Slovenian composer to address TWU grad students

Oct. 17, 2022 – DENTON – The Texas Woman's University division of music will host Slovenian composer Dušan Bavdek as a guest lecturer Oct. 24-25.

Bavdek is professor of composition and vice dean for international affairs at the University of Ljubljana Academy of Music. At TWU, he will present the lecture "Pedagogical Aspects of the Operatic Tale, The Lord and the Pears" to the graduate music pedagogy cohort, and will present a lecture about the music education system in Slovenia for music education graduate students.  

Bavdek studied composition under professor Alojz Srebotnjak at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, and in 2000 completed a post-graduate study in composition. He also studied with professors Janos Vajda and Helmut Lachenmann.

His compositions have been performed throughout Europe and elsewhere in the world. He taught music theory at the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet from 1994-2003. In 2002, he began to teach harmony and solfeggio at the Ljubljana Academy of Music. He is a board member of the European Composers Forum.

Bavdek's appearance at TWU is due in part to his meeting with TWU professor Richard Shuster, who was doing a Fulbright Scholar residency at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, where Bavdek was also a guest. Bavdek invited Shuster to perform a recital of 21-century solo piano music by American and Slovenian composers, which happened on May 18, 2022, in Ljubljana. The recital was sponsored by the Society of Slovene Composers and was broadcast on Slovenian national radio.