Damjan Pejčinoski
Encyclopedia
Damjan Pejčinoski is a Macedonian
guitarist
who lives in Ohrid
, Macedonia
. Pejcinoski started playing guitar at the age of 6 but his real interest in guitar started when he was 14. Pejcinoski finished primary and secondary school in Ohrid. He used to play rock music influenced by Deep Purple
, AC/DC
, Whitesnake
, Steve Vai
, Joe Satriani
, Frank Gambale
, Greg Howe
and many more in night clubs in Macedonia. In 2002 Pejcinoski together with his band “Warning” took part in the “Rock Fest” festival for young talents where he won the “Best Guitarist” award handed to him personally by Vlatko Stefanovski
, a virtuoso guitar player from Macedonia.
In 2003, Pejcinoski enrolled in the National Musical Academy “Pantcho Vladigherov”
, Jazz Department in Sofia
, Bulgaria
where he was accepted with full scholarship.
In 2004 Pejcinoski formed the band "Jump Start" with Goran Gesovski on bass guitar
, Borce Kostadinov on saxophone
and Hristo Yotzov on drums (later replaced by Jordan Manov)
. The group played concerts in Bulgaria
and Macedonia performing jazz-fusion music.
June 2007 Damjan graduated at the Music Academy in Sofia,Bulgaria
December 21, 2008 Damjan was invited by Tavitjan Brothers to perform the concert in Universal Hall in Skopje, Macedonia which has received a reward for a best instrumental concert in Macedonia
November 2007 graduated Milcho Leviev's Masterclass called "Jazz Improvisations"
In May 2009 Pejcinoski was selected by the Guitar Idol
jury to perform on the competition finals along with 11 other contestants from all over the world.
September 2009 2nd place at “Truth in shredding” guitar contest among 220 competitors around globe
December 2009 2nd place at “Strings on fire” guitar contest among 230 competitors around globe
February 2010 WINNER of the "Shred this too with Marco Sfogli" guitar competition ( 318 entries from all over the world) and received great review from Marco Sfogli ( James Labrie band)
April 2010 WINNER of the Zuia Chitarelor guitar contest in Romania by the votes of the respected judges(Andy Timmons,Brett Garsed,Corrado Sgandurra,Greg Howe,Michael Angelo Batio,Richard Hallebeek,William Stravato,Fabrizio Dado,Guglielmo Malusardi)
May 2010 Damjan joined the Macedonian Eurovision team and performed
at the Eurovision show in Oslo,Norway( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Sk0xxtlbQY )
September 2010 special guest at ZC3 festival in Bucharest,Romania where was performing with a live band – Stu Hamm od bass guitar and Mike Vanderhule on drums.
September 2010 performed with Jennifer Batten,Michael Lee Firkins,Stu Hamm,Andreas Oberg, Dave Martone at the jam session show at ZC3 in Bucharest,Romania
has written articles for “AXE” the biggest Italian guitar magazine
He is well known for his "hybrid picking" technique - using a pick and fingers and his videos on his YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/damjanpejcinoski
Pejcinoski finished post-graduate studies in Sofia,Bulgaria
with a Master degree and nowadays he plays frequently with his band "Shine.
He is endorsed by "PRS" ( Paul Reed Smith ) guitar company(USA) who made a guitar especially for him and he is the first Balkan player ever endorsed by the "PRS" family among artist like Santana, Orianthi,Al Di Meola,Dave Navaro, Mark Tremonti ...
He is also endorser of the "ARTEC" effect pedals and "Reunion blues" gig bags.
Concerts and performances: Bulgaria,Croatia,Serbia,United Kingdom,Hungary,Romania,Italy...
Worlds biggest guitar names about Damjan :
Michael Angelo Batio:
"Damjan is quite possibly the best new guitar talent I have ever seen and heard. He has absolutely amazing technique and plays with confidence and maturity. He is definitely one of the new, young emerging guitar stars."
