Biography

  • Andrej Goričar (1971) is a composer, pianist, conductor, and professor. His artistic oeuvre ranges from classical music forms to film and theater music, with a specialization in silent film music.
  • While studying piano at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, he received the Prešeren Student Award for his interpretation of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by maestro Marko Letonja.
  • While still a student, maestro Carl Davis chose him as soloist for the performance of the original version of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra. This collaboration with Davis, who is, among other things, one of the most deserving composers for the global revival of the creation and performance of new concert music for silent films, was a turning point for Goričar, as immediately afterwards, more precisely in 1996, he also immersed himself in the world of silent films and, at the invitation of the Slovenian Cinematheque, became its resident pianist. Andrej continues to perform this work today, alongside his other diverse musical activities. During this time, he has accompanied a very rich repertoire of silent film classics with his compositions for piano or improvisations on the piano: over 150 different film titles in more than 200 performances at home and abroad.
  • From 1996 to 2002, he also developed his teaching, motivational, and leadership skills as the principal of the Music School at the St. Stanislav Institute. This period was marked by the intense and innovative musical life of the school and its orchestra, which he conducted.
  • In 2002, he decided to pursue a solo music career and devote himself even more to composing. This was also when he began collaborating with theatre director Vito Taufer. Goričar has written music for many theatre productions shows by SNG Drama Ljubljana, SNG Maribor, the Croatian National Theatre HNK Zagreb, and others.
  • In 2002, Goričar began his prolific musical career in the field of writing chamber and orchestral scores for silent films. That year, he wrote the symphonic music for the film Sunrise – A Song of Two Humans (F. W. Murnau, USA, 1924, 95') and premiered it as conductor with an ad hoc symphony orchestra at Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana.
  • In 2005, he wrote the orchestral score for the first Slovenian feature-length silent film V kraljestvu Zlatoroga (In the Kingdom of the Golden Horn, J. Ravnik, Slovenia, 1931, 65'), which premiered at the main event celebrating the centenary of Slovenian film and as part of the 61st FIAF (International Federation of Film Archives) World Congress in the Gallus Hall of Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana. The RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Helmut Imig.
  • In the following years, he wrote several musical works for silent films for various ensembles, conducting their premieres and numerous repeat performances from the piano.
  • The music for violin and piano for the first European feature-length animated silent film The Adventures of Prince Ahmed (Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Ahmed, L. Reiniger, 1926, Germany, 65') was commissioned by the 7th International Animated Film Festival Animateka 2010. In 2016, his piano music for the film The Red Balloon (Le ballon rouge, A. Lamorisse, France, 1956, 34') was created for the Kinobalon concert at the Kinodvor cinema in Ljubljana. With special permission from the author's heir, the film was shown in a silent version accompanied by Goričar's music, performed live.
  • From 2018 to the present, he has composed a series of musical scores for various chamber ensembles:
  • First, Goričar was commissioned by the Slovenian Alpine Museum to adapt his orchestral version of the music for the 2005 film V kraljestvu Zlatoroga (In the Kingdom of the Golden Horn) into a version for quartet. Of all Goričar's works, this is probably the one that has been performed most often to date.
  • Between 2021 and 2023, Goričar wrote three scores commissioned by the Slovenian Cinematheque for his ensemble of top musicians, the Orchestra of the Imaginary, namely for the films Erotikon (G. Machaty, 1929, Czechoslovakia, 89'), Nosferatu – A Symphony of Horror (Nosferatu – eine Symphonie des Grauens, W. F. Murnau, Germany, 1922, 95') and Our Hospitality (B. Keaton, USA, 1923, 75'). Goričar's music for Erotikon enjoyed an extremely successful world premiere performed by the Orchestra of the Imaginary under the composer's baton at the world's most important silent film festival, the 40th Giornate del Cinema Muto (Days of Silent Cinema), in 2021 in Pordenone, Italy. The Slovenian premiere of each of these three works took place in the Linhart Hall of Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana.
