Kosta Popovic

Montenegrin cellist Kosta Popovic completed his primary and secondary music education at JU UŠMB Vasa Pavić, under the guidance of his father, Mladen Popović. In 2019, he enrolled in the undergraduate cello program at Guildhall School for Music and Drama in London, as a scholarship student, under the tutelage of Professor Louise Hopkins. He received his Bachelor degree in music in 2023 and two years later his Masters degree also at the GSMD.

During his studies, he performed internationally as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician at numerous concerts. As one of the founders of the Fibonacci Quartet, he regularly performed at music festivals in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, and France. Notable performances include appearances on BBC Radio 3 In Tune and NPO 2 Podium Witteman, the Schiermonnikoog Chamber Music Festival, and the Art Amanti Chamber Music Festival.  Together with his collagues he has won 1st prize at the Royal Overseas League Competition and Cavatina Intercollegiate Chamber Music Competition.

Kosta performed at Maiastra Music, Blackheath Church, Croydon Minster, St James Piccadilly Church, Hellensmusic, Santander Music and Academy Encounter, ISA Festival and Fjord Classics. In these concerts he performed alongside Stanislav Ioudenich, Jens-Peter Mainz, Maya Iwabuchi, Xenia Jankovic, Hagai Saham and Peter Judt and Omar Masa.

He attended master classes and projects led by internationally renowned artists and ensembles, including the Endellion Quartet, Gould Trio, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Adrian Brendel, Alasdair Tait, Alexander Rudin, Jens-Peter Maintz, Eberhard Feltz, Alice Neary, Xenia Jankovic, Jeroen Reuling and Gary Hoffman.

From 2022 to 2023, he studied at the International Institute for Chamber Music Reina Sofia under Günter Pichler, as well as at the Netherlands String Quartet Academy (NSKA).

He Is a recipient of the LSO String Experience Scheme, which enabled him to perform with the London Symphony Orchestra and collaborate with principal cellist David Cohen in a chamber ensemble for a concert at Milton Court, commemorating the centenary of composer P. Boulez in January 2025. As a soloist he performed with the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, Westminster Philharmonic and Surrey Philharmonic.

He has received financial awards from Guildhall School for Music and Drama, the Ian Fleming Instrumental Award, the Countess of Munster Student Award, the Help Musicians UK Scholarship, the Derek Butler Scholarship, and the Miloš Karadaglić Foundation Scholarship. He is featured on the UK Artist Directory website as an artist on the Munster Trust Recital Scheme from September 2024.

In January 2025, he performed as a guest artist at Miloš Karadaglić’s concert in Cadogan Hall, London. 

He is currently in his first year artist diploma studies at GSMD, under the mentorship of Professor Louise Hopkins. Kosta plays on a Lockey Hill cello (c.1780) generously loaned to him by Susanne Beer Cello Corner Foundation.

Sofia Sacco

Praised for her "deeply personal interpretations and sensitive artistry", Italian pianist Sofia Sacco played extensively throughout Europe, America and Asia. She appeared as soloist in more than 100 recitals across the globe with latest appearances at prestigious venues including Teatro la Fenice in Venice, Gohliser Schlösschen in Leipzig, Jilin Hall (Changchun), Auditorium Blas Galindo (Mexico City). In 2025 she toured China and Central America, and was broadcasted on BBC Radio 3 and Rai Radio 3.

She appeared alongside the Pollini Symphony Orchestra, the Audentia Ensemble, Orchestra delle Tre Venezie and the Timía Chamber Orchestra. Sofia is the recipient of the Francis Simms Prize and first prize winner of the Bach International Music Competition and A. Baldi International Piano Competition. A fierce advocate of Shostakovich’s music, Sofia is Artist in Residence at la Società del Quartetto di Bergamo, where she leads a multi-year project dedicated to performing his complete works for piano. Sofia is a City Music Foundation Artist, whose generous support made possible the recent release of her debut album Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87, in both video and CD formats. The recording's "deeply engaged, lucid and direct reading” (DSCH Journal) has been described as "an essential listening for every classical music lover”(Orchester Graben) and earned her a nomination for a Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik. 

After studying at the Royal Academy of Music as a scholarship student with R. Hayroudinoff, Sofia was appointed Hodgson Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music for 2022-2024, and was recently awarded the Aud Jebsen Fellowship for 2024-2026. Inquisitive and widely curious, Sofia is graduated in Physics at the University of Padua.