Richard Hallebek:
"I was very impressed by Damjan's 'in the pocket' groove and awesome timing. He was swinging hard to the music and his timing was really laid back and grooving. His lines were really interesting and he was paying attention to the melody's, vibrato's and the overall message he was trying to get across. His playing was a mix of jazz, fusion and rock and all that melted into one. A player with a lot of potential. I would love to hear a full album of his music and playing! I would certainly buy it! "
Brett Garsed:
"Damjan Pejcinoski played incredibly well at Ziua Chitarelor and thoroughly deserved the first place prize. I'm sure he's going to have an amazing career for many years to come."
Andy Timmons:
"Damjan really blew us away. He's got a natural ability on the guitar and has already developed a great technique. I look forward to hearing him develop his musicality in the years to come. He has a great future."
Greg Howe :
"The winner, Damjan, is likely on his way to having a very successful career as a guitarist.He was really amazing and his performance was technically flawless.I really enjoyed the fact that he already possesses a great sense of musical maturity, never allowing his very advanced technical skills to take place at the expense of musicality. Congratulations!"
Macedonians (ethnic group)
The Macedonians also referred to as Macedonian Slavs: "... the term Slavomacedonian was introduced and was accepted by the community itself, which at the time had a much more widespread non-Greek Macedonian ethnic consciousness...
guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
who lives in Ohrid
Ohrid
Ohrid is a city on the eastern shore of Lake Ohrid in the Republic of Macedonia. It has about 42,000 inhabitants, making it the seventh largest city in the country. The city is the seat of Ohrid Municipality. Ohrid is notable for having once had 365 churches, one for each day of the year and has...
, Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
. Pejcinoski started playing guitar at the age of 6 but his real interest in guitar started when he was 14. Pejcinoski finished primary and secondary school in Ohrid. He used to play rock music influenced by Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
, AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
, Whitesnake
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are an English rock band, founded in 1978 by David Coverdale after his departure from his previous band, Deep Purple. The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple, but by the mid 1980s they had moved to a more commercial hard rock style...
, Steve Vai
Steve Vai
Steven Siro "Steve" Vai is a three time Grammy Award-winning American guitarist, songwriter and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. Steve Vai is widely known as a flamboyant guitar virtuoso....
, Joe Satriani
Joe Satriani
Joseph "Joe" Satriani is an American instrumental rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, with multiple Grammy Award nominations...
, Frank Gambale
Frank Gambale
Frank Gambale is an Australian jazz fusion guitarist. He has released eleven studio albums over a period of more than two decades, and is renowned for his use of the sweep picking and economy picking techniques.-Recording career:...
, Greg Howe
Greg Howe
Gregory "Greg" Howe is an American guitarist and composer. As an active musician for nearly thirty years, he has released nine studio albums in addition to collaborating with a wide variety of artists.-Recording career:...
and many more in night clubs in Macedonia. In 2002 Pejcinoski together with his band “Warning” took part in the “Rock Fest” festival for young talents where he won the “Best Guitarist” award handed to him personally by Vlatko Stefanovski
Vlatko Stefanovski
Vlatko Stefanovski is Macedonian ethno-rock jazz fusion guitar player.-Biography:Born in Prilep in 1957, he started playing guitar at the age of 13. Stefanovski was one of the founding members of Leb i sol with whom he recorded 13 albums between 1978 and 1991...
, a virtuoso guitar player from Macedonia.
In 2003, Pejcinoski enrolled in the National Musical Academy “Pantcho Vladigherov”
National Academy of Music (Bulgaria)
The Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music , also known under its former name, the Bulgarian State Conservatoire , is a university of music in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria....
, Jazz Department in Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
where he was accepted with full scholarship.
In 2004 Pejcinoski formed the band "Jump Start" with Goran Gesovski on bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, Borce Kostadinov on saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
and Hristo Yotzov on drums (later replaced by Jordan Manov)
. The group played concerts in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
and Macedonia performing jazz-fusion music.
