Ivan Božičević (1961, Serbia/Croatia), composer, organist, pianist, arranger and jazz musician. He studied composition in Belgrade with A. Obradović and organ in Frankfurt with E. Krapp. He lives in Split as a composition professor at the Academy of Arts. His opus encompasses four symphonic works, as well as numerous chamber, choral, soloistic and electronic compositions. He is interested in a variety of genres (baroque, electronic, jazz, world music) and the possibility of “cross-fertilizations“ between those genres. His works are performed and recorded all over Europe and the USA , issued at 17 CD-s, printed by several US publishers (Walton Music, EC Schirmer, Abundant Silence, Hinshaw) and in Germany (Schott).
Along with the recognitions at home (Stevan Hristić Award, Silver Medal of the Belgrade University of Arts), Božičević has received numerous composition prizes abroad – ArtsLink Fellowship Award, Garth Newel Composition Award, Third Millenium Ensemble Award, Alienor Harpsichord Composition Award, Asylum Saxophone Quartet Prize, AGO/ECS Publishing Prize, AGO/Marilyn Mason Prize, Random Access Music Award, International Clarinet Association Prize, (USA), Trio Anima Mundi Prize (Australia), John Clare Society Award, Invitation to Composers Project (Great Britain), award at the Prague Philharmonic Choir Competition (Czech Republic), Sofia soloists ensemble award (Bulgaria), Premio Cristóbal Halffter (Spain).

Ariel for two pianos
The name Ariel brings to mind several associations. It is a name of an angel from Jewish and gnostic mythology; translated from Hebrew, it means “lion of God”. Ariel is also a well-known character from Shakespeare’s Tempest, a spirit with magical abilities. But the real inspiration for this piece came from the opening verses of Sylvia Plath’s famous horse-ride poem:
Stasis in darkness.
Then the substanceless blue
Pour of tor and distances.
God’s lioness,
How one we grow
Pivot of heels and knees!
(excerpted from “Ariel” by Sylvia Plath)
After I’ve made several transcriptions (1000 pines, one Moon, Spring passes, Sustainable development), this is the first piece I have properly written for two pianos. I lovingly dedicate it to my dear friends and phantastic musicians, Sonja Lončar and Andrija Pavlović from LP Duo.