A French composer born in 1963 in Paris.
At first a jazz musician, François Narboni studied with Yvonne Desportes and then at the Paris Conservatory with Betsy Jolas, Paul Méfano and Michaël Levinas. He then followed the computer music cursus at Ircam (1997-1998), and was in residence at the Casa Velázquez (1998) and at the Villa Medici fuori le muri in New York (1999). He received the prize of the Académie des Beaux-arts (2000) for his opera Ko-ko (1997) and, in 2008, the Claude Arrieu Prize of the Sacem and the New Musical Talent award of the SACD for his third opera Au Bois lacté (2007). His music, most often highly rhythmic and exuberant, is based on pulsation and on instrumental theatricality. In addition to the vocal and stage repertories, he has written works that range from the solo piece (Pandémonium, 1988) to large orchestral works (La Noia, premiered at the festival Présences 2004), and he is also interested in sound design. Mention should be made of El Gran Masturbador (2000), and two French state commissions, Les Animals (1996) and Les saisons (2003).
