Zoran Simjanovic was born in Belgrade, May 11th 1946. At the age of six he begins to play
the piano, then attending the "Mokranjac" school of music , and finishing his formal
education at the Faculty of Musical Art (Musical Academy) in Belgrade.
From 1961-1969. he played in some of the most popular rock 'n' roll bands of the time
(Siluete, Elipse) winning many domestic and international awards. He also wrote music for
his friends - pop singers who successfully performed them at numerous Yugoslav festivals.
Since 1973. he has been into scenic music, participating in TV, motion picture and theatre
productions in country and abroad. As a composer of applied music, he deals with all musical
styles, yet the most prominent ones are electronic and ethnic-based music.
Until 1998. he composed scores for 55 feature films, over 50 TV films and series, over 25
theatre plays, over 40 animated and short films and over 500 commercials.
He twice won a GOLD ARENA - the most important film music award in SFR Yugoslavia,
for the films Fragrance of the Wild Flowers in 1978. and Balkan Express 1 in 1983.
In 1985. his score for the film When Father Was Away on Business was awarded first prize
at the unofficial festival of costume design, art direction and music, K.S.M.
At the festival in Herceg Novi, 1992. he won the GOLD MIMOSA for music in the movie
picture Tito and Me.
In 1993. he won a music award at the Festival of Short and Animated Film (animat
ed film
The Cross, The Square, The Circle of Kazimir Malevich). The music he made for BIKIC
STUDIO production house was given the same award in 1994.
His score for the film Tango Argentino was given the CRYSTAL PRISM for music (the
annual award of Yugoslav Academy of Film Art and Science) in 1993.
The jury of the first Festival of Animated Film in Cacak gave him the award for best music.
Zoran Simjanovic has always considered that film music should also be released as audio
material, so his audio releases can be found both in Yugoslavia and abroad.
The list of awards won by films for which Simjanovic wrote the music can be found in the
AWARDS chapter of this leaflet.
Simjanovic also wrote music for many theatre plays in his country and abroad, including two
musical plays Belgrade Joys and Fish in the Sea as well as several cabaret plays. He had
composed foreground music for Mandrake in Paris with great success, and was
immediately engaged for the French play Straight Jacket.
Since 1993. he has been a lecturer of applied music at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in
Belgrade. His book Applied Music was published in collaboration with BIKIC STUDIO
1995. He also participated in making the Encyclopaedia of Film and TV, which was released
in Belgrade 1997.
He is one of the three Yugoslav members of European Academy of Film and Television, as
well as a member of ASIFA (an international association of animated film artists).
He became a Citizen of Honour of Valencia in 1993. when he opened the Valencia Film
Festival with his music written specially for that occasion. Yves Montand was given the same
honour that year.
Simjanovic is a member of SACEM, Association of Composers of France.
