Aleksandër Peçi

Aleksandër Peçi (born Tirana, 11 July 1951) is an Albanian composer who has been recognized at the national and international levels.

He studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, Academia Santa Cecilia, and the University of Arts, Tirana, where he worked with Çesk Zadeja. In Paris, he worked with Ton de Leeuw, Paul Mefano, and Jacques Charpentier. In Amsterdam, Peçi studied with Daan Manneke at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. At the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia, he composed Etera Tondo, modeled after Paradis of Dante Alighieri. Then he worked as the director of Palace of Culture in Përmet. In 1979, he became the artistic director of the National Ensemble of Popular Songs and Dances. Since 1986, he has been a full-time composer. In 1989, Peci composed the song Toka E Diellit, which won the major Albanian music contest Festivali i Këngës. Since 1992, he has taught at the Academy of Fine Arts in Tirana.

Career
In his professional career as a composer, Peci wrote over 922 compositions and Editions, and 35 CD albums of his music were published. His YouTube channel has more than 622 videos of his music performances.

Aleksandër Peçi has participated in over 80 international festivals of contemporary music, including the Venice Biennale, Manchester International Festival, Festival of Marseille, ISCM World Music Days, Moscow Autumn, EMU in Santa Cecilia Festival, Seattle Festival, Summer Fest Moscow, Nuova Musica Brno, Convergence Fest Prague, and Festival of Hong Kong. His music has been premiered and performed in Carnegie Hall (New York), Steinway Piano Gallery (Miami), EuroPianos (Naples, Florida), Clarke Recital Hall (University of Miami), and Prague Conservatory.

Aleksandër Peçi has received commissions from the Ministry of Culture (Albania), Radio France music, Ministry of Culture France SACEM (France), Montreal Film Studio, Albanian Film Studios and Radio Television Orchestra Albania. 2011 marked Peçi's world tour, where his music was performed in Moscow, Paris, Texas, Ecuador, Louisiana, Armenia, Oman, and Kosovo.

In August 2016, the Moscow Conservatory presented a first-time event featuring his Five Piano Sonatas. Peçi's piano composition “Muzikë Kabaistike,” received its world premiere by Redi Llupa at the Kaleidoscope MusArt Concert Series in Miami, FL in February 2016.

Peçi has composed for movie soundtracks, symphonic, ballet, and operatic settings, chamber music, as well as solo piano, among many others.

Awards and titles
Aleksander Peçi was awarded the title of Merited Artist in 1989. In 2011, the President of The Republic of Albania, Bamir Topi, granted him the title of Grand Master, “For outstanding contributions to the modernization of thought and image of the Albanian composition, composer of a wider dimension, analyst, researcher and author of a series of musical works, with specific values in the History of National Culture.” Other awards include those from Radio France, and SACEM in France, Montreal Film Studio in Canada, and the Venice Biennale. Aleksandër Peçi is the winner of 21 National and International Prizes, including Special Award at the “KULT” 2011 and those at the 1979 Albanian Film Festival with Gjeneral Gramafoni; the ’89 festival with Toka e diellit; and the 2000 festival with Dasma e Sakos; as well as the First Prize for the Rhapsody No. 2 for violin and orchestra at the 1975 Koncertet e Majit, Tirana; First Prize for the ballet Kecat dhe ujku at the 1978 National competition honoring the 35th Anniversary of the National Army; First Prize at the 1981 Koncertet e Majit, Tirana, with the song Rritim jetën tonë; Special Prize awarded at the 1982 Balkan Film Festival in Istanbul for the music of Gjeneral Gramafoni; Second Prize at the 1988 Festivali i Këngës në RTSH with the song Në emër të jetës; First Prize at the 1989 Festivali i këngës në RTSH for the song Toka e Diellit; First Prize at the 2002 “Muza” National Competition under the auspices of the Albanian Ministry of Culture for Heteroondulation special (work commissioned by Radio France) and at the 2003 one for the opera OIRAT. In 2003, he was also the winner of the Silver Remi Award at the Houston - Texas World Fest for the music of Women without wings (produced by Cinestudio - Montreal, Canada). In 2021, he won first prize with Sonata no.2 for violoncello Mitosfera and first prize in Germany with the film Ritrato infinito di Clara Bellini – production Italo - Albanese.

Selected recordings
Peçi's output includes stage and orchestral works such as 20 film scores, 2 operas, 5 symphonies, 2 ballets, 13 concertos (6 for cello and orchestra, 5 for piano and orchestra), 6 rhapsodies, 1 poem, Planetears for string ensemble, soprano, flute and piano, 60 works for string orchestra, and 20 sonatas.
 * Koncert per piano dhe orkester nr. 1 / Concerto for Piano and orchestra, nr. 1, 1976
 * Kecat dhe ujku / The Goats And The Wolf, ballet, 1979
 * Koncert per Violoncel dhe orkester / Concerto for Violoncello and orchestra, 1982
 * Sinfoni nr. 1 / Symphony nr. 1, 1985
 * Sinfoni nr. 2 / Symphony nr. 2, 1988
 * Oirat, 2000
 * 12 Cartesius Cantus, piano cycle, 2002
 * Etera tonda, acoustic and electro-acoustic music, + installation, 2006
 * Piano concerto nr. 2, 2007