Nenad Firšt (born November 6, 1964, in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
), is a
Slovene composer,
conductor and
violin
The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
ist.
[Biografija](_blank)
Nenad Firšt website
Nenad Firšt received a high school musical education at the Zagreb High School of Music before moving to Ljubljana to study at the Ljubljana Academy of Music under Dane Škerl (composition) and Rok Klopčič (violin). He completed his study of chamber music and composition at home in Slovenia, in Hungary, and in France.
In 1982, he joined the Croatian Sebastian string quartet, from Zagreb, with which he toured nationally and internationally until 1992. In 1988, he moved to live in
Celje,
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
, where he is the artistic director and conductor of the
Celje String Orchestra. He is also the director of the Celje Institute for Cultural Performances.
Between 1993 and 1998, he was President of the
Musical Youth organisation and he has been artistic director of Musical Youth's International Music Camp at
Dolenjske Toplice since 1996.
He has received various awards and recognitions, including the Prešeren Award of the Ljubljana Academy of Music in Ljubljana (for the composition of his 3rd String Quartet) and the Prešeren Award of the Municipality of Celje.
On 7 February 2009, Nenad Firšt was one of the two
Prešeren Foundation Award laureates from the field of music, recognised for artistic achievements in the previous two years including his "Concertino for flute, saxophone and orchestra", "Concerto for two saxophones and string instruments", "In the very moment of pause", for chamber ensemble, "Magic Mountain", for symphony orchestra, "Letters" for violin and chamber orchestra, and "Odeon", for chamber orchestra".
(The prestigious awards are named in honour of Slovenia's national poet,
France Prešeren).
His work for chamber orchestra "Odeon" was performed by the KOS DSS Chamber Orchestra on a tour of Germany in 2008 as part of the cultural programme celebrating Slovenia's Presidency of the EU.
In the programme notes for the 2009 Prešeren Prizes ceremony, Firšt's fellow composer Crt Sojar Voglar wrote that "His highly individual leanings towards the avant garde are perceptible in all of his works which, without being unduly experimental, demonstrate an incredible originality that emerges from a synthesis of his devotion to formal proportions and an expressive mix of thoughtful intimacy and pronounced playfulness, combined with a distinctive melodic voice and harmonic penetration that is always on the edge or just beyond the edge of the traditions of older music. His instrumentation, always in the service of expression, often explores interesting and unfamiliar sound colours — sometimes thick and full, other times randomly dispersed and mysterious."
Selected works
Much of Firšt's music is published by Društvo Slovenskih Skladateljev.
* ''Love Song'' for 2 Violas (1988)
* ''SSSSS'', Variations for Viola and Double Bass (1991)
* ''Tres Faciunt Collegium'' for Clarinet, Viola and Piano (2001)
References
External links
Nenad Firšt official websiteDruštvo Slovenskih Skladateljev
{{DEFAULTSORT:First, Nenad
1964 births
Living people
Musicians from Zagreb
Slovenian classical composers
Slovenian male musicians
Slovenian classical violinists
Slovenian male classical composers