Composers

A French composer born June 6, 1924 in Paris who died November 12, 2008 in Paris.

A pupil of Olivier Messiaen and Simone Plé-Caussade at the Paris Conservatory, Serge Nigg subsequently completed his training with René Leibowitz who initiated him into dodecaphonism. With this he composed Variations for piano and ten instruments (1946), the first strictly dodecaphonic French work. Serge Nigg subsequently distanced himself from serialism, his political convictions guiding him towards a kind of music more accessible to everyone.

An Argentine composer born June 14, 1960 in Buenos Aires (Argentina).

A French composer born July 14, 1947 in Orléans.

A German composer and conductor born January 29, 1971.

After instrumental training (piano, violin, percussion), Matthias Pintscher studied conducting with Peter Eötvös as well as composition with Giselher Klebe in Detmold and Manfred Trojahn in Düsseldorf. He also met Hans Werner Henze during the summer classes at Montepulciano. With his first opera, Thomas Chatterton (1998) he achieved international recognition. He was invited all over the world and in 2008 Pierre Boulez conducted the premiere of his Osiris with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

A Spanish composer born March 10, 1967 in Valladolid (Spain).

Alberto Posadas studied music first in Valladolid then in Madrid and studied composition with Francisco Guerrero.

A French composer and conductor born June 3, 1933 in Sainte-Savine.

An American composer born October 3, 1936 in New York.

A pianist and a percussionist, with a degree in philosophy, Steve Reich studied composition with the jazz player Hall Overton as well as at the Juilliard School. Il obtained a Master of Arts degree in music at Mills College after following the classes of Luciano Berio and Darius Milhaud while steeping himself in jazz. In 1966 he founded his own ensemble, Steve Reich and Musicians, and this gave him a suitable framework for his experimental form of composition.

An Italian composer born February 3, 1963 in Roma (Italy).

A pianist by training, Lucia Ronchetti studied composition and computer music at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. She continued her training in Paris, following the composition and computer music course at Ircam and obtained a doctorate at the École Pratique des Hautes études. At Columbia University she presented a thesis entitled Tone-colour texture as formal determinant of composition. In the course of her apprenticeship she met Sylvano Bussotti, Salvatore Sciarrino, Gérard Grisey and Tristan Murail and benefitted from their advice.

A French and Swiss composer, writer and stage director born July 13, 1961 in Chambéry.

A guitarist by training, Jean-Christophe Rosaz studied at the Lyons Conservatory, notably with Gilbert Amy, Raffi Ourgandjian and Robert Pascal, before finishing with a course in film music composition at the École Normale in Paris.

A French composer, performer and multidisciplinary artist born September 30, 1972 in Rouen