Composer Ljiljana Becker (Jovanović) was born in Belgrade, Serbia, where she began piano and music theory training at the age of seven. She studied music composition in Montenegro and Croatia with Prof. Željko Brkanović, receiving a B.M. in music composition in 1988. In 1989, she moved to Stuttgart, Germany, in order to attend a professional short-term specialization (Kontaktstudium) in musique concrète at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst with Prof. Ulrich Süße.
Ljiljana continued her professional specialization (Aufbaustudium) in New Music Theatre/Composition at the Rheinische Musikhochschule in Cologne with Prof. Mauricio Kagel, as well as musicology, Slavic philology and philosophy at the Cologne University. In 2002, she completed the graduate studies in interdisciplinary theatre at Towson University in Maryland (MFA in Theatre) where she was the recipient of College of Graduate Education and Research Fellowship for 2001/2002. (composition/electronic sound studies with Dr. William Kleinsasser)
Ljiljana participated at the 2. Tonkünstlerfest Baden-Württemberg, Rheinisches Musikfest, Documenta IX and MusikTriennale Köln festivals, and was part of The Creator “pro-active, mentoring and cross cultural” TV production in Vancouver, the GEDOK Music Series in Cologne and Women Between Worlds and New Roots, multi-disciplinary & multi-cultural documentaries directed by Exsul van Helden. She was awarded two residencies at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Meet the Composer Grant and the first prize for an abstract radiophonic form Modi’in by Radio Belgrade, Serbia. In 2018 Modi’in represented radio Belgrade at the Prix Palma Ars Acustica, Prix Italia, and Karl Sczuka festivals.
Ljiljana’s projects have been performed in Europe, Canada, and the United States. She has been a member of the Baltimore Composers Forum since 2002 and served as an officer from 2008 until 2015. She is currently BCF’s president. Jovanović is also listed in Adkins Chiti Foundation: Donne in Musica.
Last fall, her project The Suitcase/Der Koffer in collaboration with Juanita Rockwell, libretto Chris Roberts, mezzo soprano and Duo Crveno (alto sax and piano) from Germany has toured Maryland and Washington DC.
Ljiljana is multilingual, and writes both under Becker and her professional name Jovanović.