Academy Members

Jelaska Olja, F.C.A.

Academic titles:

• Fellow of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts

Membership in Academy:

• full member – Department of Music and Musicology (5/16/2024 – …)

---

Curriculum Vitae

 

Olja Jelaska (b. 1967) graduated from the Zagreb Academy of Music in music theory, and then studied composition in the class of prof. Marko Ruždjak. She graduated with the opera Chamber trio (according to the text of Slavko Batušić), which was premiered in 1997. in cooperation with the Croatian National Theater Split and the Zagreb Music Biennale. After finishing her studies, she improved her skills at seminars for contemporary composition in Poland (Bialystok, 1995) and Germany (Darmstadt, 1997). She participated in the work of Mediterranean academies in the Syrian capital – Damascus, organized by Echangesculturels en Mediterranee, an association from Marseille. She was awarded several times for her compositions by the Ministry of Culture under the Public Invitation to Encourage Croatian Music Creativity.

From 1997 to 2016 she was employed at the Music Department of the Academy of Arts in Split, where she taught music theory. Since 2016 she has been a Full Professor at the Department for Composition and Theory of Music at the Academy of Music in Zagreb.

She collaborated with numerous Croatian ensembles, orchestras and artists.

She is the winner of many awards, including the HGZ Award in 1994; the Award Josip Štolcer Slavenski (2006); Vladimir Nazor annual award (2014); the annual Award of Slobodna Dalmacija for the art of Jure Kaštelan (2015); HAZU award in the field of musical art (2018); Porin Award in the category for Best Classical Music Composition for Rodin’s Meditation for marimba, clarinet and piano (2018).

In the period between 2013 and 2015, she collaborated with the Ivan Meštrović Museums on the projects and compositions named Meštrović’s Dream and Rodin’s Meditation.

Olja Jelaska was twice on a study trip to China through an agreement between the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China. She went on her first study trip in 2016, and the second one in 2018. On both times she joined a group of composers from 14 countries of Eastern and Southeastern Europe.

Following the study trips in China, Olja Jelaska wrote three compositions for Chinese traditional instruments. On the December 6, 2017, one of the compositions for chamber ensemble of Chinese traditional instruments (Painted Metamorphosis) was premiered in Shanghai by the Shanghai Chamber Orchestra.

As part of the 44th Osor musical evenings, the chamber opera In the search of the blue bird  (libretto written by Mrs Sanja Ivić based on the model of M. Maeterlinck’s Blue Bird) was premiered by the Cantus ensemble and it was conducted by Mr Berislav Šipuš.

A selection of significant compositions:

SPHINXS three movemenst for symphony wind orchestra (1997.)

• BLUE WAVE for symphony orchestra (2013.)
• AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA for flute and percussions (1996.)
• DUO three movements for flute, vibraphone and triangle (1998.)
• ROSE OF SHARON three songs for soprano, clarinet and piano (2008.)
• A DREAM OF SAIL AND SALT  for mixed choir (1999.)
• THREE PICTURES for solo guitar (2000.)
• SONG OF WAVES for alto-flute and string orchestra (2009.)
• ROSETA for wind trio (2011.)
• CORONA OF THE MOON for flute, vibraphone and double bass (2009.)
• PINA’S DRESS for guitar trio (1999.)
• BUTTERFLIES three movement for seven instruments (2005.)
• ON THE WAY TO ZION for piano solo (2010.)
• MARY’S ROSE GARDEN for organ (2008.)
• ON THE SUNNY SIDE for clarinet and string orchestra (2010.)
• DUBROVNIK SIESTA – for guitar and chamber orchestra (2011.)
• FANTASY (hommage a Britten) for guitar solo (2012.)
• MEŠTROVIĆ’ DREAM suite for alto (and bass flute) and piano (2013.)
• RODIN’S MEDITATION for marimba, clarinet and piano (2015.)
• BLUE vs ORANGE for two marimbas (2016.)
• THE WIND IN MOUNTAIN CARMEL for violin/viola, clarinet, cello and piano (2018.)
• IN SEARCH OF THE BLUE BIRD chamber opera (2019.)

Music compositions of Olja Jelaska have been performed as part of the program of well-known events in Croatia and abroad, for example, the Zagreb Music Biennale, Musical tribunes in Opatija, Pula, Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Osor Music Evening, and many other music festivals in Slovenia, Portugal, USA, Sweden, Italy, China and elsewhere.

In 2021, Olja Jelaska collaborated with Mrs Ivona Vladović who directed three movies based on her musical compositions of the same name (At the Bottom of the Sea, Rodin’s Meditation and Duo).