A French composer born January 14, 1939 in Nantes.
A cellist by training, Roger Tessier studied at the conservatories of Nantes, Saint-Brieuc, then Paris with Henri Challan, Alain Weber, Eugène Bigot and Olivier Messiaen. He subsequently divided his time between teaching and composing. In 1971 he met Tristan Murail, with whom he co-founded the ensemble L’Itinéraire. In the 1980s he was in charge of the teaching collection of Éditions Salabert. In Angers he directed the festival of twentieth century music then the Conservatory, before taking charge of the conservatory of the 14th arrondissement in Paris (1991-1999). The music of Roger Tessier reflects his varied and eclectic itinerary, blending traditional instruments with electronics, energetic sections and meditative passages, references to the visual arts and to literature. The composer has tackled all genres, including teaching music, and has shown a notable taste for the orchestra, large-scale forms and the stage. Among his more than 90 works are Trois Haïkus (1965), Trièdre (1973), Samgita I (1976), the cantata Judith (1979), Jeu Rituel (1982), Scène III (1987), Electric Dream Fantasy (1996), Samsara (2000), Skolvan (2002), Trisztan Kommentarok (2006), La Mémoire de Narcisse (2009) and Froissures (2010).