Ring in Slovenia 2010, Lions Grand Prix-Rijeka 2011, Premio Marizza Trieste finalist in 2013). As a soloist, chamber musician, or artistic collaborator, he has performed in significant concert venues across Croatia and in Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and France. He is the recipient of the Knowledge Oscar for the academic year 2011/2012, awarded for excellence by the Ministry of Science, Education, and Sports. In 2013, he was named the best undergraduate student at the Zagreb Music Academy, and in 2014, he was named one of the top graduates of the year. He is the head of the Pula branch of the Croatian Society of Music Artists (HDGU) and is employed as a senior assistant at the Music Academy of Juraj Dobrila University in Pula.