Tonka Javorović (Zagreb, 1998) began learning the cello at the age of seven under the guidance of Professor Bernarda Debuš Redžić. In 2015, she pursued her cello studies under the tutelage of Valter Dešpalj, and in 2020, she graduated in the class of Monika Leskovar at the Music Academy in Zagreb. 2022. In 2022, she completed her postgraduate studies in cello with Reinhard Latzko at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.
Tonka honed her skills at solo and chamber music seminars with renowned cellists and pedagogues such as Steven Isserlis, Ivan Monighetti, Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet), Mihovil Karuza, Silvija Sondeckienė, Avedis Kouyoumdjian, Xenia Jankovic, Romain Garioud, Claudio Bohróquez, Annette Cleary, Gustavo Tavares, Evgeny Rumyantseva, Michael Flaksmann, and others.
She participated in the Gstaad Menuhin Festival String Academy, the International Academy of Music in Liechtenstein, and the Cello Academy Rutesheim. As a soloist, Tonka has performed with the Zagreb Philharmonic, the Symphony Orchestra of Croatian Radio and Television, the Zagreb Soloists, Cantus Ensemble, Webern Kammerphilharmonie, and the Orchestra of the Croatian Youth Music School.
She has received numerous awards from national and international competitions, including the 1st prize and the Croatian Composers’ Society Award for the best performance of a Croatian composer’s work at the 7th Croatian Competition of Young Musicians Papandopulo in 2018. 2020. In 2020 at the 7th Antonio Janigro Competition, she received the award for the highest-placed Croatian candidate.
Tonka successfully passed auditions to represent Croatia in the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO). In 2013, she participated in the Leverhulme Summer School in Grafenegg, Austria, and in 2014, she joined the European Music Campus Orchestra (EMCO) in Austria.
Since 2019, she is the leader of the cello section at EUYO. 2021. In 2021, she is a member of the No Borders orchestra. 2022. In 2022, she passed the audition for the position of permanent member of the Zagreb Soloists and is currently on probation for 12 months.
2022. In 2022, Tonka organized a benefit concert to raise funds for the renovation of the Croatian Music Institute, titled “EUYO for the Croatian Music Institute,” as part of the European Music Gallery Festival 2020.
2022. In 2022, she mentored the Myanmar Orchestra project in Yangon, Myanmar. In 2021, Tonka participated in the EUYO project in collaboration with the Stauffer Center for Strings in Cremona, Italy, where she mentored the EUYO String Quintet. During this project, she had the opportunity to attend seminars with renowned musicians such as Daniel Hope, Julian Rachlin, Sarah McElravy, and Andrea Obiso, as well as learn from the renowned cellist Steven Isserlis and perform with him in the project’s final chamber music concert.
In addition to orchestral music, Tonka has performed as a soloist and chamber musician at various festivals, including the opening of the Days of Milko Kelemen, Grafenegg Festival in Austria, Spazio Klassik in Italy, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, isaFestival, Franjo Krežma Memorial, Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Osor Musical Evenings, and others.
As a member of the Trio Eusebius, a classical piano trio that has been active since 2017 in the composition of Eva Šulić, Tonka Javorović and David Vuković under the mentorship of prof. Pavla Zajcev. Trio Eusebius won the Ferdo Livadić award for the best artistic personality and the City of Samobor and the Croatian Society of Composers award for the best performance of a work by a Croatian composer at the 16th Ferdo Livadić International Competition of Young Musical Artists in Samobor, 2019, and the 1st prize and award of the Croatian Society of Composers for the best performance of a work by a Croatian composer at the 8th Croatian Papandopulo Competition for Young Music Artists in Zagreb, 2019. 2021. In 2021, the winners of the “Darko Lukić” award and the winners of the Croatian Music Institute Award at the 54th forum “Darko Lukić”, the longest-running music competition in Croatia organized by the Croatian Society of Music Artists in cooperation with the Croatian Music Institute.
Tonka has received five Oskars of Knowledge awarded by the Ministry of Science, Education, and Sports and the Agency for Education for outstanding achievements at national competitions.
She is a scholarship recipient of the Music Academy in Liechtenstein and has received the Rector’s Award and two Dean’s Awards.