Aleksandra Slađana Milošević
(Belgrade, 3 rd October, 1956), singer, composer and guitar player was a new wave icon in the eighties. She displayed musical talent at a very early age, so her parents enrolled her in music school to study pianoforte and violin at the age of five. As a teenager she performed in school bands, in the theatre and won her first prize at the Students Summer Festival in Maglaj in 1974. In 1976 she performed in the Soviet Union and even recorded a single Mikado for Melodia. When she returned to Serbia, she released Au, au that instantly became a hit song followed by others like Simpatija, Seksi dama, Amsterdam, making her one of the most distinguished representatives of the new wave. In 1983 she left for Germany where she published an album with the group Neutral Design, and recorded a duet with Dado Topić, Princeza. At the end of the eighties she transferred to the USA, worked in the financial sector and today lives between Belgrade and Los Angeles. She also graduated in the theory of jazz and guitar from the Berkelee College of Music. In recent years she has been especially active in promoting intellectual property rights within the Ars et Norma organisation. Her albums include: Mikado (1976), Au, au (1977), Baby (1978), Sexy lady (1978), Amsterdam (1979), Recept za ljubav (1981), Neutral design (1983), Samsara (1984), Princeza (1984), Fantastično putovanje (1985), Harmony (1998), Animal tested (2000), Metamorfoza compilation (2002), Fantastično putovanje CD+DVD (2008).
Ana Sokolović
(Belgrade, 1968), composer, resident in Canada originally studied with Dusan Radić and Zoran Erić in Belgrade. She completed a Master’s degree at the Université de Montréal with José Evangelista and also attended composition workshops with Tristan Murail and Denys Boulianne. She has written for orchestra and chamber music ensembles presented in Canada, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Iceland, Belgium, Great Britain and Ukraine and has received commissions from leading Canadian ensembles including the Société de Musique Contemporaine du Québec, the Molinari String Quartet, the Orchestre baroque de Montréal, the Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal, the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. Ana Sokolović was three times winner in the Competition for Young Composers of SOCAN. She was chosen to represent Canada at UNESCO’s International Rostrum of Composers, in Paris in 1996 with Ambient V and 2009 Vez. In 1999, Géométie sentimentale obtained first prize in the chamber music category and the Grand Prix of the thirteenth CBC Radio National Competition for Young Composers. She won the Joseph S. Stauffer Prize in 2005 and the Prix Opus Prize as Composer of the Year in 2008. In 2005 she wrote her first opera, The Midnight Court, for Queen of Puddings Music Theatre Company, performed at the Royal Opera House, London, in June 2006. She lives in Montreal and is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre.
Ana Stanić
(Niš, 8th December, 1975), singer, songwriter, composer and film producer graduated from the Academy of Drama in Belgrade, department of film and TV production. In 1994, she was vocalist in the pop-dance duo Moby Dick recording three albums, which sold over three hundred thousand copies in Yugoslavia. For the duo she wrote some of her most popular songs, like Nostalgija and Nema nas više. In 1998, Ana Stanić left Moby Dick, and started a successful solo career. Her first solo appearance was in the Budva Festival when she performed Molila sam AnĎele, which she had written together with Ivana Pavlović. Her first album, Metar iznad asfalta and the biggest hit on the album, Grad, brought a new sound to the Serbian pop scene, often described as ―power pop”, due to the powerful and dominant sound of electric guitars. She has recorded six studio albums: Metar iznad asfalta (1998), Ana Stanić (1999), Vidim te kad (1999), Tri (2000), U ogledalu (2004) and Sudar (2008).