About Nana Forte

Nana Forte (b. 1981) is a Slovenian composer whose work encompasses choral, vocal-instrumental, chamber, orchestral, operatic and music-theatre compositions. Her artistic practice centres on the human voice and explores the relationship between text, sound and musical dramaturgy, with particular attention to vocal colour and the expressive possibilities of choral sound.

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Forte graduated in composition from the Academy of Music in Ljubljana in 2005. She continued her postgraduate studies at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden and the Universität der Künste Berlin.

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Her work for double mixed choir, Libera me, brought her early international recognition. It was selected as the compulsory piece for the final round of the 5th International Competition for Young Choral Conductors Europa Cantat in Ljubljana in 2009. It was later included in a concert tour by the Netherlands Chamber Choir in 2018 and chosen as a compulsory work for the final round of the World Conducting Competition in Hong Kong in 2019. In 2026, a recording of Libera me by the SWR Vokalensemble under Yuval Weinberg was released by SWR Classic alongside works by Frank Martin and Josef Rheinberger.

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In 2017, the Swedish Radio Choir premiered her composition En ego campana for double mixed choir in Stockholm. The work was subsequently presented during the World Youth Choir’s tour of China and Inner Mongolia, at the ULTIMA Oslo Contemporary Music Festival and as part of the Eric Ericson Award in Stockholm. In the same year, Forte represented Slovenia at the ISCM World New Music Days in Vancouver, where her orchestral work Zaklinjanje (Incantation) was performed by the Victoria Symphony.

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Her orchestral composition Odtenki moje tišine was premiered by the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra in 2021, while her cantata Sanje leta opened the Slovenian Music Days in 2022. In 2023, Miserere mei for mixed choir was commissioned by the Bavarian Radio Choir and conductor Peter Dijkstra, who also conducted its premiere. The work was later performed by the RIAS Kammerchor under Dijkstra at the Berlin Philharmonie in 2026.

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Recent commissions include Liberty for double mixed choir, written for the Bundesjugendchor and Deutscher Musikrat; We are the future rhymes for Chorwerk Ruhr; and Lauda, anima mea, commissioned by the Leipziger Vokalensemble. Several of her compositions are published by Gehrmans Musikförlag, while her Stabat Mater was published by Carus-Verlag in 2026.

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Her music has been commissioned or performed by ensembles including the Swedish Radio Choir, Bavarian Radio Choir, RIAS Kammerchor, SWR Vokalensemble, BBC Singers, Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Chorwerk Ruhr, MDR Rundfunkchor, State Choir LATVIJA, Netherlands Chamber Choir, Helsinki Chamber Choir, Taipei Philharmonic Chamber Choir, La Maîtrise de Radio France, S:t Jacobs Kammarkör, Allmänna Sången, Stockholms Musikgymnasium Kammarkör, SYC Ensemble Singers, the Academic Choir Tone Tomšič of the University of Ljubljana, the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra, the Basel Chamber Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony, the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and the Slovenian Philharmonic String Chamber Orchestra.

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Alongside her vocal and instrumental music, Forte has created works for opera and the stage. Her opera Paradies oder nach Eden was premiered at the Vorarlberger Landestheater in Bregenz in 2016. She regularly collaborates with Slovenian actor, pianist, director and composer Jure Ivanušič, with whom she has co-created several music-theatre works, including the cabaret opera Španska vas, the musical play Zvezda in srce and the musical Obuti maček.

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Nana Forte teaches music subjects at the Department of Music, Faculty of Education, University of Maribor. In 2026, she was invited as one of two lecturers at the European Seminar for Choral Composers in Aosta, organised by FENIARCO.