  • In 2022, Goričar also composed music for three films by Venčeslav Bešter, commissioned by the Slovenian Film Archive: Smučarska tekma za prvenstvo Jugoslavije v Planici pri Ratečah (The Yugoslav Ski Championship in Planica near Rateče) (V. Bešter, Slovenia, 1922, 5'), King Alexander in Bled (V. Bešter, Slovenia, 1923, 4') and The Last Journey of the National Martyrs to Their Homeland (V. Bešter, Slovenia, 1923, 14').
  • In 2023, he composed the score for the film Mladi Medardo (Der junge Medardus, M. Kertesz, Austria, 1923, 102'). Goričar wrote this work on commission from the Kinodvor cinema in Ljubljana, and it was premiered by the Orchestra of the Imaginary during the centenary celebrations of this film institution.
  • In early 2024, he created a new score for a piano trio, this time for the film Hriski lásky (Sins of Love, K. Lamač, Czechoslovakia, 1929, 73').
  • In addition, in 2024 he completely reworked his score for the film Sunrise – A Song of Two Humans (F. W. Murnau, USA, 1924, 95'). The premiere of this new version took place in December 2024 in the Linhart Hall of the Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana, performed by the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra under Goričar's baton.
  • In early 2025, Goričar was commissioned by the Trieste Film Festival to compose the piano accompaniment for the film The Pearl of the Ruins (Giovanni Vitrotti, Italy, 1921, 26'), which he also premiered on the piano at the opening ceremony of the 36th edition of the festival at the Politeama Rosetti hall in Trieste.
  • He is currently working on a new score for the film The Phantom of the Opera (R, Julian, USA, 1925, 92'), commissioned by two Italian music ensembles, Zeroorchestra and the Accademia Musicale Naonis orchestra, which will premiere in October 2025 in Italy.
  • Also in 2025, Goričar's 2023 score for Buster Keaton's film Our Hospitality was selected as the closing performance of the 44th Days of Silent Film (Le Giornate del Cinema Muto). Under Goričar's baton, it will be performed live by the Orchestra of the Imaginary in October 2025 at the Verdi Theater in Pordenone, Italy, accompanying the film.
  • Between 2018 and 2025, Goričar performed his musical scores for silent films with various chamber ensembles or with the Orchestra of the Imaginary in more than sixty concerts in various locations in Slovenia and abroad (Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum in Frankfurt (Germany) / retrospective Veš poet svoj dolg as part of Slovenia's guest of honor appearance at the Frankfurt Book Fair; Filmarchiv Austria in Vienna (Austria) / SLO: Motion – A Major Retrospective of Slovenian Film; Trieste Film Festival in Trieste (Italy); Days of Silent Film festival in Pordenone (Italy); Belgian Royal Film Archive in Brussels (Belgium) / Slovenian Film Days during Slovenia's Presidency of the European Union; Bergfahrt Festival in Bergün (Switzerland); Kulturni dom Gorizia (Italy); Primoji Banga Festival, Skalvijos Kino Centras Vilnius (Lithuania); K&K Zenter, St. Johann (Austria); Slovenian Cinematheque, Ljubljana; Kinodvor, Ljubljana; Ptuj City Cinema; Kosovelov dom Sežana; Tolmin Cinema-Theatre; Mojstrana Mountain Museum; Franca Bernik Cultural Center, Domžale; Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana; Nova Gorica Cultural Center; Vransko Cultural Center; Kranjska Gora Sports Hall; Linhart Hall, Radovljica; Festival Hall, Bled (Bled Festival); Grand Hall of the Velenje Cultural Center (Velenje Festival); etc.
  • Goričar is also the winner of the following international composition competitions: the 16th Concorso 2 Agosto International Composition Competition in Bologna, Italy, in 2010, where he impressed the jury led by legendary Italian composer Ennio Morricone with his work for piano and orchestra entitled Ex Anima, and the 4th International Composition Prize SEM 2019 in Sacile, Italy, with his work for symphony orchestra entitled Mo(uve)ment Musicaux. Prior to that, in 2006, he also won the Best Music Award at the 39th International Puppet Festival PIF Zagreb for the music for the play Hamlet, performed by the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre and directed by Vito Taufer.
  • At the same time, Goričar has also worked as a teacher – he is a professor at the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet – and has written many other non-film works that have been performed by various musical soloists, chamber groups, symphony orchestras, and wind orchestras.