A French composer born 1968.
Eric Montalbetti studied the piano, the organ and was a self-taught composer from his teenage years. He followed the courses of Ircam and of the Collège de France, in particular those of Pierre Boulez, Robert Piencikowski and Andrew Gerszo. He completed his training as an unregistered student at the Paris Conservatory (1990-1993) in the classes of Alain Bancquart, Paul Méfano and Michael Levinas. In masterclasses at the Centre Acanthes, he also worked with George Benjamin, Magnus Lindberg, Philippe Manoury and Tristan Murail.
Artistic director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (1996-2014), he never stopped composing, preferring, however, to keep his works secret during this period. He wrote an ensemble of pieces for solo instrument: Sonata for violin, first performed by David Grimal in 2016; Un herbier pour la vie for cello, recorded by Marc Coppey; Esprit tendre for oboe, recorded by Jean-Louis Capezzali; Trois études après Kandinsky for piano, recorded and premiered by François-Frédéric Guy at Amsterdam Muziekgebouw in 2018. He also composed chamber music (Composition suprématiste for violin, cello and piano, first performed by Hae Sun Kang, Won-Hae Lee and Antoine Ouvrard at Torroella festival in Spain in 2015; Duo pour violon et piano, recorded and premiered by Christian Tetzlaff and Alexander Vorontsov in 2019; Quatuor à cordes « Harmonieuses Dissonances », recorded and premieres by quartet Les Dissonances in 2019), vocal music (Psalterium for mixed chorus and cello, premiered by Henri Demarquette and choir Sequenza 9.3 in 2018; Hommage à Matisse for clarinet and female voice, premiered by Pierre Génisson and Delphine Haidan at Matisse museum of Cateau-Cambrésis in 2019) and music for ensemble and for orchestra: Vaste champ temporel à vivre joyeusement for orchestra, premiered in 2015 by Pascal Rophé conducting the Orchestre des Pays de la Loire; Eclair physionomique, fantaisie symphonique après Paul Klee, commissioned by the Printemps des Arts of Monte Carlo, premiered by the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Kazuki Yamada in 2018; Memento vivere, concerto for flute and orchestra, premiered by Emmanuel Pahud and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Jonathan Nott in 2019.
