Akil Mark Koci is a

Kosovar Albanian The Albanians of Kosovo ( sq, Shqiptarët e Kosovës, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovar/Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars/Kosovans, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub- ...

composer and music

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

Education

Koci was born in 1936 in Prizren,

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...

(in today's

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

). There he graduated from the

Josip Slavenski Josip () is a male given name found among Croats and Slovenes, a cognate of Joseph. In Croatia, the name Josip was the second most common masculine given name in the decades up to 1959, and has stayed among the top ten most common ones throughout 2 ...

music school. He went on to study at the

Sarajevo Music Academy The Sarajevo Music Academy or Music Academy , University of Sarajevo ( bs, Muzička Akademija Univerziteta u Sarajevu or MAS) is a Faculty of Music of University of Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. History Sarajevo Music Academy was foun ...

, graduating in 1962 and specialising in music theory. He furthered his studies at one of the oldest conservatories in Germany, the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart, specialising in composition under the noted professor and composer,

Milko Kelemen Milko Kelemen (30 March 1924 – 8 March 2018) was a Croatian composer. Life Milko Kelemen was born in Slatina, Croatia (then Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes). He studied under Stjepan Šulek in Zagreb, under Olivier Messiaen in Paris ...

. Koci also studied under Toma Prošev at the

Music Academy The Music Academy is a classical music training program in Montecito in Santa Barbara County, California. Overview The academy hosts an annual eight-week summer music festival, highlighted by concerts and workshops directed by famous composer ...

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and List of cities in North Macedonia by population, largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Sk ...

and was awarded his master of arts by Zija Kučukalić in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

. As a German government DAAD scholarship holder he continued his specialisation at the

Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

in his main field of interest, instrumental music. Just after his studies, Koci worked at an electronic studio running three programmes for

Radio Belgrade Radio Belgrade ( sr, Радио Београд, ) is a state-owned and operated radio station in Belgrade, Serbia. It has four different programs (Radio Belgrade 1, Radio Belgrade 2, Radio Belgrade 3, and Radio Belgrade 202), a precious archive ...

, with composer Vladan Radovanović.

Career

Koci's musical idiom is markedly contemporary based on the achievement of European modern music. His works often are

aleatoric Aleatoricism or aleatorism, the noun associated with the adjectival aleatory and aleatoric, is a term popularised by the musical composer Pierre Boulez, but also Witold Lutosławski and Franco Evangelisti, for compositions resulting from "action ...

dodecaphonic The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition first devised by Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer, who published his "law o ...

and usually non-thematic. As one of the most distinguished representatives of

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

n contemporary music, his works have been performed in almost all European and many non-European countries as well as in music festivals at home and abroad. Akil Mark Koci is one of the founders several festivals of contemporary instrumental music, such as Music Scene,

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians an ...

; Days of Kosovar Music,

Đakovica Gjakova, ) and Đakovica ( sr-Cyrl, Ђаковица, ) is the seventh largest city of Kosovo and seat of Gjakova Municipality and Gjakova District. The city has 40,827 inhabitants, while the municipality has 94,556 inhabitants. Geographicall ...

; and the Kosova Music Accords, Pristina. He is also a regular participant in numerous festivals of contemporary music, notably the

Music Biennale Zagreb Music Biennale Zagreb ( hr, Muzički biennale Zagreb, MBZ) is an international festival of contemporary music in Zagreb, Croatia, organized by the Croatian Composers' Society. The Biennale, founded by Milko Kelemen and held every spring of the od ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Festivals of Contemporary Music,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, and Tribunes of Music in

Opatija Opatija (; it, Abbazia; german: Sankt Jakobi) is a List of cities and towns in Croatia, town and a municipality in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in western Croatia. The traditional seaside resort on the Kvarner Gulf is known for its Mediterranean ...

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...

, Belgrade,

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

and others. Koci was a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of musicology at the

Faculty of Arts A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

of the

University of Pristina The University of Pristina ( sq, Universiteti i Prishtinës) is a public university located in Pristina, Kosovo. It is the institution that emerged after the disestablishment of the University of Pristina (1969–99) as a result of the ...

