Janez Gregorc, 20 June 1934 – 6 November 2012

Janez Gregorc,  producer, pedagogue and composer, left an indelible mark on Slovenian musical culture. He was also very active within Slovenian music institutions: as a member of the jazz expert committee within EBU, member of the expert committee for music at the Ministry of Culture, the president of the Society of Slovene Composers and the founding member of the SAZAS Association as well as a long-term member of its management board.

Gregorc's musical production encompasses many genres, from movie soundtracks, music for ballets, classical music pieces to jazz music. He was also one of the pioneers of the Slovenian jazz scene. Many of his jazz compositions were written for the student jazz orchestra Ad Hoc, which Gregorc co-founded.  Between 1962 and 2000, he worked as the producer of jazz music at RTV Slovenia.

In his work as a pedagogue at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, he taught jazz harmony, jazz arranging and improvisation. He also taught at the Jazz Institute of the Academy of Music in Graz.
To many Gregorc is known mostly for his movie soundtracks. The soundtrack for the movie Žica (Wire) was included in his suite of the same name and won him the Prešeren Foundation Award in 1992. His works include music for the following films: Ko pride lev (When the Lion Comes, by Boštjan Hladnik, 1972), Begunec (The Refugee, by Jane Kavčič, 1973), Telematerija (Telematter, by Koni Steinbaher, animated film, 1974), Bele trave (White Grasses, by Boštjan Hladnik, 1976), To so gadi (Real Pests, by Jože Bevc, 1977), Ubij me nežno (Kill Me Tenderly, by Boštjan Hladnik, 1979), Rdeči boogie ali Kaj ti je deklica (Red Boogie, by Karpo Godina, 1982), Ljubezni Blanke Kolak (Blanka Kolak's Love, by Boris Jurjaševič, 1987) and Zrakoplov (Aeromobile, by Jure Pervanje, 1993).