biography
Ivan Brkljačić was born on February 28th 1977 in Belgrade, Serbia. He began his musical education at the age of 5. His first piano teacher was Olivera Bulat, in the music school Dr. Vojislav Vučković in Belgrade. At the age of twelve he enrolled in the Secondary Music School, where he studied piano with Snežana Hadži-Nikolić. At the age of 17 he began his studies with prof. Srđan Hofman at the Department of Composition and Orchestration at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade. He graduated in 2001, and in 2005 he completed his postgraduation studies in composition at the same University, with prof. Zoran Erić. He is now in the third year of the PhD studies in composition with prof. Srdjan Hofman and is working intensively on his doctoral art dissertation with the theme “Istar” – Cycle of Nascent Music Caricatures for the Performing in a Theater Scenery.
During his studies Brkljacic composed pieces for piano solo, guitar, chamber assembles and orchestra:
- Three miniatures, for piano solo
- Impromptu suite, in four movements for piano solo
- Why, a song for female voice and piano, on lyrics by Rabindranath Tagore
- Taiwan Canasta, for two pianos
- Armonioso, for violin, guitar and piano
- For two, for flute and clarinet
- Blossom for female voice, violoncello and live electronics, on lyrics by Jacques Prevert
- Summertime, variations on Gershwin’s theme for chamber string orchestra
- Sting, for clarinet, double bass and piano
- Tongue Twisters, for voice, flute and double bass
- Encore, for guitar solo
- Flobclhoffy, for wind quintet
- IT! piano concerto (his graduated composition)
After he completed his studies, he composed the following works:
- When the Curtain Raises Seven Times, for symphony orchestra
- Cavatina, for harp solo
- Cavatina, for violin and string chamber orchestra
- Cutting edge, for flute, baritone saxophone and piano
- Jinx, for chamber ensemble
- ...in one’s eye wink..., for violoncello and piano
- Where are the Bad Musicians’ Children?, for a rock band
- The Ticking of a Long-forgotten Watch, for symphony orchestra
- Fliza, for flute solo and chamber string orchestra
- Sun King, for female choir (homage to the Beatles)
- Three little absurdities, for flute, viola and harp
- Ma-Ri-Na-Da, for guitar and piano
- The Great Little J., for marimbaphone solo
- If I had your eyes, for soprano, mezzo-soprano and piano, on lyrics by Jovan Ilić
- If I had your eyes, for soprano, flute and piano, on lyrics by Jovan Ilić
- A Little bravura, for violin solo
- 7 sketch illustrations and an epilogue or When kSING and DUNU have met a little Stana (A Little History of Belgrade), for flute, violin and piano
In 1997 his composition For two represented the University of Arts at Student’s festival in Timisoara (Romania).
He attended master classes for young composers in Ohrid, Macedonia (in 2000 – The Compositional Techniques in Contemporary Music, and in 2002 – The Course for music and film), in Warsaw, Poland (in 2003 – Course for young composers within the festival Warsaw Autumn) and in Graz, Austria (in 2005 – The Impulse – the International Academy for young composers and performers).
During the Music Festival in Katowice (Poland), in December 2003 his composition Sting was performed. On the same occasion he gave a lecture with presentation of his orchestral pieces to the students of the Department of Composition at the Music Academy in Wroclaw (Poland).
During the month of April, 2004 he led the workshop Live Music (as a music coordinator) at the Faculty of Drama in Belgrade, within the Encounters of Belgrade Students. He held three Workshops in composition for children in the period of 2006-2007, within Children’s Cultural Centre in Belgrade.
In August 2005 he participated in The Ostrawa Days of New Music in Czech Republic. In the course of the festival he collaborated with renowned composers and conductors, such as Louis Andriessen, Christian Wolf, Alvin Lucier, Peter Kotik, Phil Neeblock, Rebecca Sanders, Martin Smolka and Zsolt Nagy. There he also had the premiere of his composition Jinx for chamber ensemble which was performed by The Ostrawa Band, comprised of musicians from all over the world.
In September 2005 he participated at the Festival of Contemporary Music Kogoj’s Days in Slovenia, where, the Slavko Osterc Trio performed his composition Cutting edge.