. He is the recipient of several national and international awards. At different times, he occupied the posts of

Secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...

Vice-President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

and

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the Kosovar Composers' Society as well as the President and Vice-President of the Music Society of Yugoslavia. He is actively engaged in the domain of

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

and musicology. In the scope of the latter, he has written over 250

critique Critique is a method of disciplined, systematic study of a written or oral discourse. Although critique is commonly understood as fault finding and negative judgment,Rodolphe Gasché (2007''The honor of thinking: critique, theory, philosophy''p ...

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

s and musical analyses published in various

newspapers A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports ...

and

magazines A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combination ...

. Koci is a member of the editorial board of the music magazines Zvuk, and Nota. Koci also host the podcast Fjala dhe Muzika, an arts programme. The highest prize of International Competition of Classical Music Pristina, the Akil Koci Prize for outstanding performances of pieces by Albanian composers, is named in his honor. He lives in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Tributes

A tribute concert held in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

and hosted by the

Croatian Composers' Society Croatian Composers' Society ( hr, Hrvatsko društvo skladatelja, HDS) is a professional organization of composers in Croatia. The society has more than 300 full and over 9000 associate members. The full membership is available to composers, musi ...

to celebrate the composer's 70th birthday. A second tribute concert was held in Pristina on 25 May 2007 at the Red Hall, with the participation of the Kosovo Philharmonic Orchestra. On 29 June 2007, he was presented with a ceremonial plate in honour of his 70th birthday by His Excellency Kastriot Robo, Albanian Ambassador to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Together with

Noel Malcolm Sir Noel Robert Malcolm, (born 26 December 1956) is an English political journalist, historian and academic. A King's Scholar at Eton College, Malcolm read history at Peterhouse, Cambridge, and received his doctorate in history from Trinity Col ...

, he is joint recipient of the honorific title 'Ambassador of Albanian culture'. In February 2015, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit by the President of Kosovo. In November 2016, Koci was presented with the Order of the Grand Master of the Republic of Albania by the Albanian President. In October 2018, he was awarded the Nikete Dardani award for lifetime achievement by the Minister of Culture of Kosovo.

Discography

*Koci, A.M., Filigranët I & II, Superstrukturat, (album)

Jugoton Jugoton was the largest record label and chain record store in the former Yugoslavia based in Zagreb, SR Croatia. History Jugoton was formed in 1947. It is notable for releasing some of the most important former Yugoslav pop and rock records. ...

, 1973 (LSY 61239) *Koci, A.M., Ab aeterno (album), Jugoton Zagreb, 1974 (LSY 61239) *Koci, A.M., Sokoli e Mirusha (album), Jugoton Zagreb, 1974 (LSY 63067) *Koci, A.M., Kënga e Rexhës (album), Jugoton Zagreb, 1983 (LSY 62086)

Bibliography

*Koci, A.M., Portrete të kompozitorëve shqiptarë në Jugosllavi, Prishtina, 1971. *Koci, A.M. (ed.), Jugoslovanska glasbena dela, Drzavna Zalozba Slovenije, Ljubljana, 1980. *Koci, A.M., Vibracione të shpirtit shqiptar, Librarium Haemus, Bucharest, 2008. *Koci, A.M., Vibracione të shpirtit shqiptar, vol. 2, Misioni Katolik Shqiptar, Zagreb, 2009. *Koci, A.M., Aspektet filozofike dhe estetike në simfonitë e Beethovenit, Koha Publishers, Prishtina, 2009.

Sources

*Youth Music. "Composer Biographies" Online https://web.archive.org/web/20070616103041/http://www.singbook.org.uk/composer_akil.jsp Accessed January 20, 2007. *YouTube. "Akil Koci 70th birthday concert" Online https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4KEvsjMAsg Accessed August 24, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Koci, Akil Mark 1936 births Kosovan composers Male classical composers Ballet composers Living people People from Prizren State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart alumni 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers Academic staff of the University of Pristina 20th-century male musicians 21st-century male musicians

Education

Career

Tributes

Discography

Bibliography

See also

Sources