Aleksandra Vrebalov
Encyclopedia
Aleksandra Vrebalov is a Serbian
composer
based in New York City
. She studied composition with Miroslav Statkic at Novi Sad University, then with Zoran Erić
at Belgrade University, Elinor Armer
at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music
, and Ivana Loudova
at the Prague Academy of Music. She obtained her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Michigan
where she studied with Evan Chambers
and Michael Daugherty
.
A highly regarded musician, she has had residences at the Rockefeller Foundation
Bellagio Center, Tanglewood
, New York’s New Dramatists, MacDowell Colony
, and American Opera Projects among others. She has received Awards or Fellowships from the American Academy of Arts and Letters Charles Ives Fellowship
, Meet the Composer, Highsmith Composition Competition, Vienna Modern Masters, Serbian Fond for an Open Society, ASCAP Awards, and Douglas Moore Fellowship.
Her early string quartet Pannonia Boundless, evoking eastern European sonorities, has been recorded by the Kronos Quartet
on their album Kronos Caravan (1999) and published by Boosey and Hawkes (2007). The Kronos Quartet, with clarinetist David Krakauer, premiered her 40-minute "Babylon, Our Own," commissioned for the 10th anniversary season of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland, in September 2011.
In her more developed orchestral work Orbits (2002), Vrebalov uses overlapping densities of sonorities and rhythmic proportions such as the Fibonacci series to portray her idiosyncratic post-modern conception of musica universalis
.
Her music for the ballet The Widow's Broom (2004) based on Chris Van Allsburg
’s book has been performed on Halloween by the Festival Ballet Providence.
She has received commissions from Kronos Quartet
, Carnegie Hall
(co-commission), Barlow Endowment
, Festival Ballet Providence, Merkin Concert Hall
Zoom Series. Vrebalov is also a co-founder of South Oxford Six, a composers' collective in New York.
In October 2011 her 2-act opera "Mileva," on a libretto by Vida Ognjenović
based on her play, was premiered at the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad, with a repeat performance at the Sava Center in Belgrade as part of the Belgrade Music Festival (BEMUS
). The opera was commissioned to mark the 150th anniversary of the Serbian National Theater. The scenario centers on the character of Mileva Marić
, the Serbian physicist and mathematician who was Albert Einstein
's first wife.
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. She studied composition with Miroslav Statkic at Novi Sad University, then with Zoran Erić
Zoran Eric
Zoran Erić is a Serbian composer of modern classical music. He composes mostly in post-modern style, but also has notable works in electronic music. Erić is also well known for his music for theater....
at Belgrade University, Elinor Armer
Elinor Armer
Elinor Armer is an American pianist, music educator and composer.-Biography:Elinor Armer was born in Oakland, California. She studied music under Darius Milhaud and Leon Kirchner for composition and Alexander Libermann for piano...
at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
San Francisco Conservatory of Music, formerly the California Conservatory of Music, founded in 1917, is a music school, with an enrollment of about 400 students. It was launched by Ada Clement and Lillian Hodgehead in the remodeled home of Lillian's parents on Sacramento Street. It was called the...
, and Ivana Loudova
Ivana Loudová
Ivana Loudová is a Czech composer.Loudová was born at Chlumec nad Cidlinou. She studied at the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts under Miloslav Kabeláč and Emil Hlobil...
at the Prague Academy of Music. She obtained her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
where she studied with Evan Chambers
Evan Chambers
Evan Chambers is a composer, traditional Irish fiddler, and Professor of Composition at the University of Michigan. He received a Doctorate in music composition from the University of Michigan...
and Michael Daugherty
Michael Daugherty
Michael Kevin Daugherty is an American composer, pianist, and teacher. Influenced by popular culture, Romanticism, and Postmodernism, Daugherty is one of the most colorful and widely performed American concert music composers of his generation...
.
