Petar Jankovic is associate professor of music in guitar at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

He began his guitar studies at age eight in Serbia, where he later earned a degree in classical guitar from the renowned Belgrade Music Academy. While in Serbia, he won two gold medals, a silver medal, and two bronze medals at the National Music Competition. At age 16, he delivered his first professional performance, and by age 20, the Community College in Belgrade invited him to share his expertise with beginning classical guitar students. This marked the beginning of a distinguished teaching career that has developed alongside his successful performing career.

He went on to earn a master’s degree from the Jacobs School of Music, and in the mid-90s, the school invited him to pursue an Artist Diploma under the guidance of Ernesto Bitetti. Still dedicated to sharing his talent through both performing and teaching, Jankovic developed a guitar program at Franklin College (Ind.) in 1997 and taught at the University of Indianapolis Music Department from 1999 to 2006.

A rising star among the world’s top musicians, he has never stopped honing his skills and developing artistically. In 1998, he released Romantico, a CD exploring the sounds of the romantic Spanish and Latino-American world, and featuring his interpretations of pieces by composers such as Albeniz, Torrobba, Pipo, Piazzolla, and Ponce. The North American Society for Serbian Studies said, “Jankovic’s interpretation points to his interest in presenting the inherent beauty of the musical phrase with great care. . . . His interpretation testifies to his artistic maturity and dedication to the essence of the musical content of the works on this CD.”

In 2002, Jankovic released his Bogdanovic, Brouwer, and Dyens CD, featuring works by the most prominent and played classical guitar composers living today. Luis Zea, a well-known composer and guitar player from Venezuela, perhaps best captured the essence of Jankovic’s style by exclaiming, “He is a natural poet!”

For Jankovic’s 2007 Leyenda CD release, GuitarInternational.com said, “Jankovic has a character to his playing that is reminiscent of artists like Segovia or Bream. He performs as if he is conducting an orchestra, bringing every performance to life with his incredible dynamic palette and knowledge of the instrument and its repertoire.”

And Steve Marsh from London’s Classical Guitar Magazine concluded his review of Leyenda with “Everything is top quality. This player managed to infuse some of these war-horses with new vigor and outlook. All together a very enjoyable and rewarding new release.”

Jankovic has released five albums, the most recent two with string quartet and guitar ensemble.

As a performer at major competitions around the globe, Jankovic’s universally evocative sound has won high regard with the world’s classical music community, and as a result, he has garnered numerous prestigious awards, including a bronze medal at the H. R. H. Princess Cristina 13th International Guitar Competition in Madrid (Spain); first prize at the First Annual Competition in Performance of Hispano-American music, Bloomington (Ind.); a bronze medal at the M. M. Ponce international guitar competition in 1998 in Mexico City (Mexico); 1997 Graduate Top Strings Award, Indianapolis Matinee Musicale (the first guitarist to win this award), and others.

The most appealing characteristic about Jankovic’s style is his genuine, expressive interpretation of any given composition. More than a classical guitar player, he is a person with the gift of communicating honest emotions of the human experience. His expressive performances and a technical mastery found only among the world’s top musicians make it easy to understand why he has received overwhelming international acclaim. From the latest review at GuitarInternational.com: “Petar Jankovic is one of the finest soloists on the scene today, and he possesses a unique, artistic, and highly expressive style.”

Since his first professional performance in 1985, he has delighted audiences at recitals and enlightened students in master classes throughout the United States and Europe, touring both regularly, and will be touring Taiwan in November 2015. He has developed a community guitar outreach program in Serbia, currently serving 19 major cities.

Mihailo Dasic has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the Balkans and the US, giving performances at multiple festivals and events, such as the IU Jacobs School of Music Faculty Master Class Series in Bloomington, IN, the Wylie House Guitar Concert Series in Bloomington, IN, the Knoxville Classical Guitar Society Concert Series in Knoxville, TN, the IU Guitar Ensemble Extravaganza Featuring SoM Ensemble in Minneapolis, MN, the Third Balkans Academy and Faculty Classical Guitar Students’ Conference in Novi Sad, Serbia, the Naissus Guitar Festival in Nis, Serbia, the “Acad. Marin Goleminov” international guitar festival in Kyustendil, Bulgaria, and the Nisville Jazz Festival in Nis, Serbia.

A passion for competing since the age of 9 has brought him many awards, which include the First Prize at the International Online Competition “Constantine the Great” held in 2020, the Grand Prize at the Naissus Guitar Festival in Nis, Serbia, held in 2019, and the First Prize at the International Balkans Music and Dance Olympiad, held in 2018. He has also appeared in
different TV broadcasts and performed at multiple humanitarian music festivals, such as the “Filip’s Days” festival, the “Daljine O Je” festival, and the “Fortress of Art” festival, held in Nis, Serbia.

He has attended masterclasses and lectures given by over 20 world-renowned guitarists and composers, some of whom include Dusan Bogdanovic, Sergio Assad, Hubert Kaeppel, Roberto Aussel, Joaquin Clerch, Marco Tamayo, Jorge Caballero, Zoran Dukic, which enabled him to combine and incorporate a multitude of systems into his own playing, enabling him to express his own ideas in a variety of ways.

As a representative of the entire University of Nis, he presented a speech in 2021 at an award ceremony for the best students of the Republic of Serbia, given by the country’s Ministry of Youth and Sports. As part of this honor, he twice received the Dositeja Scholarship.

Dasic completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Faculty of Arts Nis, Serbia, in 2021 and 2022 respectively, with the final average grade of 10 (equivalent to a 4.0 GPA). He was chosen as the valedictorian in both 2021 and 2022, receiving awards and recognitions from the City of Nis for being the best student of the Faculty of Arts Nis for the entire duration of his studies (2018-2022). He then moved on to complete a master's degree at the IU Jacobs School of Music.

Currently pursuing a doctorate under Prof. Petar Jankovic, Dasic works as an associate instructor in the guitar department, teaching individual and group classes for music and non-music majors ranging from beginning to advanced levels of proficiency. He is also the vice president of the IU Guitar Club, assisting in event development, planning, and management, along with new member recruitment, and serves as the Jacobs School of Music Student Representative Committee guitar department representative, assisting in improving the academic, professional, and social climate, as well as the quality of life of the student body of the Jacobs School of Music.

Dasic maintains a 4.0 GPA and has been awarded the “Best Graduate Student Attending a Leading World University” award in 2023 and 2024, presented by the Ministry of Science, Technological Development, and Innovation of Serbia.

Grace Elmer from Birmingham, Alabama began studying the classical guitar at the age of ten. She attended the Alabama School of Fine Arts where she studied classical guitar performance with Paul Hicks. In 2015, she began her studies with internationally renowned Peabody graduate Piotr Pakhomkin. She is a prize-winning participant of several national and international guitar competitions. She completed her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in classical guitar performance under the tutelage of Petar Jankovic and Maestro Ernesto Bitetti at the Jacobs School of Music. Grace is currently an Associate Instructor at the Jacobs School of Music and President of the IU Guitar Club. In the summer of 2022, Grace joined the US Guitar Orchestra on tour in Spain performing with renowned guitarist Xavier Jara. She recently collaborated with celebrated Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov as lead flamenco guitarist in a production of Ainadamar at the Jacobs School of Music. Grace is currently pursuing her Doctor of Music at the Jacobs School of Music.