June 2007 Damjan graduated at the Music Academy in Sofia,Bulgaria
December 21, 2008 Damjan was invited by Tavitjan Brothers to perform the concert in Universal Hall in Skopje, Macedonia which has received a reward for a best instrumental concert in Macedonia
November 2007 graduated Milcho Leviev's Masterclass called "Jazz Improvisations"
In May 2009 Pejcinoski was selected by the Guitar Idol
Guitar Idol
Guitar idol is an international online talent competition for unknown guitarists. The guitarists compete through 3 online heats and one online knock-out round, for a chance to fill 12 places to play at the London International Music Show....
jury to perform on the competition finals along with 11 other contestants from all over the world.
September 2009 2nd place at “Truth in shredding” guitar contest among 220 competitors around globe
December 2009 2nd place at “Strings on fire” guitar contest among 230 competitors around globe
February 2010 WINNER of the "Shred this too with Marco Sfogli" guitar competition ( 318 entries from all over the world) and received great review from Marco Sfogli ( James Labrie band)
April 2010 WINNER of the Zuia Chitarelor guitar contest in Romania by the votes of the respected judges(Andy Timmons,Brett Garsed,Corrado Sgandurra,Greg Howe,Michael Angelo Batio,Richard Hallebeek,William Stravato,Fabrizio Dado,Guglielmo Malusardi)
May 2010 Damjan joined the Macedonian Eurovision team and performed
at the Eurovision show in Oslo,Norway( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Sk0xxtlbQY )
September 2010 special guest at ZC3 festival in Bucharest,Romania where was performing with a live band – Stu Hamm od bass guitar and Mike Vanderhule on drums.
September 2010 performed with Jennifer Batten,Michael Lee Firkins,Stu Hamm,Andreas Oberg, Dave Martone at the jam session show at ZC3 in Bucharest,Romania
has written articles for “AXE” the biggest Italian guitar magazine
He is well known for his "hybrid picking" technique - using a pick and fingers and his videos on his YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/damjanpejcinoski
Pejcinoski finished post-graduate studies in Sofia,Bulgaria
with a Master degree and nowadays he plays frequently with his band "Shine.
He is endorsed by "PRS" ( Paul Reed Smith ) guitar company(USA) who made a guitar especially for him and he is the first Balkan player ever endorsed by the "PRS" family among artist like Santana, Orianthi,Al Di Meola,Dave Navaro, Mark Tremonti ...
He is also endorser of the "ARTEC" effect pedals and "Reunion blues" gig bags.
Concerts and performances: Bulgaria,Croatia,Serbia,United Kingdom,Hungary,Romania,Italy...
Worlds biggest guitar names about Damjan :
Michael Angelo Batio:
"Damjan is quite possibly the best new guitar talent I have ever seen and heard. He has absolutely amazing technique and plays with confidence and maturity. He is definitely one of the new, young emerging guitar stars."
Richard Hallebek:
"I was very impressed by Damjan's 'in the pocket' groove and awesome timing. He was swinging hard to the music and his timing was really laid back and grooving. His lines were really interesting and he was paying attention to the melody's, vibrato's and the overall message he was trying to get across. His playing was a mix of jazz, fusion and rock and all that melted into one. A player with a lot of potential. I would love to hear a full album of his music and playing! I would certainly buy it! "
Brett Garsed:
"Damjan Pejcinoski played incredibly well at Ziua Chitarelor and thoroughly deserved the first place prize. I'm sure he's going to have an amazing career for many years to come."
Andy Timmons:
"Damjan really blew us away. He's got a natural ability on the guitar and has already developed a great technique. I look forward to hearing him develop his musicality in the years to come. He has a great future."
Greg Howe :
"The winner, Damjan, is likely on his way to having a very successful career as a guitarist.He was really amazing and his performance was technically flawless.I really enjoyed the fact that he already possesses a great sense of musical maturity, never allowing his very advanced technical skills to take place at the expense of musicality. Congratulations!"
See also
- Music of the Republic of MacedoniaMusic of the Republic of MacedoniaMusic of the Republic of Macedonia and the Macedonians has many things in common with the music of neighbouring Balkan countries, but maintains its own distinctive sound.-Folk music:...