Karmen Stendler was born in Ljubljana in 1991. She studied at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, earning a Bachelor’s degree with highest honours and a Master’s degree in classical guitar performance under Andrej Grafenauer, then completed a second Master’s at the University of Music Franz Liszt in Weimar, Germany, where she is also pursuing a postgraduate solo artist diploma (Konzertexamen) under Prof. Thomas Müller-Pering. She is a multiple prizewinner at competitions including the Enrico Mercatali Guitar Competition (Gorizia), the José Tomás Competition (Petrer), the Andrés Segovia Competition (Pescara) and the International Guitar Competition Krsko, and received a Prešeren Award from the Academy of Music in Ljubljana in 2012.

Stendler is an active soloist and chamber musician — notably with the Weimar Guitar Quartet — who regularly programmes music from her native Balkans alongside the core guitar repertoire, and released her first solo CD in 2016.

Sources:

• https://www.karmenstendler.com/biography