Anđelka Bego-Šimunić

Who is Anđelka Bego-Šimunić?

Anđelka Bego-Šimunić is a Bosnian composer of Croatian descent. She teaches at the Sarajevo Music Academy in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

She studied composition at the academy under Ivan Brkanović and Miroslav Špiler, earning a masters degree in 1973. Afterwards, she taught theory at the secondary music school in Sarajevo. She joined the staff of the academy in 1975, and later became assistant and full professor at the academy, where her students include Igor Karaca. From 1986-92 she was president of the Bosnian composers’ association and one of the principal organizers of the Days of Musical Creation festival.

Her music is mostly neo-classical in style, influenced by Sergei Prokofiev's extended tonality and treatment of form, with elements of neo-romanticism, particularly in the style of Franz Liszt, and early Expressionism. Her works occasionally refer to Bosnian folklore.