Aleksandar Simić
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Aleksandar Simić (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар Симић) (born January 22, 1973 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia) is a Serbian composer.
From his earliest days, the family residence constantly shifted: from Bremen to Singapore, Rome to London, Nicosia to Istanbul… Not surprisingly, so too did his fields of interest -- from art to biology, from literature to physics…
In 1994, while completing his third year of study at the Medical Faculty in Belgrade, he took the entrance exams at the Faculty of Music, and, although lacking a single day of formal musical training, placed first among all the applicants and entered formally into the world of music. Since then, his opus has expanded rapidly and he has established a reputation as one of the leading classical composers of the late 20th/early 21st centuries.
Some of his more acclaimed works include:
• Missa Solemnior: marking the Year of Reconciliation following 950 years of schism between eastern and western Christianity.
• Zhukov - A Portrait: commissioned by the Russian Federation to mark the 50th anniversary of victory over fascism in WWII.
• Prayer of Deliverance From Our Evil Enemies: in commemoration of victims of the Shoah (60 years of the Holocaust)
• Lullaby for Baby Jesus: marking 2000 years of Christianity, performed at official celebrations in more than fifteen different countries during millennial celebrations by Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Churches.
• Remember: inspired by the victims of 9/11. Text read by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the fourth anniversary commemoration at Ground Zero.
• Yesenin: a cycle of songs commemorating the centenary of the birth of this famous Russian author, undertaken in cooperation with the renowned Serbian artist Olja Ivanjicki, as inspired by the Hartman/Musorgsky collaboration.
• Crucified: a world anthem of people suffering from Muscular Dystrophy, commissioned by the Telethon Foundation.
• A Little Mass: commemorating 25 years of the papacy of His Holiness Pope John Paul II, commissioned by the Bishopric Conference of Europe
• The Little Town Where Time Stood Still: a symphonic poem inspired by Bohumil Hrabal
• Faust: an opera for solo violoncello, marking the bicentenary of J.W. Von Goethe.
His music has also been used to mark numerous other official events, including the Bicentennial of the Serbian state, the Tricentennial of St. Petersburg, Ecumenical gatherings of all the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchs. He has also written scores for TV, film and theatre.
Mr. Simić is a member of British Academy of Composers and Songwriters and a president of the Association for Promotion and Popularization of Classical Music.
He is the founder of The Seraphim. The ensemble is gradually achieving wide international acclaim.
