Ivan Stefanović was born in Belgrade, former Yugoslavia, and began his violin studies at the age of five. At sixteen, he was accepted as a college student at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with David Cerone, Victor Danchenko, David Updegraff and Cathleen Winkler. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in 1989 and an Artist Diploma in 1991, both with honors, from the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2003, the Cleveland Institute of Music awarded him an Alumni Achievement Award “in recognition of outstanding accomplishments in the fields of Violin Orchestral and Chamber Music Performance.”

Mr. Stefanović joined the second violin section of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 1991 under David Zinman, at the age of 21, moving up to a third chair position a year later. In 2004, Yuri Temirkanov named him Assistant principal second violin. He was then named Associate principal second violin by Marin Alsop in 2012.

As a soloist and chamber musician, Mr. Stefanović has won many first prizes in local and national competitions in Yugoslavia. He has performed numerous times as a soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of Radio and TV Belgrade and the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra. He has made live recordings for Radio and TV Belgrade, Radio Yugoslavia and WCLV in Cleveland, in addition to numerous solo and chamber music recitals in Yugoslavia, Spain, and the United States.

Some of the reviews of his performances include: “The surprise star was Stefanović...breathtaking agility”- Portland Press Herald (Maine) “Deftly virtuosic and musically compelling”- Cleveland Plain Dealer “Golden tone and tender phrasing; considerable technical flair” - The Baltimore Sun

Mr. Stefanović is Acting concertmaster of the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, a baroque violinist in Pro Musica Rara, and a co-founder and co-Artistic Director of “Chamber Music by Candlelight,” a series featuring BSO members. He is a violin teacher and chamber music coach, and conducts orchestra sectionals, at both the Preparatory Department of the Peabody Conservatory of Music and Baltimore School for the Arts. He has conducted master classes in the United States and Japan, and is a member of the Clipper Mill Quartet.

At the invitations of their respective Music Directors, Ivan has served numerous times as Guest Concertmaster with Ft. Wayne Philharmonic and Symphony Orchestra Augusta (GA). He has served on the faculty as a coach, soloist and conductor at Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, Peabody Utah Summer Music Festival and School, and Peabody Chamber Week. He was twice chosen to be a member of the All-Star Orchestra, comprised of the best orchestral players in the country, in PBS broadcasts.

Mr. Stefanović plays on a violin made by Nicholas Lupot in 1810, on a generous loan from the private collection of the family of Marin Alsop.