Ivo Malec studied art history, composition, and conducting in Croatia, notably at the Zagreb Conservatory starting in 1945. He served as a vocal conductor at the Rijeka Opera in 1952-53, and was also active as a music critic.

Following several visits to Paris, during which he met Pierre Schaeffer, Darius Milhaud, and André Jolivet, he moved there definitively in 1959, later obtaining French citizenship. Malec joined the Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM) at the time of its official creation by Schaeffer in 1960, and remained associated with the organisation until 1990. His early work there focused on the categorisation of musical objects, as later formalised in Schaeffer’s Treatise on Musical Objects (1966), subsequently applying this research in his own compositions. His work Sigma (1963), composed at GRM, was an attempt to transpose studio techniques and experiences to an orchestral setting. Other notable works from his time at GRM include Tutti (1962), Cantate pour elle (1966), Lumina (1968), and Attacca (1986), all of which combine instruments with fixed media.

From 1972 to 1990, he taught composition at the Paris Conservatoire (CNSMDP), succeeding friend and colleague at the French National Radio Henri Dutilleux, who had arranged the commission of the Malec’s radiophonic work Les Douze Mois (1960), and whose wife premiered Dialogues (1961). Malec also led masterclasses in France, Canada, Argentina, Japan, China, and elsewhere. He remained active as a conductor until the end of his life, working with the French National Orchestra, Radio France Philharmonic, the Ile de France, Strasbourg, Lille, Pays de la Loire and Nice National Orchestras, the Berlin and Luxembourg Philharmonics, and the Orchestra of Suisse Romande, among others.

A Commander of Arts and Letters in France, Ivo Malec was awarded five “Grands Prix du Disque”, the SACEM “Grand Prix”, the National “Grand Prix” for Music (1992), and the National Order of Merit.

His scores are published by Salabert, Breitkopf & Härtel, and Ricordi, and recordings of his works have been released on the Philips, Harmonia Mundi, Erato, and Ina-GRM labels.