Open Call: Join the MBZ 33 Masterclass for Composers

The Music Biennale Zagreb presents a new edition of its masterclass for composers. 

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.

Applications should be sent by November 28, 2024. More information on how to apply is available here.

About previous editions

The 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.