Ylli Daklani

Ylli Daklani (*1998) is an Albanian composer from Kosova. Born in Mitrovica, Kosova, his musical journey began as a chorister in his hometown. He went on to study composition at the University of Prishtina under the guidance of Professors Drinor Zymberi and Mendi Mengjiqi, and conducting under Professor Edon Ramadani.

In 2017, he was awarded third prize at the Artistes en Herbe Composing Competition; in 2018, the composer received an honorary award at the 11th pre-art Competition for young composers in Switzerland award; he was also a finalist at the »Konkursi për kompozitorë të rinjë nga Prishtina International Vocal Festival 2018«, Kosovo; in 2019 at the first edition of The Balkan Composer Competition in Prishtina 2019 his work won the third prize. The same year, he attended the masterclasses in Tirana, Albania, with composer Thomas Simaku (Albania) and clarinetist Jérôme Comte (France).

In 2021 he won the first prize for composition in ArsKosova Music Competition and was also a finalist. In 2022 was awarded the first prize at Chopin Piano Fest and held a residency program at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris. As of 2023, he is the winner of The Balkan Composer Competition in Prishtina 2023, and participated in the MDI ensemble Musical week in Rome, attending masterclasses by Marco Stroppa and Franck Bedrossian. Recently, the 7th Krzysztof Penderecki International Competition for Young Composers awarded him the first prize.

His work has been performed by Kosovo Philharmonic Choir, Oerknal Ensemble, and Nouvel Ensemble Contemporain (NEC).