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Ilija Nikolic

Born: September 19, 1978

Ilija Nikolic is a musician and composer whose work is shaped by a lifelong immersion in sound, rhythm, and visual culture. Raised in an artistic family surrounded by music and art, he began studying classical piano at the age of seven. Music and drawing quickly became parallel languages of expression. As a teenager and young adult, he was deeply engaged in performance, playing in funk, jazz-fusion, and drum’n’bass bands throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Ilija pursued formal music education, completing his BA while actively performing and composing. After graduating, he taught music in his hometown in Serbia, continuing to write and perform despite the difficult post-war conditions for independent artists. Seeking broader creative and cultural possibilities, he moved to New York, where he began his master’s studies in composition at CUNY. Immersed in the city’s vibrant music scenes, he performed with multiple bands while refining a personal compositional voice that blends innovation, tradition, and culture.