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Escape – chamber works | Ravello Records

 

My debut album “Escape” – chamber works is OUT worldwide! It is released by Ravello Records, the contemporary classical label imprint of PARMA Recordings. Dedicated to forward-thinking composers and musicians, Ravello Records’ catalog offers listeners today’s up-and-coming innovators in the orchestral, chamber, and experimental music.

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“Composer David Mastikosa’s ESCAPE is the work of an ambitious young composer whose skill belies his age. Born in 1992 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mastikosa is currently one of the most active contemporary classical music composers in his home country and writes music for film and media. ESCAPE features works composed in a variety of styles and arrangements. Poslovice is a chamber piece inspired by old Serbian folk proverbs and suggests a hidden, tongue-in-cheek storyline. Detune was written specifically to encourage younger pianists to explore the vast soundscapes locked within the instrument. Trichord for Viola and Accordion is purposefully sparse; Mastikosa leaves free space for performers to exercise their own creativity. ESCAPE is both an artistic triumph in its own right and an early milestone in Mastikosa’s promising career.”

This  couldn’t be possible without a fantastic team of people from Banja Luka that I closely work with:

CreArt – Association for the Promotion of Culture and Arts (Production)
Sonja Đurić (Creative Producer)
Zoran Nikolić (Editing & Mastering)
Janja Bijelić (Photographer – Album Cover)
Nina Ninković Gašić (advice about design and creator of ideas for the album cover)

Special thanks to the City of Banja Luka, Ministry of Education and Culture of Republic of Srpska, and Association of Composers – Musical Creators (AMUS) for the significant and consistent financial support that made this project possible.

Many thanks to all the great musicians I’ve worked with over the past few years, without whom this album would not have been possible.

Many thanks to the great team of Parma Recordings, for their professional approach and all advice I got. 

LISTEN HERE

..more info about the album

Enjoy! 
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Connect the dots: Monthly Dose of Art, Inspiration and Career Tips

Hi! I recently decided to start with the newsletter and share a dose of art, inspiration, and career tips with you.

Sign up for Connect the dots – my monthly newsletter where I share creativity tips, practical advices for emerging artists, and high-quality music insights from across the web, directly to your inbox.

 

FAMLAB IV Film Music

FAMLAB IV – FILM, ARCHIVE, MUSIC LAB 2022

Film, Archive + Music Lab short photo story

I am extremely grateful to the British Council Bosnia and Herzegovina for nomination to participate in this year’s edition of FAMLAB. My collaboration with the British Council dates back to my participation in the Envision Sound workshop in Ukraine. Considering that I am one of the winners of the grant for contemporary film awarded by the British Council Ukraine and the National Alexander Dovzhenko Film Center, the British Council Bosnia and Herzegovina nominated me for the shortlist of participants in the FAMLAB IV workshop.

Envision Sound 2020 | Listening to Enrica Sciandrone

Envision Sound 2020 | Listening to Enrica Sciandrone

FAMLAB is a British Council initiative that started in 2016 and is now part of an ongoing program supporting performers, composers, filmmakers , and producers working in the artistic space where the two worlds of film and music converge. This edition included collaboration between the British Council’s Film and Music programme, the British Film Institute and Sheffield’s Sensoria festival of film and music. As part of Coventry UK City of Culture 2021, this fourth FAMLAB also joins forces to work in partnership with Coventry’s The Tin Music and Arts, and Deliaphonic – an annual celebration of the life and work of Coventry born electronica pioneer, Delia Derbyshire. 

FAMLAB IV workshop took place from 28 February – 5 March 2022, bringing together 10 musicians for a week immersed in an exploration of the challenges and rich potential for collaborative film archive and music projects. This year’s cohort includes participants from the UK, Turkey, India, the Philippines, South Africa, and Bosnia & Herzegovina, and the workshop is a unique opportunity to share knowledge and expertise, with inspiring conversations, and new creative challenges.

Guest speakers at FAMLAB IV were Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, Caroline Catz, Rubika Shah, Ed Gibbs, Connie Farr, Anthony Weeden, Tim Stevens, and Marta Salogni.

