Luka Šulić

Early life

Šulić was born in Maribor, Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia. Šulić's father, Božo came from Dubrovnik, Croatia to live in Slovenia about 30 years ago, and his mother, Alja, is from Izola, Slovenia. His father is also a cellist, and many members of his family are associated with music.

Career

Luka Šulić performs throughout the world combining solo classical performances and with the 2Cellos. He won series of top prizes at the prestigious international music competitions including first and special prize at the VII Lutosławski International Cello Competition in Warsaw (2009) , first prize at the European Broadcasting Union “New Talent” Competition (2006) and first prize at the Royal Academy of Music Patron’s Award in Wigmore Hall (2011).

He has given a number of solo and chamber music appearances in Europe, South America and Japan in major venues such as Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Musikverein and Konzerthaus. As a soloist he appeared with orchestras such as Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic, Russian Symphony Orchestra and others.

Šulić began his musical education in Maribor when he was five years old. When he was fifteen, he became one of the youngest students ever to enter the Music Academy in Zagreb in the class of Professor Valter Dešpalj where he graduated aged only 18. He continued his education in Vienna with Professor Reinhard Latzko. Šulić finished his master's degree with Mats Lidstrom at the Royal Academy of Music in London in 2011.

His mainstream success started when he decided to join forces with his friend and a former cello rival Stjepan Hauser. In January 2011, they uploaded a cello version of “Smooth Criminal” by Michael Jackson onto YouTube. Within just a few weeks, their video went viral, receiving over 7 million views. This led to a record deal with Sony MASTERWORKS and an invitation to join Elton John on his worldwide tour.

The duo has appeared on National TV shows like The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Ellen DeGeneres Show (twice in 6 months) and Stefan Raab’s TV total in Germany.

In January 2012 they appeared as the special musical guests on Fox’s hit TV series Glee where they performed “Smooth Criminal” in the Michael Jackson tribute episode. This was the first time that an instrumental duo had performed on the show in a guest spot. The 2Cellos’ arrangement of the song, which featured actors Grant Gustin and Naya Rivera, debuted at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 Digital Songs Chart and landed the 2Cellos album in the Top 100.