A Spanish composer born April 17, 1976 in Barcelona (Spain).
Hector Parra studied at the Barcelona Conservatory, Ircam in Paris, as well as at the Haute École de Musique in Geneva, with Michael Jarrell. He gained, under the direction of Horacio Vaggione, a DEA in the science and technology of the arts at the University of Paris VIII.
The creator of scenic and pluridisciplinary projects (Ciel rouillé for flute, saxophone, piano, percussion, real-time video and scenographics, 2005, first performed by the ensemble Proxima Centauri), Parra finds inspiration in writers such as Paul Celan (Sirrt die Sekunde for chamber orchestra, 2008, first performed by Klangforum Wien), Marie N’Diaye (Te craindre en ton absence, monodrama for actress, ensemble and electronics, 2013; Das geopferte Leben, opera for singers, baroque and contemporary ensemble, commissioned by the Münchener Biennale, 2013), Händl Klaus (Wilde, opera for singers, silent actor and orchestra, commissioned by the SWR Schwetzinger Festspiele, 2015).
His fascination for painting, an art he has himself practised, has permeated his works (Lumière abyssales-Chroma for large orchestra, 2005, commissioned by the Orchestre National de l’Île-de-France; Aracne for string quartet, 2015, first performed by the Tana Quartet in the Louvre Museum), as has his interest in the great theories of physics and evolutionary biology (Hypermusic prologue, opera, 2009, premiered by the Ensemble Intercontemporain at the festival Agora; Fragments on Fragility for string quartet, 2009, first performed by the Arditti Quartet at the Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik; Early life for oboe, piano, violin, viola and cello, 2010; Mineral life II for viola, 2016, first performed by Geneviève Strosser).
Hector Parra also teaches electroacoustic composition in Spain as well as for Ircam’s computer-assisted composition course.
