Sanda Majurec: Contrattempo

(Submitted by ISCM – CROATIAN SECTION)

Composer and harpsichordist Sanda Majurec (b. 1971, Croatia) graduated with a degree in composition at the Music Academy in Zagreb with prof. Stanko Horvat and harpsichord under Višnja Mažuran. She furthered her studies in Semmering with Erich Urbanner, in Szombately with Michael Jarrell, and in the Darmstadt Summer Courses. She has resided and worked at the International Centre for Composers in Visby (Sweden) as part of cooperation between Croatia and Sweden.

She was twice presented with the University of Zagreb Rector’s Award as awarded by the Ministry of Culture RH. Her compositions have been performed within the country and abroad; Music Biennale Zagreb, Dubrovnik Summer Festival, The Festival of Croatian Music in Vienna, The Music Tribune in Opatija, The Festival of Macedonian Music in Skopje, ISCM World Music Days in Vancouver and Talk Town festival in Copenhagen.

As a harpsichord player she has perfecting her skills and collaborating with numerous performers of Baroque music: Laurence Cummings, Catherine Macintosh, Krešimir Has, Linda Mravunac i Pavao Mašić.

She works as an Full Professor at The Academy of Arts and Culture, J. J. Strossmayer University in Osijek, Croatia.

Contrattempo was created in 2014, for Cantus Ensemble (who premiered the piece at the Opatija Music Panel in Opatija and later performed the piece at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival and Osor Music Festival). As the title suggests, the piece deals with constant interruptions, insertions and obstructions of the basic musical idea, by using different musical contents and by confronting them. It is clear that the timpani have almost the role of a soloist in this composition.