Nenad Firšt
Encyclopedia
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...
, conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
and violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist.
Nenad Firšt received a high school musical education at the Zagreb High School of Music before moving to Ljubljana to study at the Ljubljana Academy of Music under Prof. Dane Škerl (composition) and Prof. Rok Klopčič (violin). He went completed his study of chamber music and composition at home in Slovenia, in Hungary and in France.
In 1982 he joined the Croatian Sebastian string quartet, from Zagreb, with which he toured nationally and internationally until 1992. In 1988 he moved to live in Celje
Celje
Celje is a typical Central European town and the third largest town in Slovenia. It is a regional center of Lower Styria and the administrative seat of the Urban Municipality of Celje . The town of Celje is located under Upper Celje Castle at the confluence of the Savinja, Ložnica, and Voglajna...
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, where he is the artistic director and conductor of the Celje String Orchestra. He is also the director of the Celje Institute for Cultural Performances.
Between 1993 and 1998, he was President of the Musical Youth organisation and he has been artistic director of Musical Youth's International Music Camp at Dolenjske Toplice
Dolenjske Toplice
Dolenjske Toplice is a settlement and municipality near Novo Mesto in southeastern Slovenia. The area is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola. The municipality is now included in the Southeast Slovenia statistical region. The town lies on the Sušica River, which joins the Krka...
since 1996.
He has received various awards and recognitions, including the Prešeren Award of the Ljubljana Academy of Music in Ljubljana (for the composition of his 3rd String Quartet) and the Prešeren Award of the Municipality of Celje.
On 7 February 2009, Nenad Firšt was one of the two Prešeren Foundation Award laureates from the field of music, recognised for artistic achievements in the previous two years including his "Concertino for flute, saxophone and orchestra", "Concerto for two saxophones and string instruments", "In the very moment of pause", for chamber ensemble, "Magic Mountain", for symphony orchestra, "Letters" for violin and chamber orchestra, and "Odeon", for chamber orchestra".
(The prestigious awards are named in honour of Slovenia's national poet, France Prešeren
France Prešeren
France Prešeren was a Slovene Romantic poet. He is considered the Slovene national poet. Although he was not a particularly prolific author, he inspired virtually all Slovene literature thereafter....
).
His work for chamber orchestra "Odeon" was performed by the KOS DSS Chamber Orchestra on a tour of Germany in 2008 as part of the cultural programme celebrating Slovenia's Presidency of the EU.
In the programme notes for the 2009 Prešeren Prizes ceremony, Firšt's fellow composer Crt Sojar Voglar wrote that "His highly individual leanings towards the avant garde are perceptible in all of his works which, without being unduly experimental, demonstrate an incredible originality that emerges from a synthesis of his devotion to formal proportions and an expressive mix of thoughtful intimacy and pronounced playfulness, combined with a distinctive melodic voice and harmonic penetration that is always on the edge or just beyond the edge of the traditions of older music. His instrumentation, always in the service of expression, often explores interesting and unfamiliar sound colours — sometimes thick and full, other times randomly dispersed and mysterious."
Selected works
Much of Firšt's music is published by Društvo Slovenskih Skladateljev.- Love Song for 2 Violas (1988)
- SSSSS, Variations for Viola and Double Bass (1991)
- Tres Faciunt Collegium for Clarinet, Viola and Piano (2001)