M I L K O  K E L E M E N

Composer

Milko Kelemen, born in 1924 in Slatina, Croatia, is among the most important composers of our times. He began his career as a student of Stjepan Sulek in Zagreb (1947) after which he studied with Olivier Messiaen in Paris (1954) and Wolfgang Fortner in Freiburg (1955). Since 1955, he has participated yearly in the Darmstadt Summer School for New Musik. In 1959, Mr. Kelemen founded the Zagreb Music Biennial , an international festival for New Music, of which he has been the president since 1961 (address: Muzicki Biennale Zagreb, Berislaviceva 9, 10000 Zagreb / Kroatien). In 1994, he organized a second international musical festival for New Music in his city of birth, Slatina, Croatia.In 1994, he organized a second international musical festival for New Music in his city of birth, Slatina, Croatia.

Other important stations in his career include scientific research at the Siemens Electronic Studio in Munich, a professorship for composition at the universities for music in Düsseldorf (1970) and Stuttgart (1973), as well as a guest professorship at the Hans Eisler academy for music in Berlin (1999). Mr. Kelemen has also served as guest professor at Yale University (USA) as well as universities and academies in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Syndney, Melbourne, Seoul and Montreal to name but a few of the many cities he has been privileged to teach in.

Milko Kelemen has composed the opera 'Der Belagerungszustand' (lyrics by Camus), the musical scene (??) 'Der neue Mieter' (lyrics by Ionesco), the ballet opera 'Apocalyptica-opéra bestial' (lyrics by Arrabal), as well as two oratorio-like compositions, 'Salut au monde' and 'Concerto 2000' (lyricx by Whitman). He has also composed orchestral and choral works, chamber music, electronic music as well as piano music.

Mr. Kelemen's compositional evolution is marked by three phases. He has characterized the first phase as having taken place under the influence of a 'folklore imaginaire." This was followed by an avant garde phase which, in turn, was followed by a post-modern phase.

A number of distinguished prizes have paid tribute to Mr. Kelemen's impressive body of work: the City of Bonn's Beethoven Prize, the City of Zagreb's Music Prize, first prize for the Italian section of the IGNM (International Gesellschaft für Neue Musik), the Josip Slavenski Prize (Croatian), the Bernhard-Sprengel Prize (Hannover), the Vladimir Nazor Prize, awarded by Croatia for lifetime achievement, as well as many, many others...

In 1973, the Federal Republic of Germany honored Kelemen with the Große Bundesverdienstkreuz. In 1980 he was awarded the French Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres medal and, in 1995, the Croatian Marko Marulic medal.

Milko Kelemen's compositions are available through the following publishing houses: Universal-Edition in Vienna, Schott in Mainz, Peters in Frankfurt, Schirmer in New York and Sikorski in Hamburg. CDs of his works can be obtained through Croatia records (address: Medjugorska 9, 10000 Zagreb) and AB BIS (address: Brägavägen 2, Stockholm 18264 Djursholm).

Mr. Kelemen is also the author of two books: 'Klangwelten' (Florian Nötzel Verlag, Valloisstraße 11, 26382 Wilhelmshaven) and ´Schreiben an Strawinsky´(Elvira Kalke Verlag, Klingenstr.100, 70186 Stuttgart ) .

TV presentations and video cassettes of Milko Kelemen's life and work can be obtained via Bayerischen Rundfunk (Rundfunkplatz 1, München), Südwestrundfunk (Neckarstr. 230 , Stuttgart ) and Croatian National Radio (HRT , Prisavlje 3 , Zagreb).