Description

Nikola Starcevic (1980-), “Asiana V”

• First Price in the 2007 JoAnn Falleta Composition Competition for Guitar
• Skill Level:  Advanced
• With Standard Notation

• BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES:
  Nikola Starcevic was born in 1980 in ‎Loznica (Serbia).  A student of Professor Vera Ogrizovic,  he is a graduate of the ‎Belgrade Music Academy and now lives in Belgrade (Serbia) and works as a classical ‎guitar teacher.  He plays and composes very different kinds of music for guitar,  chamber and symphonic orchestra.  He uses a wide range of musical languages — neo-baroque,  neo-classical,  neo-romantic,  jazz,  world music,  and the most ‎characteristically in his pieces — Balkan style.  Situated as he is in the center of the Balkans,  ‎surrounded by countries with a rich culture,  Starcevic’ music is influenced by the ‎unstable region,  colored by nostalgia and strange sadness,  but brimming with ‎energy.The music is like a handwoven carpet,  colorful and full of beautiful ‎ornaments, but when you look more carefully and closely,  you will see all the beauty ‎of colors and art of every single pattern,  thread and string woven in.  Many of his ‎pieces are written combining classical and Balkan musical style,  harmony,  form and ‎structure.  Nikola won a few important prizes for composition,  like the USA Songwriting Competition in 2005 in the World Music category with a piece for 3 guitars entitled Water-mill,  the JoAnn Falletta International Composition Competition for Guitar 2007 Buffalo,  New York,  with “Asiana V”.

  The composer says:  “Asiana V is a part of a cycle called ASIANA which consists of five solo guitar pieces written in a similar style.  As the title suggest,  there are some elements of Asian music,  recognizable in the use of the pentatonic scale.  It is actually a fusion of a few styles:  neo-classical,  neo-romantic and jazz.  Except for a ‎lyrical part,  the piece is dynamic,  effective,  with a lot of strong accents,  especially on chords.  The harmony is tonal.  This piece requires a good technique,  a powerful sound and a ‎disciplined use of articulation”.‎