Bozidar Kos, composer

Bozidar Kos (b. 1934 in Novo mesto), began studying music in his native Slovenia at the age of six, and later, when he was a student of mechanical engineering at the University of Ljubljana, bacame actively involved in jazz, playing throughout Europe. He moved to Australia in 1965 and began to compose seriously while a student of composition at the University of Adelaide, where he graduated with the Master of Music Degree.

Photo of Kos

After a year of teaching music at the Torrens College of Advanced Education, he was appointed in 1976 to the staff of the Faculty of Music at the University of Adelaide. In 1978 he became the University of Adelaide’s Fellow in Composition, a post he held till 1983. He is at present Chair of Composition Unit at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music - The University of Sydney.

The University of Sydney
Sydney Conservatorium of Music

Bozidar Kos has earned a number of important prizes, grants and awards, among them The Adolf Spivakovsky Scholarship for Composition in 1977, the Albert H. Maggs Composition Award in 1983, third prize at the XXIV Premio Musicale Citta di Trieste competition in 1987 for his Violin Concerto, which also received in 1991 three Sounds Australian National Music Critics’ Awards including Best Australian Orchestral Work.

He has been active in many areas related to composition in Australia and Europe. In 1976 he participated in, and had a work performed at, the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt, Germany. In Australia he was invited to teach at the Summer School for Young Australian and New Zealand Composers and at the National Orchestral Composers’ School, and for many years Kos has been also a member of the committee of the International Society for Contemporary Music, Australia Section.

Compositions by Bozidar Kos (selection)

ORCHESTRAL WORKS:

MEDITATIONS for two orchestras with one conductor (1974)
METAMORPHOSIS for orchestra (1978)
SINFONIETTA for string orchestra (1983)
VIOLIN CONCERTO (1986)
GUITAR CONCERTO (1992)
CROSSWINDS for jazz trumpet, alto saxophone and orchestra (1993)

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CD Production: RTV Slovenia - Records & Tapes

CD production

VIOLIN CONCERTO
Monika Skalar, violin
Anton Nanut, conductor

CROSSWINDS
Petar Ugrin, trumpet
Milko Lazar, alto saxophone
Lior Shambadal, conductor

GUITAR CONCERTO
Tomaz Rajteric, guitar
Anton Nanut, conductor

RTV SLOVENIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

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ENSEMBLE WORKS:

LITTLE FANTASY for chamber ensemble (1978)
QUARTET for flute, viola, percussion and piano (1980)
STRING QUARTET (1982)
THREE MOVEMENTS for flute, tbn, percussion and piano (1982)
CATENA 1 for flute, cl, marimba, piano, violin, violoncello (1985)
QUASAR for percussion quartet (1987)
CATENA 2 for flute/piccolo, cl, pno, vln, vla and vc (1989)
LUDUS EX NOMINUM for flute, oboe/cor anglais, trombone, percussion and piano (1989)
SOLO INSTRUMENTAL WORKS:
REFLECTIONS for piano (1974)
PIANO SONATA (1981)
KOLO for piano (1984)
EVOCATIONS for solo cello (1994)
INSTRUMENTAL WORKS WITH SYNTHESIZER, COMPUTER OR TAPE:
MODULATIONS for flute, two percussionists and synthesizer (1974)
SPECTRUM for bass clarinet, marimba and tape (1988)

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