composer

Uroš Rojko, born in 1954 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. He studied composition (with Uroš Krek) and clarinet in Ljubljana. He also studied composition with Klaus Huber in Freiburg from 1983 - 86 and with György Ligeti in Hamburg from 1986 - 89.

He is a multiple international prize winner, among others: 1983 Alpe Adria Composition Prize Linz (Austria), 1984 Prize of the City of Stuttgart, 1985 1st Prize at the Alban Berg Composition Competition in Vienna, 1985 1st Prize at the Premio Europa Composition Competition in Rome, 1986 Gaudeamus Prize in Amsterdam, 1987 Composition Prize "Musikprotokoll" in Graz, 1988 Prize of the Prešeren Foundation Slovenia, 1st Prize at the "Vienna International Composition Competition" in Vienna, Prize at the "Vienna International Composition Prize 1991", 2001 1st Prize at the Choir Competition of the Deutscher Musikrat, 2012 "Župančič" Art Prize of the City of Ljubljana, 2018 Kozina Prize of the Slovenian Composers' Association.
1985 - 87: DAAD scholarship, 1990, 2000, 2004, 2013, 2017: working scholarship of the "Heinrich Strobel Foundation" of the SWR and 1993/94: scholarship Künstlerhof Schreyahn.

Commissioned compositions a. o.: Donaueschinger Musiktage 1988, Musikprotokoll Graz 1990, Akyoshidai Music Festival (Japan) 1996, 1997; Berlin Biennale 1997, Radio France Paris 1999 (commissioned by Ensemble Percussions de Strasbourg), Bayerische Staatsoper Munich (for chamber concert series 2003); Slovenian Radio Symphony Orchestra 1993, 2004, 2007, 2014; Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra 1999, 2004, 2013, 2018, 2020; Freiburg Theatre 2005; Warsaw Autumn 2007 (on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the festival) and 2013; Music for Puppet Theatre (Puppet Theatre Ljubljana) 2007/08; "Saiten-Klang" Salzburg 2008 (Ensemble OENM); Festival DIE REIHE, Mike Svoboda, Stefan Hussong (2009); Chamber opera "DAVID, ZITHER und SCHWERT" (2009), libretto Marc Günther, a co-production of Anton Webern Chor Freiburg, Ensemble Aventure Freiburg, Festival Mehrklang Freiburg and Marienbadtheater Freiburg (12 revivals in Freiburg, also performed at Weingartener Musiktage 2009 and Festival Ljubljana 2011); S. O. S. ODYSSEUS for orchestra, 2 actors and children's choirs (composers: Iris ter Schiphorst & Uroš Rojko), libretto Helga Utz, Philharmonie Köln, Gürzenich-Orchester, commissioned by KölnMusik (2013); Experimentalstudio des SWR Freiburg (1996, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2014, 2016); Ensemble Modern and Stiftung Niedersachsen 2015, German-Slovenian Encounter, Frankfurt a. M., Alte Oper, Mozart Saal, Ljubljana, Cankarjev dom, Ensemble Modern, conducted by Johannes Kalitzke; Festival "Fünf plus Fünf (5 double bass clarinets and 5 voices - with vocal soloists Stuttgart) Berlin 2015; BKA Theater Berlin, "Unerhörte Musik" (2015); Commissioned by National Youth Orchestra of Great Britten (NYO) and BBC London: Iris ter Schiphorst in collaboration with Uroš Rojko: GRAVITATIONAL WAVES for 164-piece orchestra (performances: Aldeburgh - Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Birmingham - Symphony Hall, London - BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall 2016); Schwetzinger Mozartfest 2017; Festival Slowind (2017); Stuttgart, Festival ECLAT 2018, EVERYONE for double bass clarinet, large orchestra, video and samples (concept, composition, direction: Iris ter Schiphorst / Uroš Rojko, double bass clarinet: Theo Nabicht, SWR Symphony Orchestra, conductor Manuel Nawri).

