It’s likely that when Andrej Kurti was growing up in Belgrade, Serbia he had no idea that he would move to the Southern part of the United States and become a violin professor in Central Louisiana. Prior to becoming a professor of violin at Northwestern State University of Louisiana he earned both his graduate degrees and  doctorate in violin performance from the University of Georgia. According to Kurti he had one job interview, at Northwestern State University who hired him and he hasn’t looked back since.

This Saturday night, March 14 Kurti will be performing for the third time at the Sharon K. Deane retical hall on the campus of Pittsburg State. The concert begins at 7:30 pm and is open to the public. He has traveled and performed around the world, including in Serbia, Montenegro, Italy, Greece, Russia and Colombia. He also appeared as a chamber performer in Spain, France, Latvia, Canada, Colombia and South Korea. Director of Orchestras at Pittsburg State Raul Munguia recently spoke with Andrej Kurti via Skype from his home in Louisiana. Raul first asked Kurti to introduce himself to listeners who may have only heard him for the first time on KRPS.

Kurti’s performance which is open to the public will feature what he describes as the “Mount Everest’s” of violin music” the 24 Caprices for Solo Violin written by Niccolò Paganini between 1802 and 1817. This is also a sneak peak of a new studio album that Kurti will release later this year of Paganini’s 24 Caprices. He revealed during the interview that grew up hoping that one day he would be able to perform just one of the Caprices but to complete all 24 could be the apex of his career accomplishments.

As a fellow violist himself PSU’s Raul Munguia knows the level of difficultly and commitment that is required to learn not just one of the Caprices but all 24 of them. During his long career as a professional musician Munguia says that he has only seen Paganini’s 24 Caprices for Solo Violin in its entity only once before and he describes it as a “wild ride”.

The performance on Saturday March 14 at Sharon K. Deane recital hall starts at 7:30 pm and is open to the public. This is a direct link to some of Kurti’s earlier performances.