Žebeljan was born in Belgrade, Serbia, and drew international attention with her opera Zora D. which was commissioned by the Genesis Foundation from London. It was premièred in Amsterdam in 2003, directed by David Pountney and Nicola Raab. The same production opened the 50th season of the Vienna Chamber Opera in the same year.
After the success of the opera Zora D., which had 22 performances in five European countries in just four years, Zebeljan composed The Song of a Traveller in the Night, for clarinet and string quartet as a commission of the Genesis Foundation for the opening of Bill Viola's exhibition The Passions at the National Gallery in London in 2003 (performed by the members of The Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields). From the Venice Biennale she received a commission in 2004 and wrote The Horses of Saint Mark, an illumination for orchestra, premièred in Venice in the same year. The Genesis Foundation also commissioned her to write the chamber orchestra composition The Minstrel's Dance, which Zebeljan composed for The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and this music was premiered at the Wigmore Hall in London in 2005, and it was conducted by the composer herself. As a commission of the London Brass she wrote The Ghost from the Pumpkin, which was premièred in London in 2006. Than followed the commissions from the Bregenz Festival, for the opera The Marathon, which was performed during this festival in 2008, as well in Vienna and Belgrade, and the one from The International Horn Players Society, for composition for horn and string orchestra, Dance of Wooden Sticks. Commissioned by Dutch Chamber Choir, Isidora Zebeljan wrote in 2008 the composition Latum lalo, for 12 singers. As a commission from University of Kent she wrote Polomka quartet for Brodsky Quartet, which was premiered at Gulbenkian Theatre of University of Kent, Canterbury in 2009. The most recent commission for 2009 was the one from Musiktheater im Revier (Gelsenkirchen, Germany) for a new opera, titled as Simon, the Chosen. The world première of this opera was in June 2009. The artistic committee of ISCM World New Music Days selected her composition The Horses of Saint Mark in the official programme for 2009. Her composition Il Circo was the obligatory piece for the international piano competition Jeunesses Musicales in Belgrade in 2009. John Manger, Managing Director of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields orchestra at that time, said that Isidora Zebeljan has “a genuinely original voice and truly impressive talent. The musicians of the Academy who have worked with her cannot praise her highly enough. Her professionalism and craft are amazing, and her original talent is of the first order”.
Her compositions were performed in the United Kingdom, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Spain, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Serbia and the United States as well as at many music festivals. The exclusive publisher of her music is Ricordi - Universal.
Zebeljan studied composition at the Belgrade Music Academy with Vlastimir Trajković (a student of Olivier Messiaen) and since 2002 she has held the position of Professor of Composition at the Belgrade Music Academy. She has been highly acclaimed for her music and has won several significant national awards, among them the Stevan Mokranjac National Music Award in 2004. In 2006, she was elected a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Isidora Zebeljan was granted by the Civitella Ranieri Foundation fellowship for 2005. Isidora Zebeljan is also one of the most outstanding Serbian contemporary authors of music for theatre and film. So far, she has composed the music for around 40 theatre productions in all the prominent theatres in Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro. To acknowledge her artistic achievements, Ms Zebeljan has been honored three times with the Sterija Award, the most prestigious Serbian annual prize for theatre. The Yustat Biennale of Theatre Design also awarded her four times as best composer of theatre music. She has worked on several film scores, including the orchestration of Goran Bregović's music from The Time of the Gypsies, Arizona Dream, Underground (all directed by Emir Kusturica), Queen Margot (directed by Patrice Chéreau) and The Serpent’s Kiss (directed by P. Rousselot).
Reception
Describing Žebeljan's music, David Pountney wrote:
"When I was trawling through the entries for the Genesis Opera Prizes 1, amidst an absolute welter of indistinguishable representatives of what one might call 'academic modernism', Isidora Zebeljan's music struck me immediately as something original, fresh, and above all emotionally expressive - a rare commodity, but an essential one for interesting theatrical story telling." (From the booklet for the opening of the 50th season of the Vienna Chamber Opera.)
