Ivan Elezović (Doctor of Musical Arts, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) studied composition, music theory, and electronic music at the University of Manitoba, McGill University, and the University of Illinois working with Michael Matthews, Randolph Peters, Zack Settel, Alcides Lanza, Guy Garnett, Erik Lund, and Scott Wyatt.

His compositional output ranges from acoustic to electroacoustic works including mixed media, and has been recognized by numerous competitions and festivals in North and South America, Australia, Europe, and Asia. Dr. Elezovic’s compositional approach, honed and refined in North America, has demonstrated both good craftsmanship and an interest in pursuing innovative conceptual goals. Instead of following a single style, Dr. Elezovic allows a number of materials and ideas to influence the approach and method for each new work. Presently, Dr. Elezovic is an Associate Professor and Head of Composition and Theory at Jackson State University.

Mechanical Theme, for tenor, piano and 2 music boxes – It has been a great challenge of being limited by the nature of two diatonic hand–operated Music Boxes during the process of writing this composition. Although constantly active throughout the piece, Music Boxes have been dictating a harmonic structure in a sense in which only seven different notes were used throughout the piece. Due to their pitch limitation, they opened various possibilities for exposing different music parameters such as register, dynamic, rhythm, and articulation.