Maja Bosnić< (1985, Serbia) is a composer and performer from Belgrade. In her music, she re-questions and examines accustomed phenomena in the process of music making, exposes them to concepts of everyday life (habits of the society, modern trends, pop culture, science, etc.) then resets them in compositions that often include audience action in the performance. Bosnić is drawn to impossible missions, absurd solutions, limited material, playfulness, uncertain outcomes, audience participation, treating instruments as ready-made objects of expression and treating real life objects as music instruments. She obtained a PhD degree in music composition at Goldsmiths, University of London (UK), supervised by prof. Roger Redgate. She writes pieces for solo, chamber, ensemble and orchestra performances, as well as, projects for electronics, multi-media and interactive settings with audience participation. Bosnić’s works have been performed in festivals, such as: Impuls (Austria), CTM Festival, The International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt, The Festival of Young Artists Bayreuth (Germany), Music Here and Now, International Review of Composers, April Meetings, KOMA – Compositions of Young Authors (Serbia), International Youth Arts Festival in Kingston upon Thames (United Kingdom), Sites + Subjects in Plovdiv (Bulgaria), Timsonia 2018 New Music Festival in Timisoara (Romania) and Delian Academy of New Music in Mykonos 2019 (Greece), where her work was performed by re-known Klangforum Wien ensemble. Her works have been performed around Europe with the support of Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, Secretariat for Culture of the City of Belgrade, Goethe-Institut and European Cultural Foundation. She was awarded scholarships and annual grants by the Ministry of Youth of the Republic of Serbia, Donaueschinger Muziktage 2014 and Delian New Music Academy in 2019. She is a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Music, Department of Composition.
About the piece
In the composition of Vessels (160935 km) for sound harp, video and smartphone, several types of continuous music flow, different speeds, densities and textures are intertwined. The work is inspired by the merging and development of two ideas. The idea of a continuous flow that defines human beings, such as the flow of blood cells through blood vessels and capillaries in our bodies, as well as the speed of vehicles on the highways around us. For that reason, the title is related to both concepts, and reminds of a geographical indication, while at the same time denoting the average length of blood vessels in an adult. The composition was commissioned by the Belgian harpist Stef Van Vynckt in 2020.