updated 20 July 2023
© Tone Stojko

Vito Žuraj

Slovene composer born 7 May 1979 in Maribor, Slovenia.

Vito Žuraj studied composition in Ljubljana with Marko Mihevc, then in Dresden with Lothar Voigtländer and in Karlsruhe with Wolfgang Rihm. Upon completing studies in composition, he obtained a Master’s degree in music technology. In 2009-10, he participated in the International Ensemble Modern Academy in Frankfurt. He has also studied with Brian Ferneyhough, Wolfgang Mitterer, Toshio Hosokawa, Michael Jarrell, and Johannes Schöllhorn at various summer courses.

He has received numerous grants, e.g., from GEMA (German performance rights society), the Hoepfner Foundation (Wolfgang Rihm Scholarship), the Hanne Darboven Foundation, and the state of Baden-Württemberg. In 2010, he received a grant from the Deutsche Bank Foundation to attend the “Opera Today” Academy. He was a resident of the Villa Massimo in Rome in 2014.

Since 2003, his works have been performed by Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, and Ensemble Recherche, among others, at festivals such as the Darmstadt Summer Course, the Takefu International Festival, Acanthes, Royaumont Voix Nouvelles, ManiFeste (IRCAM), and Musikprotokol.

From 2007-21, he taught instrumentation and Gregorian chant at the Karlsruhe Conservatory. Since 2015, he has taught composition at the Ljubljana Academy of Music, where he is currently establishing a studio for electronic music. In 2016-17, he was composer in residence with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Erfurt Theatre.

In 2019, he was appointed to a three-year term on the committee granting artists’ scholarships for the German residency programmes at the Villa Massimo, the Casa Baldi in Olevano, the Deutsches Studienzentrum in Venice and the Cité des Arts in Paris. In 2020-2021 Vito Žuraj was a fellow at the International House of Artists Villa Concordia in Bamberg, Germany. For 2023, he was appointed a member of the Civitella Ranieri Foundation.

Wergo and Neos record labels have released portrait CDs: “ Changeover “ (2015) and “ Alavò “ (2021).

Awards, Grants, and Prizes

  • Claudio Abbado Composition Prize from the Berlin Philharmonic, 2016
  • UNESCO Rostrum of composers, selected work: Warm Up, 2012
  • First prize in the 57th edition of the Stuttgart Composition Prize for Changeover, 2012
  • First prize in Saarbrücken for his Clarinet Concerto, 2009
  • Third prize in the Düsseldorf Organ Festival Composition Competition, 2007

© Ircam-Centre Pompidou, 2014

Sources

Site du compositeur.

