Biography

Alex Hren (b. 2002, Slovenia) is a composer based in Cologne. He completed his master’s degree in Instrumental Composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln with Miroslav Srnka and will continue his studies with him in the Konzertexamen programme. Previously, he studied with Vito Žuraj and Uroš Rojko at the Academy of Music of the University of Ljubljana.

His music has been performed by Ensemble Musikfabrik, the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the HfMT Köln Orchestra, Ensemble Recherche, the Slovenian Philharmonic String Chamber Orchestra, ASMANGU, Ensemble Modern, and harpist Marion Ravot.

In 2025, Hren won the ACHT BRÜCKEN Composition Competition and received a commission from the Cologne Philharmonie (KölnMusik) to compose Cotton Candy for Ensemble Musikfabrik. The commission was made possible by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation. In 2024, he received the Prešeren Award of the Academy of Music, University of Ljubljana, for his compositional achievements.

He is a recipient of a DAAD scholarship for postgraduate studies in music and a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.