Martina Jembrišak (1995) is a Croatian accordionist, producer, and music manager recognised for „ precision, devotion to details, great musical personality, and sense of musical expression” (Cantus). Martina received the biggest recognition in 2020 when she was awarded the prize Ivo Vuljević which is given to the best young Croatian musician of the year.
Her repertoire spans from baroque to avant-garde, as well as tango, orchestral, and chamber music projects. Martina has expanded the contemporary accordion repertoire through a wide range of commissioning projects and has premiered more than 60 works written especially for her by composers from Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America. Together with flutist Andrea Jelavić and within the Duo Artina, Martina has recorded an album Little Stories which was published in 2021 by Aquarius Records. In 2023, she participated in the new album “25 Years of the String Quartet Rucner,” published by Croatia Records. With cellist Snježana Rucner, she also formed the duo Rucner–Jembrišak, which has performed worldwide.
Martina has played concerts at festivals such as the Hong Kong Contemporary Music Festival, Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Festival Ljubljana, Chopin Piano Fest Prishtina, Tirana VoxBaroque Festival, KotorArt Festival, Carniarmonie, Başkent Kultur Yolu Festivali Ankara, Nei Suoni Dei Luoghi, Mittel Fest, Akordeono festivalis Vilnius, Split Festival, Weltmeister Wednesday Concert Series, Zagreb Piano Duo Festival, Accordion Competition Pula, and many more.
She performed at concert halls CSO Ada Ankara, Altes Rathaus and Yamaha concert hall in Vienna, Konzerthaus Detmold, Dushanbe Opera House, Hyatt Regency Hall in Tashkent, Teatro Louletano in Portugal, Centro Cultural Português in Praia in Cape Verde, SM Sultan Muzaffar Syah Hall Melaka in Malaysia, Ritz Carlton Kuala Lumpur, Arena Zagreb, Hypo Centar, Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb, Croatian National Theatre in Split, Hrvatski Dom Split, Croatian National Theatre in Šibenik, Concert Hall of Kaunas State Philharmonic, Concert Hall of Radio Television Slovenia, Oekolampad Basel, Kiev Composers Society Concert Hall, Routh Hall in Bromsgrove, Katholischen Akademie Schwerte, music academies in Lviv, Warsaw, Gdańsk, Vilnius, Zurich, Bratislava.
Martina’s performances have been featured on Croatian National Television (Good morning, Croatia), Croatian Radio (Od portreta do portreta, Nedjeljni akvarel, Svijet glazbe, Hrvatsko glazbeno stvaralaštvo, Sve najbolje, Na pragu uspjeha), Croatian Radio Television (Eurovision contest of classical music), Slovenian Radio Television (Noč harmonik), Radio WHUP America, and her awards include more than 40 international prizes won in Australia, Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic, and Lithuania. In 2014 and 2015, she received an award from the Dean and Rector of the Juraj Dobrila Academy of Music and University in Pula for her excellent achievements at the competitions and concerts in Croatia and abroad.
She holds lectures at the University of the Arts Zurich (Switzerland), the Mykola Lysenko Music Academy in Lutsk (Ukraine), the Euphonia Festival (Novi Sad), The Arc Festival York (UK), and has performed with the Croatian Radio Television Symphony Orchestra, the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Zagreb Soloists, Junge Sinfoniker Basel, Fryderyk Chopin University Orchestra, and the Chopin University Modern Ensemble with conductors Yi Chen Lin, En Shao, Alan Bjelinski, Maja Metelski, Ulrich Dietsche, and Ignacy Zalewski.
Martina obtained a degree in Concert Performance (Konzertexamen accordion) at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold in Germany in the class of Prof. Maciej Frackiewicz, completed postgraduate studies in Music Management and earned a Master of Music from the Frederic Chopin University of Music in Warsaw in the class of Prof. Klaudiusz Baran, and holds a Bachelor of Music from the Music Academy in Pula, as well as a degree in Production and Audio Engineering from the Academy of Music Production in Zagreb.
“There are always reasons why someone wins in the end. When it comes to a young person who has mastered her instrument impeccably, has dozens of awards, and whose calendar is filled with guest appearances in all parts of the world (so much so that it is difficult to list them all on this occasion), then the jury pauses and recalls the extraordinary performances of the young accordionist Martina Jembrišak, who has managed to cross that magical imaginary line, often unjustifiably filled with prejudices, which separates good accordion playing from raising it to a high interpretive level.” Jeunesses Musicales Croatia, Ivo Vuljević Award
“…when it comes to the accordion, Martina Jembrišak’s performing skills evoke admiration that we tend to express only for the best.” Zdenka Weber, klasika.hr
“…an excellent performance by Martina Jembrišak surely is a great way to get rid of the prejudice that many have towards classical music and elevate its reputation regardless of instrument.” Tomislav Bužić, “Vijenac” magazine
“…alongside her professionalism, one can notice an understanding of the repertoire being played, precision, an eye for detail, great musicianship, as well as a commitment to excellent artistic expression.”
Helena Skljarov, “Cantus” magazine
“…In the hands of Martina Jembrišak they become instruments of wondrous sound, and her musicality and focus in every note played contribute to an exceptional musical experience.”
Concert with Dubrovnik symohiny orchestra
Marija Grazio, Klasika.hr
Martina Jembrišak 