Robert Kolář

Mgr. Robert Kolář is a Slovak composer, editor, musicologist and interpret. He studied musicology at the Faculty of Arts of the Charles University in Bratislava, where he later worked as an assistant professor. Since 2008 he has been working as an editor of the monthly magazine Hudobný život.

As a trumpet player, he has been involved in various forms of improvisation since 2005 - he is a member of the improvisation groups Musica falsa et ficta, Frutti di Mare, the Bratislava Improvisation Orchestra and other occasional ensembles. He has also collaborated with VENI Ensemble, VENI ACADEMY and Cluster Ensemble, participated in the recording of some of their projects (Cluster Ensemble Plays Philip Glass, Elliott Sharp: Dispersion) and also film and stage music with Lucia Chutková. In 2022/2024 he collaborated with the international dance project The Urge Grows.

In 2024, he graduated from the Composition Department of the Academy of Performing Arts in the class of Marian Lejava. His compositions have been performed by such artists as Magdaléna Bajuszová, Ivan Šiller, Milan Paľa, Katarína Paľová, Ronald Šebesta, Martin Adámek, Andrej Gál, Fama Quartet, VŠMU Modern Orchestra, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Slovak Philharmonic, Ensemble Ricercata and Ansámbel Asynchrónie. In 2024 he was one of the finalists of the Basel Composers Competition in Switzerland, his composition Babylonian Gardens III was performed by the Sinfonieorchester Basel under the direction of Roland Kluttig.

He is a member of the Melos-Ethos festival committee, where he is involved in the dramaturgy as well as in the preparing of the festival's bulletin.