Biography
Katarina Zaja was born in 2005 in Croatia. She’s a student of flute at the School of Applied Art and Design.
She attended seminars and masterclasses with Ana Batinica, Karl-Heinz Schutz, Karolina Šantl Zupan, Elena Favaron, Ljubiša Jovanovic, Renata Penezic and Paolo Taballione. She is a scholarship holder of the International Music Academy in Liechtenstein and takes part in the intensive weeks and activities offered by the academy.
Katarina won numerous prizes in national and international competitions. In 2022 and 2016, she won the “Oskar Znanja”, a Croatian national award that is awarded to students every year for exceptional success and results achieved in national and international knowledge competitions. In 2022, she also won the 1st prize in the state and regional competition “HDGPP” as well as the 1st prize in the international mixed competition “Woodwind&Brass”. In the “HDGPP” competition, Katarina won the 1st prize on the regional level also in 2020, 2018 and 2016 and on the state level in 2018 and 2016. In the “Woodwind&Brass” competition, she also won the 1st prize in 2021, 2019 and 2017. In 2021, she also won the 1st prize in the international mixed competition “Bistricki zvukolik” and two special prizes, the special award of HDS (Croatian Society of Composers) for the best performance of a composition by a Croatian author and the special award of the HDF (Croatian Society of Flutists) for the best flutist performance. Katarina was also the 1st prizewinner in the international mixed competition “Daleki akordi” in 2019 and 2015 and won the 2nd prize in the same competition in 2017.