The works of Ivan Brkljačić have been performed numerous times at the International Review of Composers in Belgrade (Bis, Cutting Edge, When the curtain raises seven times, Fliza, Cavatina, Three little absurdities) and the festival commissioned some of them. His works have been also performed in Romania, Hungary, France, Macedonia, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Czech Republic, Brasil, Sweden (in April 2007 the choir Chollegium musicum premiered his composition Sun King five times in five Swedish cities) and Australia (in april 2010 The New Music Days in Sydney were opened with his composition Jinx in the performing of Australian Modern Music Ensemble with conductor Daryl Pratt).
During the years 2004 – 2005 – 2006 and 2007 he composed the next commissioned pieces:
- Cutting edge – by Trio Slavko Osterc (Slovenia) and 13. International Review of Composers
- Sun King – by choir Collegium musicum
- Three Little Absurdities – by Belgrade trio Timbre
- Fliza – by Trio Slavko Osterc, flutist Liza Prešiček and 15. International Review of Composers
- Where are the Bad Musicians’ Children? – by Belgrade Summer Festival (BELEF 2005) – within the cicle „I want to be a rock and roll star“ and the band Bad Musician’s Children
- The Ticking of a Long-forgotten Watch – by Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra
Ivan Brkljačić had the first author's concert in april 2006, in the Mokranjac Hall in Belgrade, where 10 pieces by him were solely performed by the solists of Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra of Radio Television of Serbia, profersors of Faculty of Music and the music school Mokranjac as well as the Slavko Osterc Trio.
Overview of premiers and significant performances of Ivan Brkljacic:
- 26. June 2010. Tongue Twisters (trio Elisenda Pujals, Emeline Dessi and Ilza Ziblat), Test Extra project, the Hague (Nutshuis), The Netherlands
- 30. May 2010. Flobclhoffy (ensemble Profil Sinfonietta), festival SIMN 2010 – International New Music Week, Bucharest, Romania
- 30. April 2010. Jinx (Modern music ensemble, Daryl Pratt), The World New Music Days,Sydney, Australia
- 18. March 2010. ...In one’s eye wink... (duo Sretenović – Hofman), Belgrade City Hall
- 14. December 2009. the first performance of 7 sketch illustrations and an epilogue or When kSING and DUNU have met a little Stana (A Little History of Belgrade) (trio Singidunum), Cultural Center of Belgrade
- 7. December 2009. the fisrt performance of If I Had Your Eyes (trio Donne di Belgrado), Belgrade City Hall
- 14. May 2009. Sting and Tounge Twisters – festival at Cultural Center, City of students - Belgrade
- 30. June 2008. Ma-Ri-Na-Da (duo Turudić – Arnič), Banski dvori, Banja Luka, RS-BiH
- 21. June 2008. Ma-Ri-Na-Da (duo Turudić – Arnič), Madlenianum, Zemun
- 17. June 2008. the first performance of Ma-Ri-Na-Da (duo Turudić – Arnič), Maribor, Slovenia
- 19. May 2008. the first performance of Three Little Absurdities (trio Timbre), Belgrade City Hall
- 27. November. 2007. Belgrade premiere of Cavatina (String orchestra Mokranjac, Vladimir Milić), Belgrade City Hall
- 05. May 2007. the first performance of Cavatina (String orchestra Mokranjac, Vladimir Milić), Monca, Italia
- 14-18. April 2007. five premiere performances of Sun King, Sweden (Collegium Musicum, Darinka Matić-Marović)
- 18. November 2006. the first performance of Fliza (Belgrade strings, Jurg Wyttenbach, Liza Prešiček), 15. International Review of Composers, Belgrade Philharmonic Hall
- 20-23- August 2006. Cutting Edge (trio Slavko Osterc) Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
- 10. February 2006. the first performance of Ticking of a long-forgotten watch (Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, Yasuo Shinozaki), Kolarac Hall
