Milica Djordjević

An exuberant sonic fantasy is the foundation of the music of Milica Djordjević (b. 1984). As a composer, she has a masterful command of the entire arsenal of contemporary sound and performance techniques and is able to transform the sounds produced by a lone cello into an acoustic storm of almost existential dimensions using live electronics, conversely, she lets twelve percussionists immerse in the transitional field from the inaudible to the chimerical, or she can gently liquefy static sound surfaces in ensemble and orchestral compositions and transform them into heavy and viscous currents.

In her music, the listener can never be safe from surprises. It seems almost programmatic that she called a large orchestral work from 2016 “Quicksilver”, because there is something mercurial about her entire composing that defies clear definition. Yet her work is borne by an unconditional artistic seriousness and sincerity that is immediately communicated to the audience.

Djordjević graduated composition in Belgrade, where she was already involved with electronic music, then finished specialist studies in Strasbourg, followed by a year at Institut de recherche et coordination acoustique/musique (IRCAM) in Paris, before finally completing her postgraduate studies in Berlin with Hanspeter Kyburz at the Hanns Eisler School of Music.

Her already extensive work includes pieces for solo instruments, chamber music works in various ensembles from instrumental duos to double quartets, vocal works and large orchestral compositions. In its diversity, it underlines the composer’s versatility and technical virtuosity.

Djordjević has worked with leading performers and orchestras of our time, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Gustavo Dudamel, Symphonieorchester und Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, WDR Symphonieorchester, SWR Symphonieorchester, Arditti Quartet, Münchener Kammerorchester, Ensemble Musikfabrik, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Recherche, JACK Quartet, Ilan Volkov, Marco Blaauw, Carl Rosman, Bas Wiegers, Teodoro Anzellotti, Tamara Stefanovich, Enno Poppe, Peter Rundel, Pierre-Laurent Aimard.

Djordjević has received numerous high-ranking prizes and awards for her works, including the Claudio Abbado Composer Prize of the Berliner Philharmoniker (2020), the Composer Prize of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation (2016) and the Belmont-Preis for contemporary music (2015). Her monographic CDs received the German Record Critics’ Award in 2017 and 2024.

She lives and works in Cologne.