An artistic residency of composer Ana Horvat and pianist Ivana Pinjušić Bužančić takes place at KONTEJNER in Zagreb, Croatia,  involving artistic research in which the two Croatian musicians confront the question of their own musical identity.

Residency description
Despite their formal education, both, each in their own way, feel constrained by expectations and stereotypes associated with their classical music education. The polarity both artists feel blurs the clear boundaries of their artistic identity. Without wanting to diminish the importance of formal education and with a clear stance that, although rigid, it still allows space for freedom through clear form, the question that arises and that they want to explore through their work is whether their creativity exists beyond those long-established tasks. Within the residency, they are working with archival recordings of concerts and interviews, as well as their own memories. In the next phase of the project, they will include conversations and interviews with those currently attending music schools or academies in their research process. The recordings and materials will serve as the basis for a new performance piece. Through their work, they hope to encourage a deeper understanding and acceptance of diversity within the music community.

Ana Horvat is a composer whose work includes acoustic and electroacoustic compositions, music for sound installations, film, dance performances, opera, and performances. She is also a co-author of several artistic installations and multimedia works. She is interested in merging different areas of art, which is why she often collaborates in collectives and tandems with other artists, roboticists, multimedia artists, computer scientists, as well as DIY and DIWO enthusiasts. She studied electronic composition at the Music Academy in Zagreb and is an active member of the Zagreb makerspace Radiona, which aims to connect the fields of art, science, and technology. In addition to her compositional work, she teaches at the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek.

Ivana Pinjušić Bužančić began her formal music education at the age of six and earned her diploma as a pianist at the Music Academy in Zagreb, in the class of Professor Veljko Glodić. She has taught piano and accompanied in several music schools, after which she found her professional calling as an accompanist for dance subjects at the Artistic Dance School Silvije Hercigonja, where she has been the director for the past seven years. She was a producer for two editions of the Music Biennale Zagreb and a member of the international Experimental Ensemble of the Music Salon SC, led by composer and trombonist Hilary Jeffery, which performed at the 3rd Showroom of Contemporary Sound. As a performer, she has collaborated with composers such as Hugo Morales Murguía and Matyas Wettl, and she performed with composer Ana Horvat at the new sound platform Sine Linea. A prominent area of her interest is the artistic education of youth, currently mainly in dance education, and she often creates music for smaller dance performances.

Photo: Sanja Bistričić Srića