Mrvica was born in
Šibenik, Croatia. He took piano lessons at the age of nine. Three years later he gave his first concert performance of
Haydn's Piano Concerto in C major. When the Croatian war of independence started in 1991, both Mrvica and his professor were determined that this would not disrupt his music studies. In spite of the war and surrounding turbulence, Mrvica entered in, and won, his first major competition in
Zagreb in 1993. Mrvica went on to study at the
Music Academy in Zagreb where he spent five years under Professor
Vladimir Krpan, who himself was a pupil of
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. He then spent a year at the
Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest and during this year he won first prize at the
Nikolai Rubinstein International Piano Competition. In 2000, he moved to Paris to study with
Igor Lazko and gained first prize in the
Pontoise Piano Competition in 2001. == International appeal ==