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FAMLAB IV

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FAMLAB IV
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I will have special memories of conversations with dear colleagues, participants who are, each in their own way, special. It was a real pleasure to listen to and get to know their work (it was so diverse) and think about music and art and become part of the FAMLAB family with them at least for a while. Meet them and remember their names:
Corinne de San Jose (Manila, Philippines), Cristiana Ilie, Dani Kyengo O’Neil (South Africa), Dilan Balkay (UK), Hayat Selim (Egypt), Sonia Killmann (Belgium), Subhagata Singa – Rivu (India), and Kris Halpin (UK).

Archive movies with our music are shown live (including my music for Ever Been Had from 1917) in Coventry Cathedral, and you can watch them online at the link below (which is highly recommended!)

 

Enjoy!

 

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Five useful websites for classical music students and professionals

For the first text in English on this blog, I decided to choose five useful sites for young artists who want to make a successful career in the music industry. Some of those links could be a good starting point to get more information on how some of the things work in the music industry. In the next few texts, I will write in more detail about the potential problems and benefits that young and emerging artists face.

Good luck!

  1. Musical Chairs – the world’s leading online resource for classical music professionals and students. On this website, you can find classical music jobs, courses, competitions, instrument sales & musicians.
  2. Composer’s Site – one of the best resources for young and emerging composers. Here you can find many up-to-date competitions, grants, and collaboration opportunities, as well as broader resources for professional composition.
  3. The Composers Association of New Zealand (CANZ) – The Composers Association of New Zealand is a non-profit organization of professional and amateur composers, as well as other supportive institutions. On this website, you can find very useful information on commissioning guidelines – both for composers and commissioners, as well as information about prices for music engraving and parts preparation.
  4. Classical:NEXT -Classical:NEXT is the global networking and exchange hub dedicated exclusively to classical and art music, for all professionals – artists, managers, presenters, orchestras, labels, educators, press, media, publishers, and more. The Classical:NEXT conference offers useful, inspiring, interactive content. Take home practical tips and fertile ideas to apply to your specific situation. Learn about new trends in marketing and audience outreach from within and outside the orchestra scene. Learn about new management strategies and get informed on the classical scene across the world.
  5. New Music Conference – is the industry event for composers, performers, music publishers, booking agents, label representatives, and others working in the field of new music. New Music Conference brings together a great group of national and international professionals in the new music scene.

    Bonus:
    Play with a pro – a place where you can learn and teach at the same time. Musical education, just like music itself, should be accessible for everyone: No matter of age, location, race, education, gender, or wealth. The internet is the perfect medium for removing boundaries.

Feel free to send me a message (contact form) and suggest topics you would like to see covered on this blog!

 

envision

Envision Sound – raj za filmske kompozitore

S obzirom na to da sam odlučio da u okviru svog bloga  Dnevnik kompozitora. O muzici i životu. u svega par tekstova predstavim programe koji su izuzetno korisni za mlade umjetnike, a pritom u potpunosti besplatni, tekst Académie musicale de Villecroze – raj za umjetnika upravo je dobio svoj nastavak.

Tokom avgusta 2019. ispunio sam jednu vrlo iscrpljujuću prijavu za program “Envision Sound 2020” koji je na društvenim mrežama reklamirao British Council Ukraine. Na ovoj reklami je target odlično urađen, pa se ona tako na profilima kompozitora zemalja jugoistočne Evrope svakodnevno više puta pojavljivala. Ono što me posebno privuklo na ovoj reklami je to što su potencirali da je program u potpunosti besplatan, pa znajući da je takvih programa vrlo malo u Evropi, odlučih da se prijavim. Iscrpljujuća prijava u sebi sadrži bezbroj pitanja na koja morate odgovoriti, a treba to sve lijepo smisliti na engleskom. Potrebno je uz to sve da pošaljete dokaze i svoje radove koji su vezani za muziku na filmu, biografiju i još par opštih podataka.

U oktobru 2019. sam dobio mejl da sam jedan od 12 učesnika programa, te da bi uskoro trebalo da potvrdim svoj dolazak kako bih dobio domaći zadatak. Ovaj mejl me izuzetno obradovao, jer je to bila prilika da se po prvi put susretnem sa ljudima koji su svoje karijere kao filmski kompozitori već ostvarili, čak i u Holivudu.  Kao što je i najavljeno, na ovoj radionici su se pojavili profesori poput Enrice Sciandrone, koja osim što predaje u Londonu, ima iz sebe bezbroj filmova i sjajnu karijeru.

