Born and raised in Guatemala City, Timothy Durkovic began his piano studies at the age of five. Making his first solo appearance when he was eleven, he soon thereafter entered the National Conservatory of Music of Guatemala to study with Consuelo Medinilla. He graduated from the conservatory with highest honors, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in piano performance at the age of 17. At the same time, he made his debut with the Guatemala Symphony Orchestra performing the Brahms D-Minor piano concerto. Always received in his homeland with national pride, he has been hailed by critics as “Guatemala’s grand national revelation of the twentieth century” and named “Man of the Week” by Crónica - the Guatemalan equivalent to TIME Magazine.

Accepted to the Juilliard School, Mr. Durkovic moved to New York to continue his musical education under Jacob Lateiner. He went on to study at Salem College and the University of Southern California, working under the instruction of Barbara Lister-Sink, Daniel Pollack, and Kevin Fitz-Gerald. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree, summa cum laude, and a Master of Music degree from the University Of Southern California Thornton School Of Music where he was honored with both the Keyboard Ensemble Award and the prestigious Outstanding Master’s Graduate Award. Mr. Durkovic has served as Guest Lecturer at the USC Thornton School of Music and on the faculties of the Orange County High School for the Arts and the University of La Verne. Specializing in teaching the Lister-Sink Method of well-coordinated, injury preventive piano technique, in fall of 2005, he was appointed as Director of Keyboard Studies at Long Beach City College.

Mr. Durkovic is the winner of many competitions, both nationally and internationally. His gold medal at the 1996 Los Angeles Liszt Competition took him to Budapest, Hungary for his European debut where he performed in the Franz Liszt Museum, home of the original Liszt Academy. Recently, along with his piano duo partner Dr. Chie Nagatani, he won both the 2001 San Diego Duo Piano Competition and the 2001 IBLA Grand Prize Duo Piano Award (Sicily, Italy).  Mr. Durkovic has performed in recital and as soloist with orchestra in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, the Caribbean and Central and South America. He has made guest appearances at music festivals including the International Festival BRAVISSIMO (Guatemala City, Guatemala), the International Viola Congress (Ontario, Canada), the Banff Festival for the Arts (Alberta, Canada), SMU in Taos (New Mexico), and Music in the Mountains (California). He has collaborated with such acclaimed artists as Martin Chalifour, Timothy Landauer, Ida Levin, Wilhelmina Smith, Barbara Lister-Sink, Jonathan Mack, Kazuhiro Takagi, Kevin Fitz-Gerald, the Quartet Casal, the Calder Quartet and the Miró Quartet. His performances have been broadcast on the International Voice of America, NPR, and TGNA. His Latin American Premiere of Lowell Liebermann’s Gargoyles brought him acclaim directly from the composer. It is currently available as the title track of his new CD recording and has been described by Mr. Liebermann as “an incisive and exciting performance.”  He can also be heard on the new Albany Records release, “SixthSpecies,” with violist Leticia Oaks-Strong of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. His recordings are available on CDBaby and iTunes.

Mr. Durkovic serves as the Director of Music and Organist at Church of the Good Shepherd, United Methodist in Arcadia, California. He maintains a private teaching studio, is the Vice-President of the Lister-Sink Foundation and has served on the Executive Board of the California Association of Professional Music Teachers. He is also a founding member of the Los Angeles based Piano Quartet, CENTRAL4.

For more information as to Mr. Durkovic’s activities, availability and recordings, please visit his website at www.timothydurkovic.com