- 09. September 2005. Cutting Edge (trio Slavko Osterc) festival Kogojevni Dnevi 2005, Kanal na Soči, Slovenia
- 23. August 2005. the first performance of Jinx (Ostravska banda, Yuri Galatenko), festival Ostrava Days of New Music, Ostrava Czech Republic
- 23. August 2005. Cutting Edge (trio Slavko Osterc) Ronchi, Italia
- 03. July 2005. the first performance of Where are the Bad Musician’s Children? (Bad Musician’s Children & Ivan Brkljačić), Student’s Cultural Centre, Belgrade
- 17. February 2005. Sting (Alpe-Adria-Balkan trio), Gracu, Austria
- 15. February 2005. the first performance of ...In one’s eye wink... (duo Sretenović – Hofman), Belgrade City Hall
- 15. February 2005. Cutting Edge (trio Slavko Osterc) Celje, Slovenia
- 11. February 2005. Cutting Edge (trio Slavko Osterc) Nazarje, Slovenia
- 26. October 2004. the first performance of Cutting edge (Trio Slavko Osterc), Artistic Hall Cvijeta Zuzorić, Belgrade
- 25. October 2004. the first performance of When the Curtain Raises Seven Times (Serbian Radio Orchestra, Biljana Radovanović), Kolarac Hall, Belgrade
- 18. September 2004. the first performance of Cavatina for harp (Dijana Sretenović), Chinch festival, Student’s Cultural Centre, Belgrade
- 17. May 2003. the first performance of Bis (Vera Ogrizović), Student’s Cultural Centre, Belgrade
Since his third year of study Ivan Brkljačić has been writing music for theatre plays. He wrote music scores for the theatre companies and troops Branko Krsmanović, Raša Plaović (within the Serbian National Theatre), Bitef theatre, Atelje 212, Duško Radović, Boško Buha, Mata Milošević (within the Faculty of Drama), Zvezdara theatre, Belgrade Drama Theatre and The puppet theatre Pinokio. He participated twice in the festival of the university theatres with Branko Krsmanović, in Besancon and Paris (France), in 2000 and 2002. Also, he wrote theatre music for the companies outside Belgrade: Toša Jovanović in Zrenjanin, Sterija in Vršac, National Theatre and Children’s Theatre in Subotica, National Theatre in Banja Luka (BiH), City Theatre Podgorica (Montenegro). He also composed theatre music for the scene Holdvilag in Budapest, Hungary (in 1998), and was a member of the Yugoslav / German theatre coproduction in Erlangen (Germany) in 2000. In January 2006. he wrote music for the play Amadeus by Peter Schaeffer, directed by Alisa Stojanovic, and performed live in this play, as a member of a chamber ensemble. In the season 2009-2010 large number of plays with his music were staged in Belgrade theatres: The God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, Don Juan in Soho by Patrick Marber and Wounded eagle (Ranjeni Orao) by MirJam in Atelje 212, Le baruffe chiozzotte (The Chioggia Scuffles) by Carlo Goldoni in Serbian National Theatre, Puss in Boots in Pinokio, Amadeus by Peter Schaeffer and After party (Posle zabave) by Tatjana Ilić in Belgrade Drama Theatre.
Selected list of the theater plays in which Ivan Brkljacic composed music:
1997.
1. Peter Weiss: Marat-Sad (Academic Theatre Krsmanac-Belgrade, directed by: Goran Cvetkovic)
1998.
1. Howard Barker: The Possibilities (AT Krsmanac, directed by: Goran Cvetkovic)
2. William Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet (AT Krsmanac, directed by: Goran Cvetkovic)
3. Eugène Ionesco: The Bald Soprano (AT Krsmanac, directed by: Fedor Popov)
4. Egon Wolf: Paper Flowers/Papirviragok (Holdvilag-Budapest, directed by: Goran Cvetkovic)
1999.
1. Refugees (AT Krsmanac, directed by: Goran Cvetkovic/Andre Jolles)
2. Dusan Popovic/Ana Djordjevic: Spright (Faculty of Drama Arts-Mata Milosevic, directed by: Ana Djordjevic)
3. Oscar Wilde: Starry Boy (Radovic, directed by: Ivana Vujic)
2000.
