American composer born in 1969 in Boston (USA).
From a very young age Joshua Fineberg studied the violin then the guitar, piano, harpsichord and conducting. He subsequently entered the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore in the class of Morris Moshe Cotel, where he obtained First Prize in the Virginia Carty de Lillo Composition Competition. In Paris he studied with Tristan Murail and followed the composition and computer music course at Ircam. After returning to the USA he completed a doctorate in music composition in 1999 at Columbia University, New York.
Influenced by the spectral movement, Joshua Fineberg has extended the research of Gérard Grisey and Tristan Murail by using the most advanced technologies. He works from basic material that is not just sound but also psychoacoustic phenomena. Considering the use of models as fundamental for his overall compositional approach, Fineberg seeks to create music that is autonomous and accessible. Rigorously constructed, his sound world is colourful, dynamic and produces tumultuous as well as contemplative atmospheres. He composes for all formations, from solo instrument to large orchestra, with or without electronics. His works include Origins for orchestra, first performed by the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra during the Gaudeamus Music Week (1992); Lolita, imaginary opera for reciter, instrumental ensemble and electronics, first performed by François Beukelaers and the Ensemble Fa conducted by Dominique My at La Friche La Belle de Mai in Marseilles (2006); Objets trouvés for sextet, first performed by the Ensemble Court-Circuit at the Maison des Pratiques Artistiques Amateurs in Paris (2009); Speaking in tongues for six percussionists and orchestra, first performed by Les Percussions de Strasburg and the Boston University Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Page (2010); La quintina for string quartet and electronics, first performed by the Arditti Quartet at the festival Ultraschall in Berlin (2013); L’abîme for instrumental ensemble, premiered by the Talea Ensemble at the National Sawdust in New York (2016); Take my hand for instrumental ensemble, two singers and electronics, first performed by the Dal Niente Ensemble (2017).
A teacher in the music department of Harvard University (2000-2007), Joshua Fineberg subsequently joined the Boston University School of Music, where he heads the electronic music studio and teaches composition. In 2012 he founded the Boston University Center for New Music.
In addition to his activity as a composer and teacher, Joshua Fineberg collaborates actively in research into psychoacoustics and the development of composition software, acoustic analysis and sound transformation. Also a guest editor of the Contemporary Music Review for two number devoted to spectral music (2004), he was the editor of this revue for the USA from 2003 to 2009.
