In
my last posting, I featured Stjepan Hauser, world reknown cellist. This
posting is about Luka Sulic-his former rival and now his musical
partner. Here's a short biography of Sulic from Wikipedia
Luka Šulić (born 25 August 1987) is a Croatian-Slovenian cellist.. He is a member of 2CELLOS, along with Stjepan Hauser.
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. His father is also a cellist, and many members of his family are associated with music.
Luka Šulić performs throughout the world combining solo classical performances with those with his fellow 2CELLOS partner. He has won a series of top prizes at prestigious international music competitions, including first and special prize at the VII Lutosławski International Cello Competition in Warsaw (2009), first prize at the European Broadcasting Union “New Talent” Competition (2006) and first prize at the Royal Academy of Music Patron’s Award in Wigmore Hall (2011).
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. As a soloist he appeared with orchestras such as Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic, Russian Symphony Orchestra and others.
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. This led to a record deal with Sony MASTERWORKS and an invitation to join Elton John on his worldwide tour.
The duo has appeared on national TV shows like The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Ellen DeGeneres Show (twice in 6 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
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. 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.
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. It was recorded in Rome with the Archi dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia, conducted by Maestro Luigi Piovano. Luka said, he 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 piece on the cello. It took him 2 years arranging 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 brider audience.
2CELLOS are scheduled to reunite in 2021.
Finally A Blessed Pentecost Sunday to All my Relatives and Readers all over the World.
In case you are not familiar with the word Pentecost:
It is Fifty days after Easter. ( Pentecost literally means “50”) Celebrates: The day the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles, causing them to speak in tongues.
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