Works
Hero's Miseries, for mixed choir, 1985
Suite for Piano, 1985
Songs Cycle to the Verses of Miloš Crnjanski, for baritone and piano, 1986
Sonata, for Violin and Piano, 1986
Glory, for 42 female vocals, 1987
Deserted Village, Elegy for string orchestra, 1987
Umbra, for piano, 1987
Pep It Up, Fantasy for soprano, piano, percussion and string quintet, 1988
A Song for Baron Münchausen, for multiplayer, 1989
A Yawl on the Danube, Scene for soprano, piano, percussion and string quartet, 1990
Escenas picaras - sinfonia in tre movimenti, for symphony orchestra, 1990/2
Il circo, sketch for piano, 1993
Choral, for three voices and double bass, 1994
Girotondo, for alto saxophone, piano, double bass and darbucca, 1994
Three Pieces, for guitar Solo, 1998
Four Old Serbian Songs, for soprano and string orchestra 1999
Rukoveti, five songs for soprano and orchestra (or piano), 1998/2000
Sarabande, for flute, soprano and piano, 2001
Sarabande, for English horn, violin and piano, 2002
Three Goat’s Ears, suite for oboe, violin and piano, 2002
The Miracle in Shargan, Song for oboe solo, 2002
Girotondo, for oboe, piano, double bass and percussion, 2003
Zora D, opera in one act, 2003
Song of a Traveller in the Night, for clarinet and string quartet, 2003
The Miracle in Shargan, Duet for oboe and violin, 2003
The Horses of Saint Mark, Illumination for Orchestra, 2004
The Minstrel’s Dance, for chamber orchestra, 2005
The Ghost from the Pumpkin, for brass quintet, 2006
The New Songs of Lada, for soprano and string orchestra, 2006
Dark Velvet, for piano, 2006
Sarabande, for alt flute, viola and harp, 2007
The Miracle in Shargan, for oboe and piano, 2007
The Marathon (Eine Marathon Familie), opera in one act, 2007/8
Dance of Wooden Sticks, for horn and string orchestra, 2008
Latum lalo, for mixed choir (12 voices), 2008
Polomka Quartet, for string quartet, 2009
Simon, the Chosen (Simon, der Erwählte), opera in one act, 2009
Theatre music (incidental music)
Dubravka Ugrešić, Life is a Fairy Tale, production of the Student Cultural Centre, Belgrade, 1987, for electronic
Dusan Kovačević, The Professional, production of the National Theatre in Šabac, 1989, for electronic
Dusan Kovačević, Hilarious Tragedy, production of the National Theatre in Šabac, 1989, for electronic
Frank Wedekind, Spring’s Awakening, production of the National Theatre in Kragujevac, 1990, for electronic
Agatha Christie, The Mousetrap, production of the Belgrade Drama Theatre, 1995, for violin, alto saxophone and piano
Berthold Brecht, A Man Is A Man, production of the Belgrade Drama Theatre, 1996, for violin, alto saxophone, guitar, accordion, piano, drums and double bass
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The Rivals, production of the Belgrade Drama Theatre, 1997, for violin, piano, bassoon and double bass
Goran Marković, Speech Impediment, production of the National Theatre in Belgrade, 1997, for trumpet, piano, double bass and drums
Arthur Miller, All My Sons, production of the Belgrade Drama Theatre, 1998, for piano and string quartet
Jeremy Brack, Oliver Twist, production of the “Boško Buha” Theatre in Belgrade, 1998, for violin, clarinet, E flat clarinet, bass clarinet, piano and double bass
Georg Büchner, Leonce and Lena, joint production of the City Theatre Budva Festival and the Yugoslav Drama Theatre, 1998, for soprano voice, flute, oboe, viola, piano, double bass, bells (tubular) and tom-toms
Moliere, The School for Women, production of the Montenegro National Theatre, 1998, for male voice, violin, clarinet, bass clarinet, piano and double bass
Maksim Gorky, The Philistines, production of the Belgrade Drama Theatre, 1998, for string quartet
