Biography

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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. He is a recipient of scholarships from the DAAD and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.

In 2025, Hren won the ACHT BRÜCKEN Composition Competition, receiving a commission from KölnMusik to compose Cotton Candy for Ensemble Musikfabrik. The work was premiered at the Cologne Philharmonie in May 2026 in a project supported by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation. In April 2026, the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra premiered his symphonic work Arcing Seeds at Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana. His orchestral work Switch On was performed by the HfMT Köln Orchestra at the Cologne Philharmonie during ACHT BRÜCKEN 2025.

His music has also been performed by Ensemble Recherche, the Slovenian Philharmonic String Chamber Orchestra, ASMANGU, Ensemble Modern, and harpist Marion Ravot. In 2024, he received the Prešeren Award of the Academy of Music, University of Ljubljana, for his compositional achievements.