Ernest Ačkun

Ernest Ačkun

Ernest Ačkun (Ернест Ачкун) (March 27, 1930 – September 28, 2001) was a Yugoslav clarinetist.

Early life

Ernest Ačkun was born in Hrastnik, Slovenia, which was then part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

He completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at the Belgrade Academy of Music, under the tuition of professor Bruno Brun, and pursued them at the Conservatoire superiéur de musique in Paris, with professor Ulysse Delécluse.

Performance and teaching activities

Ačkun gave concerts as a soloist in nearly all great towns in Yugoslavia, as well as in France, West Germany, Austria, Italy and Bulgaria, playing under the leadership of such conductors as Zubin Mehta, Jean Martinon, Charles Bruck, Krešimir Baranović, Oskar Danon, Milan Horvat, Živojin Zdravković.

Distinguished Yugoslav composers, such as Stjepan Å ulek and Zlatan Vauda, dedicated their compositions to him. He also recorded for radio and television.

Ačkun was principal clarinetist of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra and Professor of Chamber Music at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade.

Awards and honors

Jury of the Jeunesses Musicales International Competition in Belgrade (1987)

He won several important prizes, including the First Prize at the Competition of Yugoslav Performing Artists in Skopje and was a prize winner in the ARD International Music Competition (both 1954). He was also rewarded the UMUS award for the best music performance achievement in the previous concert season (1984).

He was a jury member on various competitions, including the 1987 Jeunesses Musicales International Competition in Belgrade, along with James Campbell (Canada), Walter Boeykens (Belgium), John McCaw (UK), Ludwig Kurkiewicz (Poland), Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov (U.S.S.R.), Milenko Stefanovic (Yugoslavia), Marko Rudzak (Yugoslavia) and Stjepan Rabuzin (Yugoslavia).

In 1992 he was a jury member on the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, along with Eugene Rousseau (United States), Eduard Brunner (Switzerland), Philippe Cuper (France), Giora Feidman (Argentina), Lutz Kŏhler (Germany), Lew Mikhailow (U.S.S.R.), Charles Neidich (U.S.A.) and Ulf Rodenhäuser (Germany).

Affiliations

Ačkun was a member and president of the Association of Musical Artists of Serbia.

Later life

Ernest Ačkun died in Belgrade, Serbia, which was then part of FR Yugoslavia.

External links

• A record by Ernest Ačkun
• Zlatan Vauda: Clarinet Concerto, performed by Ernest AAčkun

References

• Barker, John Craig: The Jeunesses Musicales Belgrade International Competition, The Clarinet, February/March 1988
• Eberst, A. [1963] : Klarinet i klarinetisti, Forum, Novi Sad
• Gillespie, James: The International Clarinet Competition of the ARD-Munich, The Clarinet, September 2003
• Lawson, C. J. (1995), The Cambridge Companion to the Clarinet, Cambridge University Press
• LP 2130556 STEREO, Produkcija gramofonskih ploča Radio-televizije Beograd, Beograd
• Maksimović, M. (1971): Beogradska filharmonija 1951-1971, Beogradska filharmonija, Beograd
• Muzička enciklopedija, I (1971), Jugoslovenski leksikografski zavod, Zagreb
• Muzika i muzičari u NOB - Zbornik sećanja (1982), Grupa izdavača, Beograd
• Pedeset godina Fakulteta muzičke umetnosti (Muzičke akademije) 1937-1987 (1988), Univerzitet umetnosti u Beogradu, Beograd
• Pejović, R. (1986): Oskar Danon, Univerzitet umetnosti u Beogradu, Beograd
• Peričić, V. [1969]: Muzički stvaraoci u Srbiji, Prosveta, Beograd
• Svet Plus, 28 September 2009
• Vremeplov RTS-a, 28 September 2009
• Walzel, Robert: The Belgrade Competition - A First Hand Account, The Clarinet, February/March 1988