Letizia Ulika Roce, violin
Katja Markotić, mezzosoprano
Alejandro Cordova, guitar
Elena Roce, organs
Conductor: Petar Matošević

G.F. Händel, J.S. Bach, M. Giuliani, O. Respighi, A. Vivaldi,

The Istrian Chamber Orchestra was founded in 2021 on the initiative of young professional musicians with the aim of creating quality artistic content on the Istrian peninsula. The ensemble brings together graduated musicians educated at reputable European institutions, and with its work it fosters high performance standards and a recognizable artistic identity. The repertoire includes works from Baroque to contemporary music, with a special emphasis on domestic authors.The orchestra achieves notable collaborations with prominent Croatian artists and actively contributes to the cultural life of Istria. During 2025, the first concert season was realized in several Istrian cities, with a program dedicated to composers from the period of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and soloist Samanta Stell on the flute. The performance and revitalization of lesser-known works by Istrian authors is also of particular value.Under the artistic leadership of conductor Petar Matošević, the orchestra is continuously developing its sound and program identity. The mission of the ensemble is to enrich the cultural scene of the region and affirm itself as a stable, representative orchestra of the European level.

Petar Matošević (1992) is a conductor, arranger, saxophonist and pedagogue. He has conducted more than 200 concerts across Europe and performs works by contemporary composers. He is the artistic director of the Istrian Chamber Orchestra and the “Midsummer Night’s Dream” festival in Sv. Lovreč. He regularly collaborates with ensembles and orchestras such as Tergeste Ensemble, Filarmonica Friulani, LaRé Orchestra and Naša Sloga Babići. He has collaborated with numerous orchestras, including the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, FVG Orchestra, Orchestra della Magna Grecia and others. He has studied with prominent conductors and graduated in conducting at the Tartini Conservatory in Trieste and music pedagogy in Pula. His performances of world and European premieres, including The Return of Draw Egan, Cassandra, in te dormiva un sogno and Malombra, stand out. He regularly performs at festivals and is a member of the jury at international competitions.

Elena Roce (1994) – the first musician from Istria to obtain professional degrees as both an organist and a singer, with a special focus on early music, and who actively performs programs in which she simultaneously plays and sings. She earned her first Master’s degree in organ in Zagreb, and her second at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (Prof. M. Havinga). At the same institution, in the Early Music Department, she also graduated in singing (Prof. X. Meijer), devoting particular attention to church music, Gregorian chant, rhetoric and historical theatre, as well as historical improvisation.She regularly performs in chamber ensembles and as a soloist with choirs and orchestras, works as a church musician and conductor, teaches vocal technique to choirs, and is also active in pedagogy (professor at Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam).She is the organizer and artistic director of the project “Organum Histriae” together with K. Klarić, and co-organizer of the concert series “Pula classical winter.”

Katja Markotić was born in Zagreb, Croatia where she began her music studies in the class of tenor N. Žunec. She graduated in Graz at ˝Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst˝, specializing in Lied and oratorio, in the class of renowned mezzo-soprano Prof. Ira Malaniuk. She also studied with Prof. F.X. Lukasowsky in Vienna. Besides Croatian authors, K. Markotić’s repertoire includes works by the most significant representatives of the European vocal tradition (Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Mahler, Liszt, Strauss, Rachmaninov). She often performs arias for mezzosoprano (alto) in Bach’s and Händel’s oratorios as well.As a concert soloist she performed with eminent orchestras and chamber ensembles such as The Zagreb Soloists, The Zagreb String Quartet, The String Quartet of Milan, The String Quartet of Venice, The Cremona Soloists, Virtuosi di Praga, The Croatian Chamber Orchestra, The Korean Chamber Orchestra (Seoul), The German Chamber Orchestra Frankfurt, Zagreb chamber orchestra, The Ljubljana Symphonic Orchestra, Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra and Zagreb Symphony Orchestra HRT.She has made her appearance at all major music festivals in the country, as well in Austria, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Slovenia, Spain, Hungary, Poland and Great Britain. She achieved special success with her solo recitals at international festival „Cervantino˝ XXX in Mexico and in Palacio de Bellas Artes (Mexico City).

Alejandro Córdova’s unique style is based on technical mastery, talent, poise, calmness, virtuosity, musicality and thirst for knowledge, along with the sensitivity and experience gained as an international classical performer. He is one of the leading young representatives of Mexican classical guitar on the national and international scene. Born in Córdoba, Mexico in 1986, he began his guitar studies with professor Jesús Peña, and continued at the *Facultad de Música de la Universidad Veracruzana*, studying with renowned professors such as Consuelo Bolio, Massimo Gatte and Alfredo Sánchez. He further improved his skills at the “Francisco Tárrega” Guitar Academy in Pordenone with professor Paolo Pegoraro and received his master’s degree at the “Jacopo Tomadini” Conservatory in Udine with professor Stefano Viola. Among his numerous orchestral performances, performances at the St. Petersburg Palace Festival, at the Hermitage Theater-Museum in St. Petersburg, the White Hall of the Peterhof State Museum and the Novgorod Theater stand out. His talent was recognized by numerous music critics, and he performed as a soloist throughout Europe, the United States and Central America. He released three albums: the first recorded in London with John Taylor, the second in Seville with the publishing house “Contrastes Records” and the third with the publishing house “Naxos”.

Letizia Ulika Roce (2004, Pula) began her musical education at the Ivan Matetić Ronjgov Music School in Pula and graduated in 2026 from the Zagreb Music Academy.She also studied in Budapest through the Erasmus+ program under prof. Adam Banda and prof. Zsófia Környei. She has won numerous first prizes in national and international competitions, two “Oscars of Knowledge,” the Dean’s and Rector’s awards.She has performed with orchestras including the Sarajevo Philharmonic, Mediterranean Youth Orchestra, Orchesterakademie Tirol, Croatian and Zadar Chamber Orchestras, and as a soloist with the Zagreb Philharmonic, Zagreb Soloists, and the Symphony Orchestra of the Zagreb Music Academy. Since 2026, she leads 2 nd violins in the National Opera in Zagreb.