Bio

Born in Kragujevac, Serbia, Dr. Jovana Damnjanović leads a versatile career as a flutist, educator, and composer. Praised by many for her musically compelling performance, Dr. Damnjanović was a prizewinning performer at the Midsouth Young Artist Competition, Flutissimo Young Artist Competition, Raleigh Area Flute Association Young Artist competition, San Diego Flute Guild Young Artist Competition, Thomas M. Brumby Concerto Competition, Georgia State Honors Competition, Great Composers Competition Series, Tahir Kulenović Flute Competition, and Davorin Jenko International Competition. Dr. Damnjanović has performed as a soloist, orchestral, and chamber musician with ARCO String Orchestra, Gwinnett Ballet Orchestra, Atlanta Chamber Winds, Atlanta Chamber Collective, International Counterpoint trio (flute/saxophone/clarinet), NOVI duo (flute/euphonium), Chamber Cartel Orchestra. Currently, she is a member of highly sought-after flute quartet Flûture and a substitute flutist of Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra.

Beyond performing, Dr. Damnjanović is an ardent music educator. She is an Adjunct Flute Professor at the University of North Georgia where she also teaches an asynchronous online Music Appreciation class to music majors and non-majors. In addition to her teaching position at the University of North Georgia, Dr. Damnjanović serves on the faculties of William Pu Music Academy and Atlanta Music Academy, pays regular visits to local middle school and high school band programs to instruct flute sectionals, and enjoys teaching her private flute studio in Suwanee, GA. During the summer, she teaches with some of the best private flute teachers, performers, professors, and composers in the Georgia area at a week-long summer flute day camp for middle and high school students - Flute Intensive of North Georgia (FLING!).

Dr. Damnjanović holds degrees from the University of Georgia (DMA), Georgia State University (MM), and the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, Serbia (BMA, MMA). Her primary flute teachers include Angela Jones-Reus, Laura Levai-Aksin, and Sarah Kruser-Ambrose, with additional study with Kersten McKall and Felix Renggli as a a scholar at the Universität für Musik and darstellende Kunst International Summer Academy in Vienna. She received additional training by actively attending masterclasses all over Europe and the USA with some of the most distinguished flutists such as Emmanuel Pahud, Michael Hasel, Leone Buyse, Patrice Bocquillon, Dejan Gavrić, Norbert Girlinger, and Lior Eitan. Recognized as a flutist and scholar, Dr. Damnjanović has been a recipient of multiple competitive awards and grants some of which are George L. and Caroline D. Strobel Orchestra Award, Adora W. Mills Scholarship in Music, Clementi Holder Award, Friends of Flutes Foundation, Inc. Grant, Cortona Sessions for New Music (Cortona, Italy) Fellowship, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst (Vienna, Austria) Scholarship.

An advocate for new music, Serbian composers, and women in music, Dr. Damnjanović has supported many composers through commissions, premieres, and numerous performances. Commissions and premieres include chamber works from Ivan Marković, Robert Lemay, Michael Vince, Lisa Atkinson, Aaron Mencher and many more. Through years of touring Europe and performing Serbian traditional music and dances with the prize-winning Ensemble Mokranjac, Dr. Damnjanović has established and shared a strong bond and love towards her culture which is ingrained in her works, and is the heart of the collection MAYKA.