Kornelije Kovač
| Kornelije "Bata" Kovač | |
|---|---|
 Kornelije "Bata" Kovač performing at the Subotica Youth festival 50th anniversary | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Kovács Kornél |
| Born |
1 January 1942 Niš, Serbia under German occupation |
| Genres | Rock, pop rock, folk rock, progressive rock, symphonic rock |
| Occupations | Musician, songwriter, composer, producer |
| Instruments | Keyboards, organ, piano |
| Years active | 1961 – present |
| Labels | PGP-RTB, Casa Ricordi, Philips Records, Jugoton, Komuna Belgrade, PGP RTS, ITMM |
| Associated acts | Indexi, Korni Grupa, Zdravko Čolić, Bisera Veletanlić, Riblja Čorba, Bajaga i Instruktori |
Kornelije "Bata" Kovač (pronounced [kɔ̌rne̞ːlije̞ bǎːta kɔ̂v̞atʃ]; Serbian Cyrillic: Корнелије Ковач, Hungarian: Kovács Kornél; born 1 January 1942) is a famous Serbian composer.
Early life
Born in Niš during World War II in the Nazi-occupied Serbia to a Hungarian father and a Serbian mother, Kovač grew up in a prominent artistic family - his grandfather was a conductor, his father a music professor and a violinist, his mother a singer in the opera choir.
Kornelije Kovač received his early music education at his hometown's Subotica College Of Music, after which he attempted to enroll in the Belgrade Music Academy. He didn't pass the entrance exam so he entered the Academy Of Music Art in Sarajevo where he graduated from the Theory And Piano Department.
Along with his classical music education, he was devoting a great deal of his time to the pop and rock music.
Career
His career as a professional musician started in 1961. Profoundly educated, he was able to exercise successfully in various fields of activities: as composer, pianist, keyboard player, producer and arranger. In 1961, he formed his first band, BKB, which became a prominent jazz trio at the time. In 1963 they entered The Yu Jazz Festival, that took place in Bled (Slovenia). After conducting the various orchestras in Bosnia, he finally joined Sarajevo's most popular pop band Indeksi. With them he had a two-month-long tour in Russia. In 1968, he moved to the Yugoslav capital, Belgrade, where he founded one of the most significant Yugoslav pop-rock bands ever, Korni Grupa. As a composer and a musician, he won many music contests that took place in former Yugoslavia. With Korni Grupa he entered following music festivals in Europe:
- 1969 - Singing Europe (Netherlands), voted the most original entry
- 1970 - Rock Festival Katowitze (Poland)
- 1972 - Montreux (Switzerland)
- 1974 - Eurovision Song Festival (Brighton, United Kingdom)
In 1979 Kornelije Kovač moved to England where he collaborated in various projects, such as :
- 1980 - Reading Rock Festival - As the keyboard player of Jenny Darren Band.
Among the prominent British musicians with whom Kornelije Kovač collaborated while living in UK, were:
- Bernie Marsden, guitar player of "White Snake"
- Hans Zimmer, a prominent composer of the soundtracks like: The Rain Man, The Last Emperor, The Lion King, etc.
- Paul Jones, ex-singer of Manfred Mann
- Andy Pask, base player of Landscape
- Colin Hodgkinson, bass player of Back Doors
- Joji Hirota, Japanese percusionst
Recent projects
Kornelije Kovač has been writing music for theatre, movies and television. Like the composer of pop and rock music he has been greatly successful. His songs were released on numerous LP-s in Yugoslavia, Spain, France, the United States, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway etc. Many of them were Golden or Platinum Records.
Since 1979, Kornelije Kovač has participated in many projects in Spain, as a producer, composer or arranger.
Most recent release
He was married to Spomenka Stojanović until Spomenka's death with whom he has three daughters: Aleksandra, Kristina (both of whom are also involved with music) and Anja Kovac.
On 19 January 2011, Serbian broadcaster RTS announced that Kornelije Kovac and his two daughters Aleksandra and Kristina Kovač will each compose a song and present a singer, who is representing Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011.[1]
External links
- Kornelije Kovac on imdb
- Interview, Blic, April 15, 2007
- Prva pesma slučajni plagijat, Blic, February 28, 2008
References
- ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (2011-01-19). "Serbia: Kovac family to compose entry". EscToday.com. Retrieved 2011-01-19.
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