1. Circo Mortale (AT Krsmanac, directed by: Slavisa Rajkovic)
2. Fernando Arrabal: A Letter to Dictator (Bitef, directed by: Predrag Strbac)
3. Sofokle: Antigona (AT Krsmanac, directed by: Goran Cvetkovic/Marko Popovic)
4. Death of Pero Radakovic (Arena, Erlangen-Germany, directed by: Petar Pejakovic)
2001.
1. Nikolai V. Gogol: The Nose (AT Krsmanac, directed by: Predrag Kalaba)
2. Angelo B. Ruzzante: Fly (Faculty of Drama Arts-Mata Milosevic, directed by: Goran Ruskuc)
3. Karel Chapek: Big doctor’s legend (Sterija-Vrsac, directed by: Predrag Kalaba)
2002.
1. Religion teaching (AT Krsmanac, directed by: Slavisa Rajkovic)
2. Land-Area (AT Krsmanac, directed by: Dorotea Schröder )
2003.
1. Peter Horvat: Snowhite and the Seven Dwarfs (Children theatre-Subotica, directed by: Predrag Strbac)
2. Branislav Nusic: Folk (Sterija-Vrsac, directed by: Pavle Lazic)
3. Carlo Goldoni: Fishermen’s anger (National Theatre-Rasa Plaovic, directed by: Goran Ruskuc)
2006.
1. Peter Shaffer: Amadeus (Belgrade Drama Theatre, directed by: Alisa Stojanovic)
2. Aleksandra Glovacki: Bastien and Bastienne (Children theatre-Subotica, directed by: Predrag Strbac)
2007.
1. Patrick Marber: Don Juan in Soho (Atelje 212, directed by: Alisa Stojanovic)
2. Tanja Ilic: After party (Belgrade Drama Theatre, directed by: Alisa Stojanovic)
2008.
1. Yasmina Reza: God of Carnage (Atelje 212, directed by: Alisa Stojanovic)
2009.
1.Branislav Nusic: Pokojnik (Tosa Jovanovic – Zrenjanin, directed by: Predrag Strbac)
2010.
1.Christopher Durang: Beyond Theraphy (City Theater Podgorica, Montenegro, directed by: Alisa Stojanovic)
2011.
1.Robert Lepage, Marie Brassard: Le Polygraphe (Yugoslav Drama Theatre, directed by: Vladimir Popadic)
At the invitation of the dean of the Conservatory for Music and Dance, Marie-Claude Segard, he went at the beginning of the year 2009 to Strasbourg (France) to research the instumental theatre of the French composer Georges Aperghis.
From 1999 till 2005 he worked as a teacher of the music form analysis in Secondary Music School Mokranjac in Belgrade, and since the academic year 2005/06 he works as the Assistant professor at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade, at the Department for Theoretical Subjects, at the following courses: Aranging, Vocal and Instrumental Counterpoint, Music Form Analisys and Orchestration.
Since 2006 he acts also as the secretary of the Department for Theoretical Subjects.
He is artistic selector of a program for the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th International Review of Composers and is creator of a new concept of the Review that was presented in 2007 with the subject Retrospection, in 2008 New miniatures, in 2009 The echoes of space – homage to Ljubica Maric and Vasilije Mokranjac and in 2010 Music theatre. In the capacity of artistic selector of the Review he represented the Composers Association of Serbia at the 25th Music Biennale Zagreb held from 17th – 26th April 2009. and at Gaudeamus Music Week in Amsterdam in September of the same year.
He was awarded Mokranjac Prize for the year 2005, for his work When the Curtain Raises Seven Times, for symphony orchestra. His composition The Great Little J. for marimbaphone solo was rewarded at the Serbian National Competition (2008-09) organized by the composer, percussionist and professor Nebojša Jovan Živković and the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad.
Brkljačić has wrote 3 theoretical essays. At his PhD Studies in Composition within the course the Methods of art research projects he wrote 2 essays with the subjects: Music theatre and John Lennon – one piece of art in 175 entireties. Both essays were given the highest marks by the subject professors Ivana Vujić and Miloš Zatkalik. In May 2010. Brkljačić presented his essay Wind Quintets of Dejan Despić at the annual assembly of the Department for Theoretical Subjects held at the University of Arts in Belgrade.