An Austrian composer born August 17, 1974 in Innsbrück (Austria).
Johannes Maria Staud studied composition at the Musikhochschule in Vienna and in Berlin, with Michael Jarrell and Hanspeter Kyburz. He trained in electroacoustic composition with Dieter Kaufmann before becoming acquainted with the compositional techniques of Brian Ferneyhough in his masterclasses. He also followed a course in philosophy and musicology.
Johannes Maria Staud draws his inspiration principally from literature (Hans Arps, Durs Grüben, Charles Baudelaire, Friedrich Nietzsche, etc.) and the visual arts. He composes works that are virtuosic, showing both great attention to minutiae and precision in orchestration, with a care for detail and an acute sense of form.
His output, that touches all musical genres, from solo works to opera, has been performed by prestigious artistes on leading platforms: Black Moon for bass clarinet (1998), commissioned by the Federal State of the Tyrol, premiered by Ernesto Molinari at the Klangspuren festival; A Map is not the territory for ensemble (2001), premiered by Klangforum Wien; Apeiron for large orchestra (2005), first performed by the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Sir Simon Rattle; Segue for cello and orchestra (2006), first performed by Heinrich Schiff and Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Daniel Barenboim at the Salzburg Festival; Contrebande for orchestra (2010), premiered by the Ensemble Modern conducted by Peter Eötvös in Paris, Salle Pleyel; Le voyage (2012), a monodrama first performed by the Ensemble Intercontemporain and Les Cris de Paris, at Ircam’s festival ManiFeste; Die Antilope (2014), his second opera, first staged at the festival of Lucerne.
