The New Symposium
INTERNATIONAL FORUM AND RESIDENCY PROGRAM
[for composers, performers, musicologists, researchers, pedagogues, producers, and other practitioners engaged in the field of music and art]
[2026]
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COORDINATORS:
Group A [advanced]
Urban Megušar (1997) is a Slovenian cellist and composer based in Amsterdam (NL). As a cellist Urban is dedicated to chamber music and the performance of new music. Urban regularly collaborates with living composers and focuses on premiering new compositions for cello. He has performed in various countries at venues and festivals such as Berliner Philharmonie, Konzerthaus Berlin, Wien Modern, Klang Festival, Music Biennale Zagreb, Stift Festival, Festival Ljubljana and Bled Contemporary Music Week. As a member of Trio Tempestoso, he is the winner of Boris Pergamenschikow Preis for Contemporary Music 2019 and received Dwight & Ursula Mamlok Prize in 2022. Urban’s mentors include Dré A. Hočevar, Julian Arp, Tanja Orning, Torben Snekkestad and Martin Spangenberg.
Group B [beginner]
Brina Kren (Novo mesto, 2003) is a student of composition and performance. She founded and led the Crucial Encounters ensemble within the Young Researchers IV. program. During the program residency, the group recorded two albums of her compositions. She is currently performing with the .abeceda [New Music Ensemble] and a saxophone quartet, which she is also leading and composing for. She is studying philosophy and musicology at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana. Professionally, she is working as a producer and editor at .abeceda Institute. She has published two anthologies of poetry (2018, 2020). Her mentor is Dré A. Hočevar.