Dimitrije Vasiljević’s Artist Bio

Dimitrije Vasiljević is a New Orleans based, award-winning jazz pianist and

composer who has been hailed as “a strong jazz player with an impressive vocabulary
and a powerful modern improviser who shows promise that he will be a new voice in
modern jazz” (Tony Germain – Berklee College of Music). His music, “iridescent and
captivating, a cascade of weaving twists and turns” (All About Jazz), represents an
innovative combination of the gentle flavor of European jazz with intricate musical
landscapes full of exotic rhythms and sophisticated harmony.

Vasiljević got his Bachelor Degrees both from Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA
and University of Arts in Belgrade, Serbia, his Master’s degree from NYU Steinhardt in
New York City and his DMA from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Before
he accepted the position of Assistant Professor at Xavier University of Louisiana in
New Orleans, he taught jazz piano at both NYU Steinhardt in NYC and UIUC in
Champaign, IL.

Vasiljević has performed concerts at such renowned venues as Carnegie Hall (NYC),
United Nations Headquarters (NYC), Kennedy Center (Washington, DC), Krannert
Center (Urbana, IL). He performs extensively throughout the United States and
Europe, both as a solo pianist and with his own jazz trio/quartet/quintet. In 2008 he
won third jury prize and the audience prize at the world renowned Montreux Solo
Jazz Piano Competition in Switzerland, and in 2014, Tesla Science Foundation in New
York City, awarded him with a Recognition of Achievement for his contribution in
promoting the life and legacy of Nikola Tesla through Music. In 2015, Vasiljević was
a finalist of both Luminarts Jazz Competition in Chicago and the Kate Neal Kinley
Memorial Fellowship competition. During his time at Berklee, he received the Jazz
Performance Award and the Piano Department Achievement Award, and while
working on his doctorate at UIUC, he received Creative and Performing Arts
Fellowship. . He has performed with the jazz greats such as Joe Lovano, Chris Potter,
Charles “Chip” McNeill, Tito Carillo, Victor Garcia, Marko Djordjevic, Klemens Marktl
and Brad Shepik, among others and recorded three albums as a leder so far. His
latest album Accidental Nomad (Ropeadope Records) has been selected to compete
for 2019 Grammy Awards Nominations in 4 categories.

In addition to his composing/performing and teaching careers, Vasiljević also scores

music for films (There Has to Be More Than This; Tierra Utopia), and is one of the
founding members of Music Defying Boundaries, nonprofit organization dedicated to
engaging individuals with experimental and improvised music through education,
performance, and documentation. For the past 5 years, he was also on the faculty of
Blue Mountain Festival summer music camps in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Vasiljević is a Ropeadope Records artist.