A highly regarded musician, she has had residences at the Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
Bellagio Center, Tanglewood
Tanglewood
Tanglewood is an estate and music venue in Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It is the home of the annual summer Tanglewood Music Festival and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, and has been the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home since 1937. It was the venue of the Berkshire Festival.- History...
, New York’s New Dramatists, MacDowell Colony
MacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
, and American Opera Projects among others. She has received Awards or Fellowships from the American Academy of Arts and Letters Charles Ives Fellowship
Charles Ives Prize
The Charles Ives Prize is a scholarship for young composers, awarded by the American Academy of Arts and Letters: scholarships of $7500, and fellowships of $15,000....
, Meet the Composer, Highsmith Composition Competition, Vienna Modern Masters, Serbian Fond for an Open Society, ASCAP Awards, and Douglas Moore Fellowship.
Her early string quartet Pannonia Boundless, evoking eastern European sonorities, has been recorded by the Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet is a string quartet founded by violinist David Harrington in 1973 in Seattle, Washington. Since 1978, the quartet has been based in San Francisco, California. The longest-running combination of performers had Harrington and John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola, and Joan...
on their album Kronos Caravan (1999) and published by Boosey and Hawkes (2007). The Kronos Quartet, with clarinetist David Krakauer, premiered her 40-minute "Babylon, Our Own," commissioned for the 10th anniversary season of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland, in September 2011.
In her more developed orchestral work Orbits (2002), Vrebalov uses overlapping densities of sonorities and rhythmic proportions such as the Fibonacci series to portray her idiosyncratic post-modern conception of musica universalis
Musica universalis
Musica universalis is an ancient philosophical concept that regards proportions in the movements of celestial bodies—the Sun, Moon, and planets—as a form of musica . This 'music' is not usually thought to be literally audible, but a harmonic and/or mathematical and/or religious concept...
.
Her music for the ballet The Widow's Broom (2004) based on Chris Van Allsburg
Chris Van Allsburg
Chris Van Allsburg is an American author and illustrator of children's books. He twice won the Caldecott Medal, for Jumanji and The Polar Express , both of which he wrote and illustrated, and both of which were later adapted into successful motion pictures...
’s book has been performed on Halloween by the Festival Ballet Providence.
She has received commissions from Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet is a string quartet founded by violinist David Harrington in 1973 in Seattle, Washington. Since 1978, the quartet has been based in San Francisco, California. The longest-running combination of performers had Harrington and John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola, and Joan...
, Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
(co-commission), Barlow Endowment
Barlow Endowment
The Barlow Endowment for Music Composition is a scholarship established in September 1983 through the generosity of Milton A. and Gloria Barlow. Motivated by their love of music, the Barlows presented a substantial gift to Brigham Young University, engendering and supporting excellence in musical...
, Festival Ballet Providence, Merkin Concert Hall
Merkin Concert Hall
Merkin Concert Hall is a 449-seat concert hall in Manhattan, New York City. The hall, named in honor of Hermann and Ursula Merkin, is part of the Kaufman Center, a complex that includes the Lucy Moses School, a community arts school, and the Special Music School , a New York City public school for...
Zoom Series. Vrebalov is also a co-founder of South Oxford Six, a composers' collective in New York.
In October 2011 her 2-act opera "Mileva," on a libretto by Vida Ognjenović
Vida Ognjenovic
Vida Ognjenović is a famous Serbian theater director, playwright, writer, drama professor and diplomat....
based on her play, was premiered at the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad, with a repeat performance at the Sava Center in Belgrade as part of the Belgrade Music Festival (BEMUS
BEMUS
Founded in 1969, the Belgrade Music Festival – BEMUS is the oldest and the most prominent music festival in Serbia and one of the most distinctive classical music festivals in the South-Eastern Europe...
). The opera was commissioned to mark the 150th anniversary of the Serbian National Theater. The scenario centers on the character of Mileva Marić
Mileva Maric
Mileva Marić was one of the first women to study mathematics and physics in Europe...
, the Serbian physicist and mathematician who was Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
's first wife.