Pratt Institute

Biography

As one of the few, if not only, woman composer and producer from Bosnia and Herzegovina working in the U.S. today, Svjetlana Bukvich-Nichols draws upon the unique musical and cultural energies of both places. Described as “powerful and atmosphericÂ… evocative of the sacred” (IAWM Journal) and “…an ecstatic musical experience” (Mark Greenfest of the New Music Connoisseur), her music has been heard on four continents including the 2008 Beijing International Congress on Women in Music, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the American Festival of Microtonal Music, SABCTV Art Works in South Africa, The 15. International Review of Composers in Belgrade, Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen, International Festival for Cutting Edge Dance Theater in London and in numerous performances in New York, such as ASCAPÂ’s Thru The Walls Series, The Knitting Factory, LaMama, E.T.C., Music With A View at the Flea Theater, AMC theaters and The Times Center. Svjetlana has been featured on the Voice of America international telecast, New York’s Public TV and Cable broadcasts, the American Music CenterÂ’s Counterstream Radio, and in major radio and TV programs in her native country. Her work in film has been nominated for Best Independent Feature/Black Reel Awards and presented at the Tribeca Film Festival. She has received awards from the American Composers Forum, New England Foundation for the Arts, the Institute On The Arts And Civic Dialogue at Harvard University and the Soros Foundation, as well as ASCAP’s Buddy Baker Film Scoring Scholarship and multiple ASCAPlus Awards. Svjetlana holds a B.A. in musical Composition, a B.A. in Musicology from Sarajevo University’s Academy of Music and an M.F.A. in electronic arts from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, iEAR Studios. Her electro-acoustic piece “Before and After the Tekke” won the First Prize at the 2008 International Chamber Music Festival in Sarajevo. She teaches at Pratt Institute and New York University.