An Argentine composer born in 1958.
After studying composition at the Juilliard School of New York, Martin Matalon took advanced classes in France with Tristan Murail.
In 1993 he settled definitively in Paris and worked at Ircam within the universe of Jorge-Luis Borges (La rosa profunda, sound installation) and of Fritz Lang (Metropolis, film music). There followed, in the domain of silent cinema, music for films of Luis Buñuel, including Las siete vidas de un gato (1996) and Le scorpion (2001), as well as one score commissioned by the French State, Foxtrot Délirium, for a film of Ernst Lubitsch (2015).
In addition to cine-concerts and sound installations, Matalon’s works cover all genres: Rugged lines, ballet music (1997); Otras Ficciones for orchestra, commissioned by the Orchestre de Paris (2001); Tabula es for chorus, commissioned by Accentus (2004); Nocturnes, radiophonic opera (2006); Har, le tailleur de pierre, musical tale for three percussionists and electronics, commissioned by the French State and first performed at the festival Musiques en Scène in Lyons (2008); La Rosa, musical show on poems of Jorge-Luis Borges, first performed by the ensemble Ars Nova at the Festival d’Île-de-France (2011); … del color a la materia… for piano, 6 percussions and electronics, first performed by Christopher Falzone and the Percussions de Strasbourg (2011); Les morts qui touchent, sonic theatre (2013); L’ombre de Venceslao, opera first performed in Rennes by the Orchestre National de Bretagne (2016), Caravanserail for 13 instrumentalists and circus artistes, first performed by the Ensemble Modern (2016). Two series form axes within his catalogue: Trames, works on the border-line between the solo writing of a concerto and chamber music, as well as the cycle of Traces for solo instruments with real-time electronics and that form a kind of private compositional diary.
A guest teacher all over the world, Martin Matalon teaches composition at the Lyons Conservatory. He is also a conductor and has conducted, notably, the Ensemble Modern, MusikFabrik, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Court-circuit, the Ensemble Intercontemporain and the Orchestre National de Montpellier.