Nika Toškan (1997) is a young promising violinist from Koper, Slovenia.
She began to play the violin at the age of three via the Suzuki method and continued her education at Music School and Arts High School in Koper.

When she was only ten years old she began her
musical education in Portogruaro, Italy with the
world renowned violinist and professor Ilya Grubert, who later on invited her to pursue her studies under his leadership at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. She has recently graduated from Master program with the highest grade.

She stated to appear at national and international competitions at the age of eight, especially in Italy, where she won several first prizes. In 2009 she became a winner of the main national competition for young musicians in Slovenia TEMSIG and was an absolute winner in her category and awarded best violinist of the competition in Ars nova International Music Competition Trieste in 2010. In the summer of 2013 she received the second prize in Italy at an International competition Povoletto, where she was also the highest rated violinist. In the same year she won a scholarship in Portogruaro, where she additionally held an independent recital the next season consisting of Tartini’s Devil’s Trill sonata and Glazunov Violin concerto.

In 2015 she attended an international competition SVIREL and won with the highest score of 100 points and two special prizes; solo performance with the Symphony orchestra Domžale-Kamnik and a performance as a substitute player in the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra. Her most recent appearances at competitions are the 3rd prize at 17th International competition Concorso Zanuccoli in Sogliano al Rubiccone, Italy in 2019 and the 1st prize of International Violin Competition Emmanuel Durlet in Antwerp, Belgium in November of 2021.

Praised for her rich sound, moving musical approach and strong stage personality, Nika is invited regularly to perform as a soloist with the Slovenian Philharmonic String Chamber Orchestra at major national festivals and events (Musical evenings Piran, concert cycle Harmony of the Spheres, Ljubljana Music festival). Their most recent collaborations (2018, 2019) include Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in d minor and Tartini’s Devil’s Trill.

Since 2018 she is a member and was recently selected as a concertmaster of a chamber group The String Soloists, international dynamic string ensemble based in Amsterdam, guided by Lisa Jacobs, Dutch violin virtuoso. The ensemble presents itself regularly, to great critical acclaim and public reception, at all major venues in the Netherlands, as well as at international stages. The group also makes appearances in radio and TV and releases recordings regularly.

Since 2020 she started to appear as a chamber musician and regular violinist at summer classical festivals such as Zeeland Klassiek in Middelburg and International Music Festival Goslar/Harz, where she played next to prominent musicians such as Nicolas Dupont, Marc
Sabbah, Boris Faust, Harriet Krijgh, Lauma Skride, Uxia Martinez Botana, Johannes Krebs and Raoul Steffani, Ksenia Kouzmenko, Lucja Madziar and others.

She likes to enrich her education by participating at international masterclasses and festivals, and has worked with violinists such as Mihaela Martin, Jack Liebeck, Corey Cerovsek, Gyorgy Pauk, Vasilij Meljnikov, Gorjan. Košuta, Igor. Ozim, Liviu Prunaru, Stefan Milenković, Eliot Lawson and others.

Nika is supported with a special grant for gifted students provided by the Slovenian government and plays a Venetian Sgarabotto violin from early 1900, generously loaned by Conservatorium van Amsterdam.