Musical Synergy and Global Recognition: Trio Trinity’s Schubert Success

Trio Trinity was awarded the Gold Prize in the Modern A category (Under Age 17), the Platinum Prize in the Young Artist category (Age 14–17), and the Best Schubert Performance Special Award in the Schubert International Music Competition UK 2025 Season 1.

Biography

Neo Dautbašić was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH), on 26 August 2008. He is currently student at the Sarajevo Music High School, piano department, in the class of Prof. Mag. Belinda Krnić. In addition to studying piano, Neo also showed interest in composing thus making his first composition at the age of 11. Over the past eight years Neo has taken part in numerous national and international piano and composing competitions, performing at concerts and festivals, participating in masterclasses with piano professors from Croata, Serbia and Austria. Bosnia and Herzegovina national TV dedicated him a short documentary while he was in the elementary music school (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNgwrkU9vis). Later on he submitted his own video presentation as entry work for participation at the VIII Festival of Sarajevo Citizens (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3a-xVUisIw). For the school years 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23, Neo was awarded by the Ministry of Upbringing and Education of Canton Sarajevo and Institute for Undergraduate Education of Canton Sarajevo, for excellence in achievements made at national and international competitions. For the school year 2023/24 he was awarded by the City of Sarajevo for achieved notable results at the music competitions. Recently, as a chamber musician, member of the Trio Trinity, Neo has made notable performances. Beyond his music education and achieved results in that area, Neo is member of BIH National Karate Representation since 2018, has a status of perspective sportsman and since January 2025 a title of the Master of Karate, Black Belt 1. DAY.

Lamija Šišić was born in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegowina (BIH), on 26 November 2008. She started playing the violin at the age of 6, completed her elementary music education in Tuzla and got awarded with Student of the Generation title, currently student at the Sarajevo Music High School, violin department, in the class of Prof. Marina Đorđević. Lamija has recieved numerous awards from the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Tuzla Canton for achieving outstanding results in competitions as well as the Champion of Knowledge titles awarded by Pro-Activa Tuzla. With the piano accompaniment of her sister, pianist Melina Šišić, Lamija made notable performances at music festivals (Sarajevo Winter Fest, Festive Gala Academy Concerts W.A.Mozart, Days of Canton Sarajevo, etc.), recitals in Sarajevo, Tuzla and Belgrade (Serbia) as well as guest appearances in numerous radio and TV shows. She is also active as a chamber musician, most recently with the Trio Trinity with whom she has made notable performances. As a soloist, she performed with the Mostar Symphony Orchestra at the Young Talents' Concerts in Mostar (2021, 2022). As part of the project Music Camp for Young Virtuosos, Lamija passed the audition for three years in a row and was granted opportunity to play a soloist, accompanied by the Orchestra of the Music Camp (2022, 2024). She attended masterclasses with renowned violinists and professors: Anna Kandinskaya, Yeon Ju Yeong, Augustin Hadelich, Klara Flieder Pantilon, Marko Josifoski, Orfej Simic, Dušan Panajotovic, Robert Lakatoš, and others. Apart from winning many special awards and gold medals at music competitions in BiH, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, France, and UK, Lamija has achieved notable results at national competitions in the fields of physics, mathematics, chemistry and has been active in theatre arts, literature, and art festivals.

Iman Đipa was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH), on 01 September 2007. She is talented young cellist, currently student at the Sarajevo Music High School, cello department, in the class of Prof. Anela Dervišević. Iman has mostly distinguished herself as a member of the young cellist ensemble "Cellissimo". She graduated, in parallel, from the elementary and music/ballet school in Sarajevo. During her musical education, Iman traveled and performed in Croatia, Slovakia, Italy, and Germany. As a member of the cellist group "Cellos on the stage", she had many public performances and has taken part in numerous video and remixes recordings. The most prominent performances were those in Sarajevo (Imperial Hall), Konjic, Zenica and Stolac. During her high school education, in 2022, as a member of the school orchestra Iman toured Italy and performed in the city of Pesaro Cathedral. In 2024, Iman won the Special Award at the BIH Federal Soloist Competition while in 2025 she focused on playing in two chamber ensembles and winning numerous first awards at national and international music competitions. Iman also participated in the opening of the Sarajevo Winter Festival 2025, heading the cello section of the high school orchestra and took part in the Music Camp followed by concerts at the Sarajevo National Museum and the Cathedral. She regularly participates in music seminars and has been playing in the theaters and concert halls throughout the country.

When and why did you form your trio, and does playing music together hold a special meaning for you?

We actually only started with rehearsals this February; although we had formed our trio last November. We all kind of knew each other a little bit (helps that our Music High school in Sarajevo is basically in one big hallway - we all love that about it, though). There's a really strong sense of community and support between all the students, which is something quite special. Our teachers had chosen us to do chamber music together because we all loved the idea of playing in a piano trio; and it thankfully worked out really great! Pretty quickly we had gotten to know each other, and now playing music together definitely holds a special meaning for us. Our rehearsals are incredibly enjoyable and fun because, in a pretty short time, we have built a safe space where we can learn a lot from each other. This school year is not over yet, but we definitely plan to stay together in the future and enjoy chamber music – there is many things to learn and improve on, and a lot of repertoire we want to try out!

Some of the most important things in our collaborative work are definitely the mutual understanding, respect, love and support we are lucky to have for each other. After all, we all have chosen this path for the same reasons – passion and love for music.

What was it about this particular piece by Schubert that made you choose it for your performance, as opposed to other works of his?

Schubert's Notturno (op. 148, D. 897) was a piece recommended to us by my violin teacher; it took us a few listens to really take in the piece, but even though it was undeniably a bit of a challenge because of its special emotional atmosphere and the incredibly lyrical phrases, it was definitely a piece easy to fall in love with. Working on it, we also had a lot of space to really connect musically, and think about in which way we wanted to present it to the audience.

In Sarajevo, our Music Academy, Elementary and High Music schools are all in the same building: the fact that this piece was never played in the whole building made us want to show and present it to the audiences in the best way possible.

Would you like to share your experience participating in our competition and anyone you'd like to thank?

We are really happy to have took part in the Schubert International Music Competition, and incredibly grateful and proud to have won the Special Award for Best Schubert Performance. We are, of course, really thankful for each other and this wonderful bond that we have, our families who always supported us, and all the teachers that worked with us. As for our trio, we will definitely remember the moment the results were out – the night before we had just played at another competition in our country (we came back really late, all in one car with a cello in our laps – an incredibly fun evening, to say the least :)), the next morning we were on a group call when the results were announced, and were definitely overjoyed.

Congratulations to all the other participants, as well as the organization team; we have really enjoyed the experience and it taught us a lot, brought us closer, and most importantly gave us the opportunity to do what we love most – share the beauty and importance of music while connecting people.. all across the world!

Neo, Lamija and Iman

Trio Trinity

based in Sarajevo

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