Tonči Bilić is a highly respected Croatian conductor, known for his vigorous activity in many different areas of music.

Bilić received his master’s degree in 1993 at the Zagreb Music Academy in the class of Pavle Dešpalj. He won the Zagreb University President’s Prize, and was a Lovro and Lilly Matačić Foundation scholar. From 1994 to 1997 he worked as conductor in the opera company of the Croatian National Theatre Ivana pl. Zajca in Rijeka.

From 1997 he was the permanent conductor and since 2005 has been the chief conductor of the Croatian Radio Television Choir, with many concert appearances and recordings. Under his leadership, it has developed into a very high quality ensemble. Bilić is the artistic director of the highly-reputed Croatian RTV Choir Sfumato cycle. Within this context he produced the first Croatian performance of many of the key compositions from the a cappella repertoire (A. Schnittke, Concerto for Mixed Chorus, Psalms of Repentance; A. Pärt, Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem, Kanon Pokajanen; E. Rautavaara Vigilia; F. Martin, Mass; A. Schönberg: Friede auf Erden; C. Monteverdi, Madrigali Guerrieri et Amorosi; and many others).

Since 1999 he has appeared regularly with the Croatian RTV Symphony Orchestra and has been a frequent guest of Croatian ensembles such as the Zagreb Philharmonic, the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, the Croatian Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestras of the Zagreb and Rijeka operas, et cetera.

His many international guest appearances among others include the Choir of the Netherlands Radio and the Netherlands Chamber Choir (which won him the special commendation of Eric Ericson), the Bratislava orchestra Musica Aeterna, Les Sacqueboutiers de Toulouse, and the Budapest Danubia Symphony Orchestra.  

He has performed at numerous festivals (the Zagreb Music Biennale – the first performance of Animal Farm by Igor Kuljerić, the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, and this September he will appear at the Maribor Festival with the Croatian Radio Television Choir).

In the season 2010/11 he is invited to conduct the Wiener Konzertverein Orchestra in the Musikverein, the Witold Lutoslawsky Philharmonia in Wrocław, the Dohnanyi Symphony Orchestra in Budapest and the Dušan Skovran String Orchestra in Belgrade.

He regularly records for radio, television and film production.