Boosey & Hawkes is proud to announce the signing of Serbian-Canadian composer Ana Sokolovic to its renowned roster. Two-time winner of Canada's prestigious JUNO Award for Classical Composition of the Year (2019 and 2020), Sokolovic is particularly celebrated for her acclaimed operas which have been performed internationally, including Svadba-Wedding and The Midnight Court.
Watch our video introduction to Ana Sokolovic, and read our press release here.
“Sokolovic has a nomad’s soul: restless and curious, hospitable and open. She collects sounds and colors around her like prized jewels, and offers to trade them for emotion and honest connection.” —Ottawa Citizen
Her Music
"I like to play—not to play music necessarily, but to play as a child." —Ana Sokolovic
Born in Belgrade, Sokolovic’s music immerses listeners in a colorful sound world, often inspired by Balkan folklore and its festive, asymmetrical rhythms. When creating music, Sokolovic often looks toward other art forms, inspired by color, shapes, architecture, and drama. Her strongest musical influences include Stravinsky, Ligeti, Kurtág, Bartók, and Schoenberg (Pierrot lunaire).
But above all, Ana Sokolovic likes to play—she views music creation as her playground, and this joy can be heard in her music.
TWO-TIME JUNO AWARD WINNER
CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED OPERAS PERFORMED INTERNATIONALLY
COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE WITH ORCHESTRE SYMPHONIQUE DE MONTRÉAL
An important figure in contemporary music, Quebec-based composer Ana Sokolovic has distinguished herself internationally through her imaginative, rhythm-driven music, with repertoire that ranges from critically acclaimed operas and orchestra works to powerful solo and chamber pieces.
Originally from Serbia, Sokolovic immersed herself in art from an early age, beginning with classical ballet, followed by theatre and music. Her fascination with different artforms is evident across her broad range of concert and stage works, and has led to prominent collaborations with choreographers, dancers, playwrights, and filmmakers.
Sokolovic recently won two back-to-back JUNO Awards for “Classical Composition of the Year" for her concert works: in 2019 for Golden Slumbers Kiss Your Eyes for countertenor, chorus, and orchestra; and in 2020 for Evta, a concerto for violin and large ensemble. She has also won the National Arts Centre Orchestra Award for Composers, which has included a series of commissions and teaching residencies. Her four operas have been performed internationally, including at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, San Francisco Opera, and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence; and her 2010 opera Svadba won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for “Outstanding New Opera.”
For the next three seasons, Sokolovic serves as composer-in-residence with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. In addition to her activities as a composer, she teaches composition at the University of Montreal.
TOP TRACKS
- Svadba - Wedding: Opera for 6 female singers
- The Midnight Court: Chamber Opera
- Love Songs: for solo voice (or solo voice and saxophone)
- Evta for violin and chamber orchestra (winner of the 2020 JUNO Award)
- Golden Slumbers Kiss Your Eyes for countertenor, chorus, and orchestra (winner of the 2019 JUNO Award)
- Géométrie sentimentale for large ensemble
- Commedia dell’Arte for string quartet
- Ambient V for two violins
"When I begin composing a piece, I don't think about musical parameters. I hear colors, I hear shapes, I think about dramaturgy—almost all of my works are inspired by something outside of music." —Ana Sokolovic
PRESS
"Compelling and beautifully transparent … Sokolovic’s music is dazzlingly inventive, recalling in its vitality and tangy harmonies the kind of folk music popularized by Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares." —Opera News
“One of the most original and talented artists of her generation. Her music is whimsical, strongly pictorial, and—although complex—sounds exactly as it should.” —La Scena Musicale (translated to English)
“Ana Sokolovic has a nomad’s soul: restless and curious, hospitable and open. She collects sounds and colors around her like prized jewels, and offers to trade them for emotion and honest connection.” —Ottawa Citizen
“Hugely inventive and entertaining” —The New York Times, on SVADBA
"Prenuptial celebrations are rarely as hauntingly musical as they are in Ana Sokolović’s a cappella opera that begins in the ordinary world and ends in a magical realm." —Now Magazine, on SVADBA
"Much of the musical spirit of Svadba could be described as unbounded and effervescent—erratic and, at times, erotic, but above all, propulsive." —Gramophone, on SVADBA
“These days, it’s hard to find an opera composer whose theatrical instincts are daring and sure-footed at the same time. So let’s be thankful that Ana Sokolovic chose Canada as her home. … Sokolovic’s own triple-threat background in music, dance and theatre permeates Svadba from beginning to end … The work’s timeless quality is reinforced by Sokolovic’s score. Quirky rhythmic nonsense syllables, vaguely suggestive of pop music beats, blend deftly with ancient-sounding Balkan melodies sung in close harmony. In the hands of a lesser composer, such a mixing of styles might have descended to mere pastiche, but Sokolovic is not a lesser composer.” —The Globe and Mail, on SVADBA
“A magnificent work … The geographic, linguistic and emotional expansiveness of Sokolovic's texts carries over into her music, which goes far beyond conventional operatic use of the voice … A full day later, I was still shaken by her performance.” —The Globe and Mail, on LOVE SONGS
“The production was dazzling, its verbal, visual and musical wit unfailingly exuberant and its stunning cast fully in command of the vocal pyrotechnics Sokolovic demands. … Sokolovic achieved a refreshing sound-world of wildly inventive playfulness, filled with the joy of life.” —Opera News, on THE MIDNIGHT COURT
“Sokolovic has produced a creation of sublime enchantment and subtle wit. She makes the choir shriek and wail, or mimic the percussion instruments, human beatbox style, or twitter like birds or naughty children.” —Ottawa Citizen, on GOLDEN SLUMBERS KISS YOUR EYES
CONTACT INFO
For press inquiries, contact Carol Ann Cheung, Director, Publicity & Marketing: carolann.cheung@boosey.com | 240-353-4496
For programming inquiries, contact Elizabeth Blaufox, Director, Promotion: elizabeth.blaufox@boosey.com | 212-358-5365