Praised for his "open and honest way of making music" and his "maturity, special sound and ease", Luka Ljubas is one of the emerging musicians of his generation.

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Luka Ljubas gained international attention when he became the first croatian in the 40 years of history of the "Vaclav Hum Violin Competition 2017" to win the 1st prize and get awarded all Special Prizes.

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In 2017 the "Croatian Young Musician of the Year 2017" played with the HRT Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Eduard Strausser for the "Glazba i grada" an Open Air Concert in front of some thousand people, which was broadcasted in live Television in Croatia at "HRT".

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Luka Ljubas was born in Vienna in 1996 into a family of Croatian-Japanese musicians. He first learnt the violin from his mother and then moved to Prof. Arkadij Winokurow at the state music school in Margareten, Vienna. In 2006 he was admitted to the class of Brian Finlayson at the State Conservatorium of Carinthia, From 2012 until Summer 2019 he has been studying with Prof. Gerhard Schulz at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts. Since September 2019 Luka is studying in the class of Prof. Albena Danailova.

 

He has attended masterclasses with Tanja Becker-Benderm So-Ock Kim, Pavel Vernikov, Eszter Haffner, Igor Ozim, Yuzuko Horigome and Rodney Friend.

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He is in demand as a soloist nationally and internationally, playing with orchestras such as the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra, HRT Symphony Orchestra, Carinthian Symphony Orchestra, Zagreb Soloists, Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, Artsakh Symphony Orchestra and many more. He has played as a soloist many times in Austria in concerthalls such as the Wiener Konzerthaus and the Wiener Musikverein, and in countries like Italy, Croatia, Japan, Slovenia, Kuwait and Armenia. Many of his live performances have been broadcasted in Television and Radio, f.e. OE1, HRT, Artsakh Radio and TV etc.

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Aside his soloistical performances, Luka has played chamber music with  musicians such as Christoph Ehrenfellner, Valentin Erben, Firmian Lermer, Axel Kircher, Rohan De Silva, Mark Kinkaid, Nadja Höbarth, Ruzha Semova, Erwin Kropfitsch and Ekaterina Rumyantseva.

 

The young musician is the winner of several national and international competitions, including two first prizes with extra prizes at the state and federal competition "Prima la musica", 1st prize at the "Premio Citta di Padova" in 2013, he has received many honorary prizes f.e. from the State Conservatorium of Carinthia and in 2014 for his artistic efforts by the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts. In 2017 he received the "Ivo Vuljevic - Young Musician of the Year 2017"-Award from the "HGM" Society and the 10.000 Euro endowed "Young Musician of the Year 2017" by the Zagreb Philharmonic Association. During the "ISA Masterclasses 2018" he received the "ISA String Soloist 2018" Award. 

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Since September 2019 Luka became a member of the 1st Violins in the Vienna State Opera / Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. From the season 2020/2021 he will be the section leader of the 1st Violins.

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Luka has been supported by the Viennese violin maker Christine Eriks, who has lent him violins and bows including a violin made by Felix Mori Costa in 1812.

 

Since 2014 he has been performing on a violin made by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini in Turin between 1783 and 1785. This violin was kindly lent by Andrea König through Beare’s International Violin Society in London.