Vito Zuraj (1979) Selected for the Second Year
The Slovenian composer Vito Žuraj, born 1979 in Maribor, and having studied composition with Marko Mihevc in Ljubljana, with Lothar Voigtländer at the Hochschule für Musik Dresden as well as with Wolfgang Rihm at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. Following his studies in composition, he completed a master's degree in music informatics under Dr. Thomas A. Troge. He is currently enrolled as a Master of Arts student of composition at the International Ensemble Modern Academy Frankfurt. 2010-2012 he is a scholarship holder at the Akademie Musiktheater heute, sponsored by Deutsche Bank Foundation. He perfected his compositional technique at summer schools with numerous prominent composers, including Brian Ferneyhough, Chaya Czernowin, Wolfgang Mitterer, Toshio Hosokawa, Michael Jarrel, Messias Maiguashca and Johannes Schöllhorn.
Since 2006 he was awarded the Wolfgang-Rihm-Stipendium (sponsored by the Hoepfner brewery), Hanne Darboven Stiftung Stipendium and a postgraduate scholarship from the federal state of Baden-Württemberg; in 2007-2009 there followed first prizes in the VERS.1.3, VERS.1.4 and VERS.1.5 competitions for electronic music, as well as third prize in the Düsseldorfer Orgelbuch Competition. His music studies abroad were also supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia. His works has been performed at the ISCM World Music Days (2003 and 2004), International Summer Courses for New Music Darmstadt (2004 and 2008), the Bartók Seminar in Szombathely (2005), the Estoril Music Festival (2005), the Tenso Days in Berlin (2006), the Davos Festival (2007), the Takefu International Music Festival (2007), the Heidelberger Frühling (2008), Festival Mouvement Saarbrücken (2009/10), Acanthes (2010), and the Donaueschinger Musiktage "Next generation Projekt" (2008). The works of Vito Žuraj have received performances in the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Semper Opera House in Dresden and the Center for Art and Media (ZKM) Karlsruhe. His works have also been performed the RIAS Kammerchor Berlin and Deutsche Radio Philharmonie conducted by Johannes Kalitzke. Vito Žuraj teaches instrumentation and Gregorian chant at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. (09/2010) .
Website:
zuraj vitoPRESENTAZIONE OPERA
The chamber piece Deuce was the first of my series of pieces with tennis-titles. Tennis is my great passion - second only to composition. With the following tennis-work - Crosscourt - my cooperation with Ensemble Modern began. Subsequently I started the composition study at the International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA) - certainly a defining point in my artistic
career. Being in close contact with excellent interpreters of contemporary music for one whole year I learned many new works, woriking with ensemble, improved my composition skills and productivity. A year before I got a commission by Deutsche Radio Philharmonie for a new symphonic work which led to one of my two symphonic premieres in 2010 - the other one at Acanthes 2010 in Metz. Those two works combined with other pieces I was working on in 2010 (mainly for IEMA) and the aforementioned pieces from 2008 form MAXPLY for varied instrumental forces, ca. 70 minutes long cycle of works. My next goal is to compose one long musical mouvement in similar length - musical theatre for voice, ensemble and electronics.