  • Solo (excluding voice)
  • Chamber music
    • In stile orientale for wind quintet (1998), 11 mn
    • Space echoes for flute, synthesizer and five percussionists (1999), 11 mn 30 s
    • Tango for flute and piano (2000), 6 mn 30 s
    • Cloop for alto flute, musical saw and percussion (2001), 10 mn
    • Want to practise musical stage for flute and horn (2003), 7 mn
    • Fragment for string quartet (2006), 5 mn
    • Airphones for saxophone quartet (2007), 6 mn
    • Deuce for tenor saxophone and percussion (2008), 7 mn
    • Top Spin for percussion trio (2011), 10 mn
    • Contour for wind quintet (2012), 13 mn
    • Scratch for string quartet (2012), 6 mn
    • Warm-up for horn and two percussionists (2012), 10 mn
    • Chrysanthemum for clarinet, cello and piano (2014), 10 mn
    • Quiet, please for three brass mouthpieces (2014), 3 mn
    • Anthemideae for piano trio (2020), 6 mn
  • Instrumental ensemble music
  • Concertant music
    • Tango for flute and orchestra (2000), 6 mn
    • Concertino for horn and wind quartet (2005), 11 mn
    • Concerto for alto saxophone and orchestra (2006), 12 mn
    • Relief for tenor saxophone and ensemble (2007), 6 mn
    • Concerto for clarinet and orchestra (2006-2009), 12 mn
    • Dropshot for two horns and ensemble (2010), 10 mn
    • elec Zgübleni for viola, ensemble and live electronics (2010-2011), 7 mn
    • Re-Slide for trombone and ensemble (2012), 12 mn
    • Hawk-Eye for English horn and orchestra (2014), 15 mn
    • Runaround for four solo brass and instrumental groups (2014), 15 mn
    • Moonballs for wind quintet and ensemble (2015), 12 mn
    • Drive for percussion trio and orchestra (2017-2018), 15 mn
    • Begehren - Zersplittert for harp and strings (2020), 10 mn
    • The voice of Battaros for French horn and ensemble (2020), 3 mn
    • Unveiled concerto for cello and orchestra (2020-2021), 25 mn
  • Vocal music and instrument(s)
    • Memento Mori for soprano and piano (2000), 5 mn 30 s
    • Chopo Muerto for soprano and orchestra (2002), 7 mn
    • The Cat for soprano and piano (2004), 5 mn
    • elec Pegam&Lambergar for mixed choir, organ and electronics (2005), 12 mn
    • Vocalise for soprano, viola da gamba and harpsichord (2006), 4 mn
    • Zur Freude for children's choir and brass quintet (2010), 2 mn
    • Recitativi for high-pitched voice and cimbalo cromatico (2012), 8 mn
    • Insideout for soprano, baritone and ensemble (2013), 12 mn
    • elec stage Orlando.Das Schloss one-act opera for six voices, mixed choir, electronics and orchestra (2012-2013), 30 mn
    • Ubürall farces for soprano and instrumental ensembles (2013), 20 mn
    • La femme 100 têtes for soprano and double bass (2015), 7 mn
    • Schub'rdy G'rdy for soprano, quarter-tone accordion, percussion and piano (2015), 15 mn
    • Alavò for soprano, piano and instrumental groups (2017), 35 mn
    • Ubiquité for soprano and instrumental groups (2013-2017), 20 mn
    • Der Verwandler for mixed chamber choir and orchestra (2018), 25 mn
    • Book of bodies for soprano and chamber string orchestra (2017-2020), 15 mn
    • stage Blühen opera in 7 pictures (2022), 1 h 20 mn
  • A cappella vocal music
  • Electronic music / fixed media / mechanical musical instruments
    • elec iSlider for eight-channel electronics (2007), 6 mn 41 s
    • elec ODTRG for eight-channel electronics (2008), 7 mn 31 s
    • elec Fluctus for eight-channel electronics (2009), 10 mn

Liens Internet

(liens vérifiés en juillet 2023).

Discographie sélective

  • Vito ŽURAJ, La femme 100 têtes, Ensemble Modern, dans « Polyglot », 1 CD EM Medien, 2022, EMCD-050.
  • Vito ŽURAJ, Der Verwandler ; i-Formation ; Alavò, dans « Alavò », 1 CD Neos, 2021, NEOS 12102.
  • Vito ŽURAJ, The Voice of Battaros, Ensemble Modern, dans « Beschenkt », 1 CD EM Medien, 2020, EMCD-048/49.
  • Vito ŽURAJ, Deuce, Ensemble Modern, dans « Aulos / Bel Canto », 2 CD EM Medien, 2018, EMCD-41/42.
  • Vito ŽURAJ, Tension, dans « Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik 2018 », 1 CD WDR, 2018.
  • Vito ŽURAJ, Quiet, please!, Ensemble Modern, dans « Calls, Studies & Games - SaVaSa Trio », 2 CD EM Medien, 2017, EMCD-33/34.
  • Vito ŽURAJ, Hawk-Eye ; Restrung ; Changeover ; Runaround ; Top Spin, dans « Changeover », 1 CD et 1 DVD Wergo, 2015, WER 6417 2.
  • Vito ŽURAJ, Zgübleni, dans « Folk Songs », 1 CD Neos, 2014, NEOS 11316.
  • Vito ŽURAJ, Overgrip ;  Deuce ; Courtnr2 ; The French Open ; Net Cord ; Crosscourt ; Dropshot ; Tiebreak, dans « Maxply », 2010.
  • Vito ŽURAJ, Odtrg ; Perpetuum ; Airphones ; Concertino ; Crosscourt ; Sprich auch du ; Concerto for alto saxophone and orchestra ; In Medias Res, dans « Crosscourt », 2008.
  • Vito ŽURAJ, Fanfare ; Musica da Camera ; Cadenza per corno ; Clarinettissimo ; Kontra ; Cloop; Pianofonics, dans « Chamber Music », 2003, EVZCD002.
  • Vito ŽURAJ, Divertimento ; Musica da Camera ; Tango ; In stile orientale ; Memento Mori ; Torklja ; Space echoes, dans « Composer’s presentation - Vito Žuraj », 2001.