Radovan Cavallin was born in Zagreb, Croatia in 1969. At age 13, Cavallin entered the Academy of Music at the University of Zagreb, becoming the youngest student ever admitted in the University’s history, graduating with honors and distinction in clarinet performance.
In 1986, Cavallin was chosen from 76 candidates to enter at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where he was awarded the following prizes: 1st Prize Chamber Music unanimously class Christian Lardé in 1988 and 1st Prize Clarinet unanimously in class of Guy Deplus in 1989. In addition, Cavallin received four scholarships : 1986, Ivo Pogorelich Scholarship; 1987 Scholarship Nadia and Lily Boulanger; and 1988 and 1989, French Government Scholarship.
Radovan received awards in the following competitions: 1st National Prize for Clarinet in Yugoslavia on 4 occasions (1981, 1983, 1985, and 1986), 1st Prize of the International Clarinet Competition in Ancona (Italy) in 1984, 2nd Prize at the International Competition Clarinet “Dos Hermanas” in Sevilla (Spain) in 1995.
Radovan has performed over 400 solo concerts in Europe, Asia and the Americas. He has performed as soloist with orchestras such as the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra RTV Zagreb, Zagreb Soloists, Orchestra of Belgrade, Sinfonia Varsovia, Orchestre National de Gottwaldov (former Czechoslovakia), Orchestra del Teatro Bologna Philharmonic Orchestra of Gran Canaria, Las Palmas Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra Béla Bartók, Orchestra Franco-Belgian Brussels and Extremadura Orchestra, Symphony Dubrovnik (Croatia), Opera Orchestra of Rijeka (Croatia), St. Giles Orchestra (Oxford, United Kingdom) among others interpreting concertos by Francaix, Mozart, Nielsen, Stanford,Copland, Weber, Tomasi, Takemitsu, Danzi, Strauss, Bruch, Lindpeintner, Krommer, Debussy, Stanford, Leloup, Palacios, Shaw, Grgin, Adamic, Kovacevic.
Radovan performed as a soloist with Sting during his Symphonicity tour with the Orquesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria (OFGC). He has performed as a soloist at festivals in Ferrara (Italy), Dubrovnik (Croatia), Bad Hersfeld (Germany), Granada, La Orotava (Tenerife), Lanzhou (China),Brussels (Belgium), Lisbon (Portugal), Ibagué (Colombia), Lanzhou (China) and Baton Rouge (USA ). Radovan has made recordings for labels like Yugoton, Croatia Records, BMG Arte Nova, Maguelone, AgrupArte Productions, Cristal Records, Summit Records and ASV.
Cavallin is one of the founders of the following chamber groups: Atlantis Quartet, Trio Spohr, Reinecke Quartet and Alisios Camerata with whom he has recently made a successful tour of five concerts in Japan.
Currently, Radovan is the Artistic Director of the Gran Canaria International Clarinet Festival and the Virovitica International Musical Meeting in Croatia. He also serves as regular faculty at Quintanar de la Orden (Toledo, Spain) and the International clarinet course “Julián Menéndez” (Ávila, Spain). Cavallin has taught more than 60 international master classes and also been a member of the jury of several international clarinet competitions in Spain, Croatia, Portugal and the United States.
Since 1989, Radovan has been Principal Clarinet of Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra with whom he collaborated with conductors such as Rostropovich, Yurovsky, Norman del Mar, Gianandrea Noseda, Trevor Pinnock, Karel Mark Chichon, Gunter Herbig, Leopold Hager, Gabriel Chmura, Antoni Wit, Adrian Leaper among many others.
Currently, Mr. Cavallin is Professor of Clarinet at the Academy of Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria (OFGC). Between 2002 and 2010, he was the Professor of Clarinet, Chamber Music, and Orchestral Repertoire at the Conservatorio Superior de Música in Las Palmas, Canary Islands.
Cavallin performs on Henri SELMER Paris 'Privilège' clarinets.
