UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls
The University of Wisconsin-River Falls will welcome featured composer Davor Bobić to Abbott Concert Hall on Thursday, April 20, at 7:30 p.m. for the 57th Commissioned Composer concert. The concert is free and open to the public.
Professor Bobić is on campus April 18-20 for a three-day residency working with faculty, students and sharing insights about his music. There will be a free presentation April 20, 3 PM in 129 Kleinpell Fine Arts, where he will discuss his new composition “American Croatian Triptych”. All events are open, and the public is welcomed.
Davor Bobić is one of the most influential musicians of contemporary Croatian musical life. Born in Varaždin, he plays accordion. Davor holds a degree from the P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Kiev, Ukraine where he studied composition, theory and accordion.
After finishing his studies, Dr. Bobić started his teaching career at the Varaždin School of Music. He continued his teaching career at the Academy of Arts in Osijek, where he has been a professor since 2003. In 2009, he was appointed to the position of Vice Dean for Science and Art at the Academy of Arts in Osijek and currently serves as an advisor.
Davor Bobić's compositional opus is one of the most comprehensive, diverse and the most performed in contemporary Croatian music. He is a versatile composer of instrumental, vocal, chamber and musical stage works. A pedagogue, he also writes film and theatre music, and his compositions are widely treasured in academic and professional settings. Professor Bobić is the organizer and current director of the Varaždin Baroque Evenings concert series.
Celebrating the annual commissioned composer project at UW-River Falls, Davor makes his first trip to the United States for such a residency. His new composition is for choir and percussion ensemble, entitled “American Croatia Triptych”. The Thursday concert will feature many of his varied works for Symphony Band, piano, and chamber ensembles.
UWRF Professor Emeritus Conrad De Jong began the Commissioned Composer Project in 1967. It is the longest-standing program of its kind in the United States and places a national spotlight on the UW-River Falls Music Department.
The Commissioned Composer Project, begun in 1967 by Professor Emeritus Conrad De Jong, is the longest standing program of its kind in the United States, putting a national spotlight on the UW-River Falls Music Department. Each year, student members of the Commissioned Composer Project select and commission a composer to write a piece of music for the student body, and arranges for that composer to come to the campus in the spring to interact with the students and take part in the premiere performance of that work.
Conrad De Jong is a highly acclaimed and accomplished composer of international renown. He has 30 published commissions to his credit and, since 1970, has received annual awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. In 1980, he was a featured composer at New Music America. His music has been performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Town Hall in New York City, and on the Today Show. Internationally, his works have been performed in Canada, South America, Europe, Australia and Japan. One of his numerous commissions, Variations on the Spanish LaFolia, has been recorded by the Dorian Wind Quintet on its Summit Records CD, American Premiers.
As a teacher, he was especially proud of his students' work in composition and their performances with the University of Wisconsin-River Falls New Music Ensemble. He also takes great personal gratification from the establishment and continuation of the UWRF Commissioned Composer Program.
UW-River Falls hosts the longest running collegiate Commissioned Composer Project in the US. Founded by Conrad De Jong, we celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2016 with Amy Williams, composer.
Students participate in all aspects of the Commissioned Composer Project. Guided by adviser Patti Cudd, the composers visit campus and share a new work created for the UWRF Music Department. Students of this organization meet on a regular basis to plan, prepare, and host the week-long residency in spring semester. Join this group of creative thinkers who make a difference in the world of music.
Conrad De Jong, composer and professor emeritus, initiated the commissioned composer event in 1967 at the school's Spring Fine Arts Festival. De Jong's intention from the beginning was to ensure that contemporary trends in American music would become part of the repertoire of UW-River Falls music students.
For more information, view "Bravo Maestro!"