About Masterclass
MASTERCLASS FOR COMPOSERS 2025
Music Biennale Zagreb presents a new edition of its masterclass for composers. The goal is to enable participants to enhance their creative understanding and refine their compositional skills through individual work with distinguished composers and open rehearsals with the festival ensemble.
The new edition of the MBZ Masterclass will take place from April 6 to 10, 2025, in Zagreb, Croatia. The mentor-composers will be some of the most productive and original composers of the 21st century: Liza Lim (Australia), Pierre Jodlowski (France/Poland), Mauro Lanza (Italy/Germany), and George Lewis (USA).
The resident ensemble will be the PinkNoise Ensemble from New York.
The MBZ Masterclass for Composers 2025 will be conducted in three different segments:
a) Individual Sessions with One of the Mentor-Composers
Selected participants will have the opportunity for intensive "one-on-one" work with two assigned mentors in two separate sessions (each session is planned to last 45 minutes). Participants are expected to bring compositions of their choice to the individual sessions. These sessions are not open to the public, but other MBZ masterclass participants may attend as passive observers.
b) Lectures and Discussions
Selected participants will have the chance to attend lectures by the mentor-composers. Each MBZ masterclass mentor will deliver a lecture lasting up to 90 minutes, with an additional 30 minutes for discussion with the participants. These lectures and plenary discussions will be held as part of the festival program.
c) Work with the Resident Ensemble (Pink Noise)
Selected participants are required to write a new composition (lasting between 3 and 5 minutes). The resident ensemble will perform these new compositions at a concert on April 9, 2025. Composers will have the opportunity to refine their works in collaboration with the resident ensemble during one reading and one dress rehearsal. Rehearsals with the resident ensemble are open for passive participation by other MBZ masterclass participants. The masterclass concert is an integral part of the festival and open to the public.
About previous editions
Music Biennale Zagreb (MBZ), as a festival dedicated to contemporary music and related art forms, generates new perspectives, encourages risk-taking and experimentation, and explores new forms of presentation and channels of communication with festival participants—both the audience and the artists themselves. The MBZ Masterclass for Composers was first held in April 2019, with mentors Nina Šenk (Slovenia), Achim Bornhoeft (Austria), and João Pedro de Oliveira (Brazil/Portugal), with the resident Riot Ensemble (United Kingdom). In 2021, the masterclass was conducted with composer-mentors Alexander Schubert (Germany), Martin Matalon (Argentina/France), Sasha Blondeau (France), and Raphaël Cendo (France) in an adapted online format in three segments, including (1) "one-on-one" lessons, with each participant assigned two of the mentioned mentors, along with online lectures and discussions; (2) open rehearsals with the resident Ensemble Quasars (Slovakia), led by conductor Ivan Buffa; and (3) a workshop for harpsichord with harpsichordist Franjo Bilić (Croatia). In 2023, the masterclass featured composer-mentors Clemens Gadenstätter (Austria), Chaya Czernowin (Israel/USA), Franck Bedrossian (France), and Uroš Rojko (Slovenia), accompanied by Klangforum Wien as the resident ensemble.