Dejan Pecenko

Dejan Pecenko is a Slovenian jazz pianist. He studied jazz piano at the Music Academy in Graz. In 1983 he recorded with Brüning von Alten's Sunrise Orchestra. From 1985 to 1989, he performed as an independent musician on numerous tours with jazz artists such as Tony Scott, Bumi Fian and Tone Janša. Dejan Pečenko lives and works in Slovenia and Austria. As a jazz pianist, he participated in most festivals in Europe: Leverkusen, Lugano, Saalfelden, Wiesen, Moers, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Ascona, Korinthos, Kristianstadt, Salzburg, Nuernberg, Debrecen, Berlin, Burghausen and Maribor. He also collaborated with European radio networks such as ZDF, SAT1, HTV, 3SAT, ÖRF1, TV SLO, RAI, EBU. In his musical career, he recorded more than 45 CDs and played with outstanding jazz musicians such as Aladar Pege, Erich Kleinschuster, Harry Stoika, Reggie Workman, Doug Hammond, Lee Harper, Barbara Thompson, Boško Petrović, Ernie Wilkins, Karl Heinz Miklin, Don Menza, Pharoah Akklaff, Tom Lellis, Jojo Mayer and many others. He is the first Slovenian jazz pianist whose original compositions are in the genres of swing, fusion, Brazilian and Latin jazz.
He also released two solo albums Piano Pianissimo (1995) and Toy Museum (1998). According to the Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon, he is "one of the stylistically comprehensive jazz pianists and keyboardists whose music is based on styles such as swing, fusion, Latin music and hip ho."
Since 1989, he has been a professor at the Bruckner Conservatory in Linz, and at the same time a university lecturer at the private Anton Bruckner University. In 1992, he co-founded the jazz department at the Conservatory of Music and Ballet in Ljubljana. Between 1995 and 2003, he also taught piano at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz.

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