Aleksandra Uklar is one of the most decorated percussionists in Europe. She's won competitions across Austria, Croatia, Bulgaria, Spain, and Slovenia, received the Stardz Scholarship of the Austrian Chancellor as one of Vienna's most outstanding young artists, and toured arenas worldwide as a central member of Hans Zimmer's live ensemble. Hans Zimmer himself has said: "She is such a phenomenal musician embracing the traditions and revolutionising our future. I'll never write another piece for percussion without having her add her creative grace and fire to it." In episode 13 of Zebra Spotlight, Atif sat down with Aleksandra to discuss her remarkable journey.
From Violin to Percussion: A Natural Redirection
Aleksandra began her musical education at five, learning violin in Novi Sad, Serbia. She didn't love it. She tried to quit several times. Her parents — both musicians — asked her to finish the six-year primary programme. She did.
But at some point she attended percussion concerts, and something changed.
"Whenever I would hear drumming, I felt that impulse — I really want to try this. It's just so strong within me."
At 11, she started percussion lessons. By 13, she knew this was what she wanted to do for life. The decision was partly aesthetic — percussion and drums felt less formally classical and more exploratory than the violin repertoire — and partly experiential: her percussion teachers were enthusiastic, welcoming, and made the whole world feel different.
She studied in Vienna, graduating from the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna with a Bachelor and Master of Arts degree in percussion in 2016.
The Role of Competition in Musical Development
When Atif spoke with Aleksandra, she had just returned from judging a percussion competition in Slovenia — reviewing young performers aged 15 to 23. The perspective from the judging side is different from the performer's side.
Aleksandra's view: competitions are valuable primarily as a mechanism for creating deadlines and accountability. You set a date, you prepare a specific programme to a high standard, and you discover what you're capable of under pressure. The competitive ranking matters less than the development process.
The challenge of judging: art is not a timed sprint. In sport, the fastest is simply the fastest — unambiguous. In music, technical ability is only one dimension. Stage presence, musicality, artistic impression, the emotional effect of the performance — these are real but harder to quantify. Sitting on the judging side of that process, she says, is "oh my God — much more difficult than one would think."
Touring with Hans Zimmer: What Makes the Live Show Special
Aleksandra tours with Hans Zimmer's live concert ensemble — a group of world-class musicians drawn from different countries and different musical traditions, united by Zimmer's compositions and the scale of the productions.
At the time of the interview, the next tour was scheduled to begin in April, following a recent stint in Dubai (which included a rather memorable desert setting she was diplomatically not authorised to discuss in detail).
What makes the Hans Zimmer Live experience special from the musician's perspective, Aleksandra explains, is the unusual absence of pressure — paradoxically, for a show of such scale. The music demands intense technical performance, but the environment Zimmer creates allows the musicians to approach it from a place of pleasure rather than anxiety. The pressure is less; the engagement is greater. The performances become more emotional as a result.
"Hans's music really brings you to so many different levels — to some ecstatic moments, to your most intimate moments. All these emotions just get really awakened. It's such a pleasure to do it on this tour."
Why the Hans Zimmer Live Prague Blu-ray Sounds Different
The Hans Zimmer Live in Prague concert recording — a reference Blu-ray in the high-end audio industry — captures the ensemble including Aleksandra's percussion work. When this disc is played through a reference home cinema system at showrooms like Steinway Lyngdorf UK or Gecko Home Cinema, what's being reproduced is a live performance by musicians at the top of their craft, recorded to an audiophile standard.
For listeners, this means the disc functions as a musical experience rather than a sonic test. The quality of the recording, the spatial character of the live venue, and the dynamic range of a live orchestral and rock ensemble come through in a way that studio recordings often don't. The percussion work in particular — with its wide dynamic range and complex transient character — is one of the most demanding elements for any audio system to reproduce accurately.
The Keys to a Professional Music Career
Aleksandra's path to touring with Hans Zimmer involved exceptional natural ability, formal training to the highest level, and a specific decision to pursue not the classical mainstream but something more exploratory. Her advice for aspiring professional musicians focuses on a few key points:
- ▪Practice with purpose — the foundation is non-negotiable
- ▪Enter competitions — not to win, but to create the conditions for intensive development
- ▪Find great teachers — the quality of your early teachers shapes not just your technique but your relationship with music
- ▪Follow genuine attraction — she followed the pull toward percussion despite it being the less conventional path from violin
The path from a Slovenian percussion competition at 11 to an arena world tour with Hans Zimmer is not a straight line. But each step developed capability, and capability creates opportunity.
Key Takeaways
- ▪Aleksandra Uklar began at 11, specialised by 13, and graduated from Vienna's Music and Arts University with a Master of Arts in percussion
- ▪Competitions are valuable as structured development mechanisms — the deadline and accountability matter more than the competitive ranking
- ▪The Hans Zimmer Live ensemble creates a performance environment that generates emotional engagement by reducing rather than amplifying performance anxiety
- ▪The Hans Zimmer Live in Prague Blu-ray is a reference recording partly because of Aleksandra's percussion performances — which test audio systems with their wide dynamic range and complex transient character
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Aleksandra Uklar and what is she known for?
Aleksandra Uklar is an Austrian-based percussionist of Serbian origin, educated in Slovenia and Vienna. She holds a Bachelor and Master of Arts from the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna and has won numerous national and international competition prizes across Europe. She tours worldwide with Hans Zimmer's live concert ensemble, and has received the Stardz Scholarship of the Austrian Chancellor for outstanding young artists.
What instruments does Aleksandra Uklar play in the Hans Zimmer Live ensemble?
As a professional percussionist, Aleksandra plays across a range of percussion instruments depending on the piece — including marimba, vibraphone, orchestral percussion (timpani, snare, cymbal), and various world percussion instruments that appear in Zimmer's film music. The Hans Zimmer Live shows incorporate a diverse range of percussion that reflects the international and eclectic character of Zimmer's compositional approach.
Why is the Hans Zimmer Live in Prague Blu-ray used as a reference disc in audio showrooms?
The Prague recording was produced to a very high audio standard with a wide frequency range, genuine dynamic contrast between quiet passages and full ensemble climaxes, and a spatial quality that reflects the live acoustic environment. For a high-end audio system demonstration, it functions as a test of the full frequency range (from deep bass in Zimmer's orchestral writing to the attack of percussion and strings) while also being emotionally engaging music that makes the listening experience meaningful rather than purely analytical.
How do you become a professional session musician at the highest level?
Aleksandra's path suggests four elements: exceptional technical facility (developed through focused practice from an early age), formal education at a leading institution (which provides both skills and professional network), experience in high-pressure performance situations (competitions, auditions, concerts), and the willingness to pursue less conventional opportunities rather than following the standard classical career path. The final step — connecting with the right professional network — is the one that's hardest to systematise.
What makes Hans Zimmer's live shows different from a conventional orchestral concert?
Hans Zimmer's live concerts combine a full orchestra with a rock and world music ensemble in arrangements specifically created for the live format. The shows are visually spectacular in scale and technically complex — but Zimmer's approach to the performance environment apparently reduces rather than amplifies the pressure that performers feel, allowing them to play with a freedom and emotionality that more formal classical concerts sometimes suppress.
