Violist Leona Kondratenko (born February 9, 2003, in Bonn, Germany) is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, Germany, under the guidance of Professor Alexander Zemtsov-Gordon.
Raised in Skopje, Macedonia, in a family of musicians, Leona developed a deep love and passion for music from an early age. She began studying violin at the age of five at the state music school “Ilija Nikolovski Luj,” initially in her mother’s class and later with Rumen Dimitriev. In her first year of high school, she switched to viola, continuing her studies with Fana Spirkoska and Jovan Bicevski.
Throughout her musical training, Leona has performed with various orchestras and ensembles: the youth orchestra “Sasha Nikolovski Gjumar” (Jeunesses Musicales Macedonia), FAME’S Film Orchestra, Ayga Chamber Orchestra (including concerts with the group Makedonissimo founded by Simon Trpcevski), Western Balkan Youth Orchestra (a month-long tour during which she was selected to perform chamber music concerts alongside the mentors), Klassische Philharmonie Bonn, Grifon Chamber Orchestra, Profundis Chamber Orchestra, Les Essences Orchestra, International Youth Orchestra Lutoslawski, and Junge Philharmonie Köln. An active chamber musician, she plays in various ensembles, ranging from duos to quartets.
Leona has enriched her musical education by attending masterclasses with teachers such as Rumen Cvetkov and Wilfried Strehle (both at the Allegra Festival in Bulgaria), and members of the Zemtsov family (Netherlands). She also participated in the Orchestra Performing Institute program with FAME’S, working with artists like Gabriel Prokofiev, Tim Redmond, Alastair King, Stoyan Karaivanov, Ludmil Angelov, the Kolsimcha Band, and many others.
Her talent has been recognized with several awards, including first prize at the International “Polyhymnia” Competition in June 2022. She was also one of the six young soloists chosen to perform with the Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra