Dragan Ambrozić

Dragan Ambrozić
29. Nov / 16.45 - 18.00 Festivals 2050 - How do you see the future?

Dragan Ambrozić was born in Belgrade in 1962. He studied psychology and graduated in communication studies. Starting in 1986, he began regularly publishing music texts and critiques in "Student." From 1987 to 1990, he was also the editor of the Theoria section in the same magazine, initiating a music page within the Culture section. Under his editorship, a large number of young music critics began their careers. During the same period, he published his texts in "Rock," "Beorama," "NON," "Mladost," "Stav," and numerous other magazines.

From 1989 to 1991, he was one of the founders and music editor of the magazine "Ritam" (a guide through popular culture). From 1991 to 1995, he served as the editor-in-chief and publisher of the same magazine, which set new standards in understanding the trends of popular culture in the region, promoting a contemporary writing style. Since 1997, he has regularly published critiques, essays, and interviews in the prestigious political weekly "Vreme" (since 1997), as well as on popular websites, including B92.net (1998 - 2004), Popboks (2004 - 2013), and Nova.rs (since 2020). He has published over 4 thousand texts in total, mostly about popular music and cultural phenomena.

From 1988, he was a member of the jury for various festivals of young and unaffirmed rock bands at the city and federal levels, such as Rok liga Palilulske olimpijade kulture (1989-1993), Yugoslav Rock Moment / YURM (Zagreb, 1987), and Festival Omladina (Subotica, 1989).

Believing that organizing concerts for the bands he writes about, especially foreign ones, is a natural extension of his work in music, Dragan Ambrozić first entered the field of promotion in 1990 by hosting the American alternative band Nova Mob at the FLU Club. Since then, he has had a continuous career as an organizer, primarily of foreign concerts in Serbia (a particularly significant early achievement being the legendary performance of The Prodigy in 1995 at the Pionir Hall). From 1994 to 1996, he was the program director of the FLU Club (Popular Academy). From 1999 to 2004, he led the Concert Agency B92, and since 2003, he has been managing the program of the Main Stage at the EXIT Festival in Novi Sad, the largest regional music festival.

Since 2005, he has been working as the responsible and music editor of the Youth Center in Belgrade. Since the revival of the Belgrade Jazz Festival in 2005, he has been working within the Youth Center in Belgrade as the program manager of this renowned international festival.

So far, as a concert promoter, he has negotiated and realized about 3 thousand music events, with the majority of his engagements involving foreign appearances by important rock and jazz bands. He has collaborated with all promoters, concert organizations, and venues in Belgrade and most of Serbia.

Together with Zorica Kojić, he is the author of the notable exhibition "New Wave in Belgrade – Package Arrangement" (1981-2021), displayed on the Plateau in front of the Art Pavilion "Cvijeta Zuzorić" from April to July 2021 in Belgrade, and later at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb. As the project editor, he participated in the making of the film "Now You See It Can Be Done" about the first 40 years of the band Električni Orgazam, produced by RTS.