Danijel Žontar (1979, Bosnia and Herzegovina), composer and head of the Opera Choir of the Sarajevo National Theater. He graduated in composition at the Music Academy of the University of Sarajevo in the class of prof. Anđelka Bego-Šimunić. He writes for orchestra, chamber ensembles and solo instruments. In his works, he often adopts the principles of minimalist content reduction, using short melodic and rhythmic patterns. He has collaborated with the Sarajevo Philharmonic, No Borders Orchestra, various ensembles and soloists. His works have been performed at festivals and concerts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Germany … He is the author of music for several theatre plays. In the period from November 2012 to May 2013, he performed the function of acting artistic director of the Opera of the National Theater Sarajevo. He is the artistic director of the Mixed Vocal Ensemble “Art Vivo”. He is also active as accompanist, pianist, organist.

About the work

The composition Back into a mother’s womb, a meditation for four double basses, is inspired by the sound of Tibetan horns, which, as Tsultrim Allione says: … takes you somewhere outside the highest peaks of the Himalayas, and at the same time back to your mother’s womb. In this work, created in collaboration with double bassist Almir Nezić, I explored the duality between the spontaneous case and the element of human control. The flow of the work itself is an open map of possible sound states, with each performer deciding to what extent they will control those states. Listening is vital here and becomes a technique in itself. A gentle, unforced creative response to how strings of the double bass behave and an approach to changing circumstances are at the core of this work.