Critics have described Marina as a "James Bond" beauty with a powerhouse technique that delivers an emotional punch like a “Balkan thunderbolt,” while her compositions have been described as “breathtakingly original” and “unique to the ear but familiar to the soul’. Marina has performed to enthusiastic audiences and standing ovations at major venues such as Carnegie Hall (two separate sold-out appearances), the Chicago Symphony Center, the Toronto Center for the Arts, the Chicago Navy Pier Auditorium, and many others throughout the country. Laura Bush and Cherie Blair (wife of the British Prime Minister) along with 2000 other guests were dazzled when Marina played her original arrangement of America the Beautiful at the annual First Lady’s Luncheon in Washington D.C.
Marina's recordings of Mozart: Marina and the St. Petersburg Soloists and Chopin: Piano Waltzes became top-selling classical CDs in Central and Eastern Europe. Her album, My Balkan Soul became the best-selling classical crossover CD in 11 European countries. Marina’s CDs have sold over one million copies world-wide. She was featured on 40 magazine covers and hundreds of television programs in Europe. She received the Yugoslavian "Oscar" for most popular musical artist in 1996. The following year, she received the Yugoslavian Media Award for Most Popular All Media Personality.
Marina is the recipient of the 2014 Tesla Science Foundation Future Icon Award following her performance of her original composition Tesla’s Journey at the 2013 dedication of the Nikola Tesla statue at the century-old Tesla Wardenclyffe Laboratory in Long Island. She is also recipient of 2015 Tesla Spirit Music and Performance Award. Marina was selected as a recipient of the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2014. She was honored “for her outstanding achievements and humanitarian efforts in building bridges among diverse cultures and nations through her music”. She is considered a heroic icon in her homeland of Serbia where she was awarded Serbia's highest diplomatic honor, the Knighthood of St. Sava for Diplomatic Pacifism in May 2018.
Marina is currently composing music for theatre and concert stage commemorating the life of her fellow Serbian American, the renowned scientist Nikola Tesla. Her master work for piano and orchestra Tesla Rhapsody will debut in 2022/2023 with orchestras in the United States and Europe. Marina enjoys a vast following on her social media with over 600,000 Instagram fans, more than 7 million views of her videos on YouTube and according to TracMedia, she had over 170 million PBS TV viewers of her concert Marina at West Point: Unity Through Diversity which was broadcast for more than ten years.
MARINA ARSENIJEVIC
MARINA ARSENIJEVIC (arson-nee-vitch) is an international award-winning pianist and composer, star of the Emmy nominated Public Television program, Marina at West Point: Unity through Diversity which has been broadcast to more than 170 million viewers with over 550 airings by PBS Stations across the United States. Marina created the program and performed with the 120-member joint ensemble of the West Point Band and West Point Glee Club. The Concert was recorded live at West Point’s historic Eisenhower Hall and has been broadcast for more than a decade through 2020.
