EFFEA Jury

Composer and curator Margareta Ferek-Petrić was born 1982 in Zagreb and, since 2002, has been based in Vienna. She studied composition with Ivan Eröd, Klaus Peter Sattler and Chaya Czernowin at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.  

Margareta's music is recognizable by its immediate colorfulness, while its extreme impulsiveness and expressive constructions are lived through the interplay between obvious beauty and mischievous profundity. Her imaginative sonic potential explores the connection between the sensual and the abstract, daring to communicate the emotional and the experimental and emphasizing a critical view of the world through (self-)irony and humor. Inspiration for her scores is drawn from literature, art, film, satire, science, politics, philosophy, remarkable individuals, or bizarre life situations. 

Margareta was granted scholarships from various international institutions and foundations, such as Home Suisse Foundation, Thyll Dürr Foundation, Swedish Arts Grants Committee and the Office of the Austrian Federal Chancellor. Her work has been awarded with prizes such as Förderungspreis der Stadt Wien, Theodor Körner Preis for Music and Publicity Prize from the SKE Fond in Austria. She won the 2nd prize and the Audience Prize Prix Annelie de Man in the Netherlands, as well as the two most important Croatian prizes for music: Josip Štolcer Slavenski and Boris Papandopulo awards. Her compositions have been released on diverse labels such as Decca Records, Croatia Records, Neos Records, and Oehms Classics. In addition to being a composer, Margareta served as an artistic director of Music Biennale Zagreb (2019-2023) and as part of the guest curators team for Wonderfeel Festival in 2025 in the Netherlands. She serves as part of the Music Advisory Board of the Goethe Institut in Munich (since 2021) and is active in numerous international juries. Margareta enjoys visiting exhibition openings, theatre productions and wine tastings, dancing to Balkan music, exploring the world on road trips, laughing to good satire and cooking.