Dejan Božić

Dejan Božić was born in 1971 in Belgrade. He graduated from the Faculty of Music as a student of the generation, and received his master’s degree from the State College of Music in Trossingen (Germany), in the class of prof. Gerhard Hamann. He completed his two-year specialization at the same school in the class of prof. Mario De Sekondia, having obtained a diploma as a concert soloist. He completed his artistic doctorate in 2016 at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade. He trained with famous artists such as Ksenija Janković, Stanislav Apolin, Michael Flaxman, Rocco Filippini, Aleksandar Fedočinko and others.
He is the winner of numerous first prizes at Music School Festivals, Republic and Federal competitions for students and music students, and Republic and Federal chamber music competitions. He is the winner of the October Award of the City of Belgrade and the November Award of the Municipality of Stari Grad.
As a representative of Television Belgrade at the competition of Yugoslav RTV centers in Sarajevo, he was chosen to represent Yugoslavia at the 5th Eurovision Song Contest for young artists in Vienna.
He performed as a soloist with the Belgrade, Vojvodina, Niš, Sarajevo and Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestras, the RTS Symphony Orchestra, the Austrian RTV (ORF), the Stanislav Binički Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony and String Orchestra of the Faculty of Music in Belgrade, the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, as well as with the chamber orchestras “Belgrade Soloists”, “Pro Klasika” and the Zrenjanin Chamber Orchestra.
He gave recitals throughout the former Yugoslavia, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Greece, Albania, Italy, as well as in Japan (Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Moji, Asya, Sue, Kurume, Iwakun, Kitakyushu, Tagawa, Fukuyama, Iwaki, Shiyuoka).
Dejan Božić is also active as a chamber and orchestral musician. He was a member of the piano trio “Arger”, the piano quartet “Haimos”, the string quartet and the string octet of the Belgrade Philharmonic, as well as many other chamber ensembles, performing a diverse repertoire from baroque to contemporary music.
As part of the chamber ensemble NBO and the production “Third World Bun Fight”, he performs a contemporary version of Verdi’s opera Macbeth, at renowned music festivals (Brussels, Rotterdam, Vienna, Braunschweig, London, Gerona, Lisbon, Tarbes, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Paris, Douai, Poitiers, Ljubljana, Athens, Napoli, Quimper, Marseille, Macao).
He was guest soloist of the “Tongyeong Festival Orchestra” – Tongyeong, Korea (2017), the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra (2014-2021), the “Makris” Symphony Orchestra (2018-2021), the soloist of the chamber and symphony orchestra “No Borders” (2012-2016), the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra (2005-2011), the “Belgrade Film” symphony orchestra Orchestra” (2005-2011), Vojvodina Philharmonic (1999-2000), as well as solo cellist of the chamber orchestra “Academia Concertante” (2019-2021), “Žebeljan” chamber orchestra (2007-2020), “Belgrade Soloists” (1990-1992), and cellist of the chamber orchestra “Dušan Skovran” (1992-1992). In 1990, he was the solo cellist of the “L’Orchestre des Jeunes de la Mediterranee” symphony orchestra.
He participated in many important festivals in the country such as Mokranjčev dani, BEMUS, NIMUS, Cello Fest, International Harpsichord Festival, International Composers’ Tribune, KOMA, International Organ Festival, Guitar Art Festival, ARDEA, Guitar United Fest in Sarajevo.
He gained teaching experience as a cello professor at the “Živorad Grbić” music school in Valjevo (1992-1993). Since 1994, he has been a cello professor at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade. He was a visiting cello professor at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad (1999-2014), the Academy of Arts in Niš (2003-2004) and the Music Academy in East Sarajevo (2021-2025).
More than 40 former students of Dejan Božić continued their careers as solo cellists and members of the cello section in the orchestras of the Vojvodina Philharmonic, the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, the Belgrade Philharmonic, the RTS Symphony Orchestra, the Niš Symphony Orchestra, the Belo Horizonte Symphony Orchestra – Brazil, and the Dortmund Philharmonic. Also, his students are renowned professors in many reputable music schools in Serbia, Austria, Norway, Canada, America, Argentina, as well as in Germany, at the College of Music in Bremen and Cologne.
He held master classes at the Summer Cello Seminar in Golija (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025), at the Winter Academy “Ardea” in Čapljina (2025, 2026), the Music Studio in Novi Sad (2025), the school for musical talents in Ćuprija (2019, 2023, 2025), the secondary music school in Mostar (2023), “Andre Navara” in Podgorica (2022), music school “Novo Sarajevo” (2021), secondary music school in Sarajevo (2022), “Josip Slavenski” in Belgrade (2014, 2015, 2022), “Isidor Bajić” in Novi Sad (2013), “Petar Krančević” in Sremska Mitrovica (2013), at the State Conservatory in Thessaloniki (2006) and Summer Music Camp in Palić (1998).
He was a member of the jury at the International Polyhymnia Festival in Skopje (2025), the State Competition of High School Music Students in Nikšić (2022), the 10th Festival “Joy of Music