Enrica S.

Od oktobra do januara, kada se ovaj progam i zvanično održao, vrijeme je brzo prošlo, a domaći zadatak koji smo nije uopšte bio lak. Svako od 12 učesnika imao je na raspolaganju 2 filma i to jedan arhivski (od 1920. pa nadalje, dakle silent movie) i jedan savremeni. Svi fragmenti, koje smo dobili kao trejlere, pažljivo su birani kao vrlo problematični za filmskog kompozitora u povoju, tako da niko od nas nije skrštenih ruku sjedio i čekao da se ukrca u avion za Kijev. Naravno, u međuvemenu sjajna ekipa i British Council-a nam je kupila i poslala avionske karte, obezbijedila smještaj u hotelu, te pobrinula se o tome da sve informacije i komunikacija budu maksimalno korektne i jasne. Oduševljen sam njihovim profesionalizom, zaista.

Red, rad i disciplina.

Izuzetno je važno pomenuti da ovaj program organizovan i u saradnji sa Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre u čijim prostorijama su se odvijale sve radionice, a bilo ih je baš mnogo. “Envision Sound” je jedan od najintenzivnijih programa na kojima sam bio, a rezultati i naučeno već može da se uoči nakon par dana. Kada su nas pitali za mišljenje na kraju, rekoh da mi je nedostajao dan pauze, što je čudno za moje radoholičarske predispozicije. Ovako intenzivan program znači i pregršt novi ihformacija, pa je naprosto mom mozgu bio potreban odmor. Međutim, nije baš ni da ga nije bilo, s obzirom na to da je Kijev divan grad sa divnim ljudima. Kuvano vino u blizini Maidan Nezalezhnosti ne bi trebalo nikako da se propusti:

Kuvano vino
Kuvano vino

“Envision Sound” traje ukupno 7 dana, a prije posljednjeg dana kandidati imaju priliku da sa simfonijskim orkestrom snime ono što su iskomponovali. Dakle, pored svega što vam plate i načina na koji se ophode prema vama, vaš domaći zadatak neće zavšiti dobrim mockup-om, već imate priliku da se profesionalno snimite. Tehničar koji je snimao sve kompozicije toliko dobro prati partituru da bi mu pojedini dirigenti na tome pozavidjeli – dakle još malo proefesionalizma u kojim samo možete da se oduševite.  Kyiv Symphony Orchestra je sjajan sastav i bila mi je čast što sam imao priliku da ih upoznam i da upravo oni snime soundtrack koji sam radio za film mlade rediteljke iz Ukrajine.

Recording Session

Kada sam se prošli put vratio iz Kijeva, u decembru 2017. u potpunosti sam bio preplavljen divnim osjećanjima, znajući da sam upravo tamo upoznao divne ljude koji vole ono čime se bave i koji zaista mogu da ti budu prijatelji na koje možeš da računaš. Divno je bilo nakon skoro 3 godine opet vidjeti ih opet i sa njima razgovarati o onome o čemu se bave, a bome i o političkoj situaciji na granici sa Rusijom. Od silne toplote kojom zrače ovi divni ljudi, vrlo brzo se zaboravi, a skoro i da se ne osjeti da je ovo zemlja u kojoj još uvijek traje rat i u kojoj ljudi svakodnevno gube živote.

Jedna od sjajnih mladih umjetnica i kompozitorki koju je iznjedrio Kijev jeste i Yana Shliabanska, sa kojom je uvijek zadovoljstvo pričati o muzici, životu i umjetnosti.

Yana Shliabanska

NE OKLIJEVAJTE! PRIJAVITE SE NA ENVISION SOUND!

p.s. Imam provjerene informacije da se “Envision Sound 2021” uveliko sprema, te da uopšte nemaju namjeru da prestanu sa ovim sjajnim programom.

Takođe, za sva pitanja i pomoć uvijek možete da mi se obratite!

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