Performances worldwide, among others: Ferienkurse für Neue Musik Darmstadt 1984, 1986, 1988, 2004; Musica nel nostro tempo 1986 in Milan (Arditti Quartet); Tage für Neue Musik Stuttgart (1987); Zagreb Biennale 1987, 2001, 2023; Musique de chambre, IRCAM (Ensemble Intercontemporain) 1987, 1989; ISCM World Music Days (Honk Kong 1988, Oslo 1990, Stockholm 1994, Bucharest 1999, Ljubljana 2003, Basel 2004, Stuttgart 2006, Vilnius 2008, Zagreb 2011, Ljubljana 2015); "Musik im 20. Jahrhundert" Saarbrücken 1994, 1995, 2008; "PALIMPSEST" / Hörgänge 2001 (Wiener Konzerthaus); "Ars Nova" 2002 Rottenburg/N; "IKONEN" des 20. Jahrhunderts - Graz (2003); "ECLAT" Festival Neue Musik - Musik der Jahrhunderte Stuttgart (2004); "Pablo Casals Festival" Prades (2004); "Klangspuhren-Schwaz" Innsbruck (2004, 2007, 2017); Festival "Klangwerk 2004" at the E-WERK in Freiburg; Freiburg concert series Ensemble Recherche 2004 (with Experimental Studio of the Heinrich Strobel Foundation of the SWR); Akademie der Künste Berlin (2005); "Music Today 21" Tokyo, Japan (2007); Mehrklang Freiburg (2008, 2009); Sevilla, Centro de Arte Contemporanea (2008); Konzerthaus Berlin, Ensemble UnitedBerlin (2008); ZKM Karlsruhe (2009); Weingartener Musiktage 2009, portrait composer: Uroš Rojko; Seattle (USA), ICE BRACKER VI, New Music from the Mediterranean, Seattle Chamber Players (2012); Darmstadt, Akademie für Tonkunst, Ensemble Phrominx (2013); Stuttgart, Festival Echtzeit (2013); Krakow, Festival aXes (2014). Ljubljana, Festival Slowind (2004, 2015); Trieste Prima, Museo Revoltella (2015, 2022); Graz Museum, Schallfeld Ensemble (2015); SPOJ II, Teatro alla Scala Milano - Ridotto dei Palchi "Arturo Toscanini", Ensemble "Giorgio Bernasconi" dell'Accademia Teatro alla Scala, Dir. : Tito Ceccherini (2016); Rome, Incontro in Casa Scelsi, Michele Marelli - half clarinet (2016); Spittal an der Drau, EXPAN Workshop for New Music, Trio EXPAN, Luka Juhart (2016); Montreal, Les entraillesde la terre, Duo Airs (2016); Munich, Schwere Reiter-Tanz Theater Musik, DUO2KW (2017); Villach, PRIMA LA MUSICA Trio EXPAN (2017); Sarajevo, Festival SONEMUS (2017); Toronto, Canada, Arrayspace, Premieres VI Thin Edge New Music Collective (2017); Mantova Chamber Music Festival (2017); Graz, Multiple Räume, Schallfeld Ensemble (2017); Bern Music Festival (CH), Onibi, Kryptische Lichtgeister, Trio Saitenwind (2017); Innsbruck, KLANGSPUREN Schwaz Tirol (2017, 2020); Salzburg, Festival EXPANsion (2018); George Mason University, Virginia, deLaski Performing Arts, Morgan Sutherland, Junior Percussion Recital (2018); Graz - Improcon (2018); Győr (Hungary), ECA 8TH EUROPEAN CLARINET FESTIVAL, Szilard Benes - Half Clarinet (2018); Zurich (CH), Construct-Radiate, neuverBand, Conductor: Mike Svoboda (2018); Berlin, Festival Pyramidale (2019); Frankfurt am Main, Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Internationale Ensemble Modern Akademie (2019); Haifa (Israel), Haifa School of Arts, Ensemble Airborne Extended (2020); Helsinki, Sibelius Academy of Music (2021, 2022); Gustav Mahler Private University, Klagenfurt (AT), Ensemble Airborne Extended (2021); Munich, Karl Amadeus Hartmann Society (2021); Graz, Festival IMPULS, Szilárd Benes: Half-Clarinet (2021); Berlin, Unerhörte Musik, BKA-Theater (2021); Bratislava, Raschèr Saxophone Quartet, Piano: Ladislav Fančovič (2022); Kassel, Brandeis-Festival, St. Martinskirche (2022); Tessaloniki Accordion Festival (2022); Trieste, Museo Revoltella (Trieste Prima 2022); Toronto, University of Music, UTNMF: Contemporary Music Ensemble, Concerto fluido, Matti Pulkki: accordion, Wallace Halladay: conductor (2023); Baku (Azerbaijan), "I Baku Modern Music Days", Szilard Benes - half clarinet (2023).

Numerous performances of compositions for accordion with artists such as Stefan Hussong, Luka Juhart, Nejc Grm, Manca Dornik, Neža Torkar, Andraž Malgaj and others, as well as compositions for guitar with artists such as: Magnus Andersson, Jürgen Ruck, Klara Tomljanović, Baerbel Libera, Karmen Štendler, Primož Sukič and others...

From 1995 to 2023 (from October 2023 - retired) he held a composition professorship at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana - Slovenia.
As a mentor and composer he participated in music seminars and workshops: Percussion & Composition Workshop Trstenice (Czech Republic) 2007, 2009, 2010; Erasmus Summer School for Multimedia 2009 Castelfranco (Italy); Matrix on Tour 2012, Warsaw; aXses - New Music Festival, Krakow 2012, 2014; Echtzeit Werkstattfestival 2013 Stuttgart; 2014 Trossingen - workshop, new composition for 8 guitars (Scordato) for the ensemble Open Source Guitars; Leicht über Linz – Freie Sicht auf neue Klänge - composition festival and workshops (Anton-Bruckner-Universität Linz) 2016; Matrix on Tour 2017, Ljubljana…

As a visiting professor he taught at ICEBREAKER VI - New Music from the Mediterranean - Seattle, Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz, Universität der Künste (UDK) Berlin, Hochschule für Musik Trossingen, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, Hochschule für Musik Basel and Anton-Bruckner-Universität Linz).

He lives between Ljubljana and Berlin, since 2000 also revived concert activity as a clarinettist, solo or chamber music with a focus on new music, most often in duo with the Slovenian accordionist Luka Juhart. Since 2015 member of the Slovenian Academy of Science and Arts.

Photo: Klaus Meyer, Heidelberg

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