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Milica Djordjević

Milica Djordjevic
© Astrid Ackermann

Milica Djordjević (*1984 in Belgrade) has an exuberant sound imagination and, thanks to her access to the entire arsenal of contemporary sound and playing techniques, »is able to transform the sounds produced by a lone cello into an acoustic thunderstorm of sheer existential dimensions by means of live electronics, conversely, to let twelve percussionists sink into the transitional field from the inaudible to the shadowy, or in ensemble and orchestral compositions to gently liquefy static sound surfaces and transform them into sluggish and viscous currents. In her music, the listener can never be sure of surprises.«

Her music is strange and familiar at the same timestrange because it unleashes darkness, fear, hidden and suppressed things; familiar because it makes these things explode and their splinters glitter. As brittle and abstract as the surface of her pieces may initially appear, the elaborate textures and dramatic tensions are sensually captivating.

She began her composition studies in Belgrade, where she was already involved in electronic music, then went to Strasbourg and the Paris IRCAM, and completed her studies in Berlin at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music from 2011 to 2013. Her already extensive output, performed by leading soloists and contemporary music ensembles, includes works for solo instruments, chamber music ranging from instrumental duos to double quartets, vocal works and large-scale orchestral compositions. Milica Djordjević has received numerous prizes and awards for her works, including the Belmont Prize in 2015, the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung Composer Prize in 2016, and the Claudio Abbado Composition Prize in 2020.