Today, we talk to Jure Jerebic, a native of Slovenia who moved to Bonn six years ago when he received an opportunity to work at Bonn International School in the IT department. But music is also a big part of his life, which is rather fitting since this is the city of Beethoven. Besides his day job, Jerebic is a composer and producer of music for media, having had some placements in the realm of production music. He says trailer music is very difficult to break into because the production quality has to be on the level of Hollywood blockbuster trailers to get signed. He and his music partner, Timothy William have worked hard at it for the past 6 months and now have 100 tracks out there with different publishers and in circulation.

Adding it all up, it means he doesn’t have lots of extra time, but when he does, he enjoys a bike ride on a sunny afternoon or “getting lost in the cities of Europe.” For the holidays, he makes his way back to Slovenia to visit family and friends. But for now, it is autumn and that is his favorite season here in Bonn. We caught up with him to ask him for his impressions of our favorite city on the Rhine.

Arriving with my luggage on a hot late August day of 2013 was the first time I ever stepped foot in Germany, and it was a special time, as I had decided to move here without even visiting it first - it took only 3 weeks between accepting the job offer and me getting here. I remember roaming around the Alter Zoll, getting the very first impressions of Bonn, while trying to get to my hotel. I decided to move here because of the opportunity to work at Bonn International School. There, we work hard to use all the technology we have on site to teach our students the skills that they need to succeed in life not just today, but also 10, 20 years from now. We do this by gradually introducing them to technology and the responsible use of it. There is a gap in how adults and students perceive technology, and we’re working on bridging it, making the parents more confident and teaching the children how to use it in a productive and responsible way.

And as a musician, Bonn and its surrounding cities are a fantastic place to be!

I come from Slovenia, which is not too different from Germany, so I didn’t struggle to integrate; perhaps the biggest change were the people, as the first impression was that they seemed more direct and serious than what I was accustomed to, but I learned that this tends to be more of an exception than a general rule.

Pretty much all of my spare time goes into my work of writing and producing music for film, TV, motion picture advertising and other media. I’m working with several publishers in Los Angeles, as well as one in Germany, that require new music for production purposes on a daily basis. I have a home studio set up, where I can create and deliver music to them, often on tight deadlines. More information can be found on my website, jurejerebic.com or Instagram @jurejerebic.

I love Bonn in the fall; I think the colors bring out the best in the city and its many green parts (especially in Rheinaue), and generally I like the fact that the city seems to calm and slow down a bit. And if you want a busier place, cities like Cologne, Düsseldorf or Amsterdam are just a train ride away. It’s one of the things I like the most about living in this part of Germany - everything is so close!

Learn some basic German if you can, it will help you go a long way. Also, get familiar with the websites that compare costs of different services such as phone, internet, and more - you can save a lot of money and get a much better bang for your buck! And enjoy and take advantage of all the benefits of the international community and its unique location that Bonn has to offer!

(Interview: Carol Kloeppel)