On Saturday, November 19 at 7pm classical guitar duo Milena Petkovic and Branko Barnic will perform alongside Branden Cravalho. 

Musician Bios: 

Milena Petković and Branko Barnić formed the classical guitar duo “Mediterranean Breeze” in 2013. Milena and Branko finished their bachelor degrees in guitar performance at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, Serbia. They continued their education at “Jacobs School of Music" at Indiana University under the guidance of world renowned guitarist – maestro Ernesto Bitetti. In 2014 they both began studies at University of Minnesota School of Music in the class of Professor Maja Radovanlija. Branko earned his master’s degree and Milena is in her final year of doctoral studies.

Beside regular academic performances, the duo has performed at guitar festivals as well as on various occasions in Serbia, Indiana, and Minnesota. The repertoire of “Mediterranean Breeze” presents a collection of works by contemporary guitar composers such as Roland Dyens, Carlo Domeniconi, Paulo Bellinati, and some Serbian composers including Dušan Bogdanović and Vojislav Ivanović. Popular Brazilian/Latin and Renaissance music also have significant influence on the repertoire of this guitar duo.

Branden Cravalho is an expressive and passionate classical guitarist and instructor. He actively studies and performs works from a wide range of repertoire from renaissance to modern composers. He began as a self-taught electric guitar player, but really grew as a musician when he began studying classical guitar at the Modesto Junior College (MJC) in California under Dr. David Chapman’s tutelage. He has since graduated with an Associate of Arts in Music from MJC and a Bachelor of Music in Guitar Performance from the McNally Smith College of Music with Dr. Eva Beneke. He is currently working on his Master of Music in Guitar Performance at the University of Minnesota with Dr. Maja Radovanlija. He will be performing works from Jorge Morel (1931), Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806-1856), and Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999).