Ljubivoje Ršumović, Emperor Trayan Had Goat's Ears, production of the “Boško Buha” Theatre in Belgrade, 1999, for female voice, female and mixed choir, pipes, violin, flute, piano, double bass and percussion
Mirjana Bobić Mojsilović, Tears Are O.K., production of the National Theatre in Belgrade, 1999, for female voice, alto saxophone, violin, piano and double bass
Ivo Andrić / Nebojša Bradić, The Devil's Yard, production of the National Theatre in Kruševac, 1999, for female voice, mixed choir, flute, clarinet, violin, piano and double bass
Miodrag Karadžić, You Just Go and We Will Croak and Howl, production of the Belgrade Dramatic Theatre, 1999, for violin, accordion, clarinet, piano and double bass
Alexander Dumas / Stevan Koprivica, The Three Musketeers, production of the “Boško Buha” Theatre in Belgrade, 1999, for flute, trumpet, violin, guitar, piano, female voice, double bass and percussion
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard, production of the Yugoslav Drama Theatre, 2000, for piano and string quartet
Franz Xaver Kroetz, The Impuls, production of the Atelje 212 Theatre in Belgrade, 2000, techno music
Radoslav Pavlović, Eleven Weeks, production of the Yugoslav Drama Theatre, 2000, techno music
Jean-Paul Sartre, Dirty Hands, production of the Yugoslav Drama Theatre, 2000, for trumpet, piano, violin, viola and violoncello
Vida Ognjenović, Jegor’s Road, production of the City Theatre Budva Festival, Montenegro, 2000, for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, piano and double bass
Miroslav Krleža, Leda, production of the “Atelje 212” Theatre in Belgrade, 2001, for violin, soprano and alto saxophone, trumpet, piano, drums and double bass
Hugo Betti, The Crime on the Goat Island, production of the City Theatre Budva Festival, Montenegro, 2001, for electronic
William Shakespeare, The Tempest, production of the City Theatre Budva Festival, Montenegro, 2001, for flute, clarinet, trumpet, soprano voice, violin, violoncello, double basse, keyboards and percussions
Vida Ognjenović, Mileva Einstein, production of the National Theatre in Belgrade, 2001, for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, double bass and piano
Ljubomir Simović, The Miracle in Schargan, production of the “Atelje 212” Theatre in Belgrade, 2002, for piano, percussion and chamber orchestra
Martin Crimp, Country, production of the National Theatre in Belgrade, 2002, for electronic
Slobodan Šnajder, The Bride of the Wind, production of the National Theatre in Belgrade, 2003, for female voice, English horn, violoncello, double bass and keyboards
William Sheakspeare, King Lear, production of the “Atelje 212” Theatre in Belgrade, 2005, for prepared piano
Biljana Srbljanović, Skakavci, production of the Yugoslav Drama Theatre, 2005, for soprano and electronic
Peter Shaffer, Amadeus, production of Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc, Rijeka, Croatia, 2006, for soprano and harpsichord
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Three Sisters, production of the National Theatre in Belgrade, 2006, for violin and piano
Thomas Bernhard, Heldenplatz, production of the “Atelje 212” Theatre in Belgrade, 2006, for string quartet and piano
Uglješa Šajtinac, Banat, production of the Yugoslav Drama Theatre, 2007, for oboe, English horn, violin, cello and piano
Film music scores
Maria Like You, directed by Mina Stanojević, 1986, for female voice, electric guitar, piano and drums
Big Small Graduation, directed by Mina Stanojević, 1990, for female and male voices, electric guitar, piano and drums
Don’t Know When or How or Where, documentary directed by Želimir Gvardiol, 1993, for violin, alto saxophone, piano and double bass
Orchestration for musical scores composed by Goran Bregović:
Time of the Gypsies, directed by Emir Kusturica, 1988
