Biographies

An American composer and conductor born January 1st, 1947.

Born into a musical family, John Adams studied the clarinet and played in wind bands before continuing his training as a conductor and in composition at Harvard University (1965-1971), notably with Leon Kirchner. He subsequently devoted himself to teaching and conducting at the San Francisco Conservatory, as well as to composition, writing for all formations: chamber, orchestral, vocal and electroacoustic.

A French composer born August 20, 1957 in Paris.

Jean-René Combes-Damiens studied musicology at the University of Paris-Sorbonne as well as the piano at the École Normale de Musique in Paris. He trained in composition with Patrice Sciortino at the European Music Conservatory of Paris, as well as by virtue of significant encounters with Antoine Tisné and Henri Dutilleux.

A French composer born May 17, 1952 in Rouen.

Francis Faber studied at the University of Rouen and the Paris Conservatory.

With a passion for the stage, multidisciplinary creation and multimedia, he cultivates real-time electronics, plays on digital instruments such as the Wiimote, the Karlax, and actually builds the instruments required for his shows.

An Argentinian composer born September 29, 1956 in Buenos Aires (Argentina).

Born into a family of musicians, Carlos Grätzer studied with his father, the Austro-Argentinian composer and teacher Guillermo Grätzer.

A Japanese composer born January 31, 1969 in Tokyo (Japan).

After a master’s degree in composition at the Tokyo National University for the Fine Arts and Music in 1992, Misato Mochizuki settled in France and studied at the Paris Conservatory, notably in the classes of Paul Méfano and Emmanuel Nunes. She subsequently followed the composition and computer music course of Ircam (1996-1997) and enriched her way of listening to music, notably in contact with Tristan Murail.

A French composer and musicologist born December 21, 1947 in Brives.

After studying architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, computer music at Vincennes University with Patrick Greussay and collective musical practice with Giuseppe Englert, Marc Battier obtained a degree in computing, a master’s degree in music and a doctorate in the philosophy and æsthetics of forms.

A British composer born October 29, 1950.

James Dillon studied art and design in Glasgow in addition to linguistics, acoustics and mathematics in London. A player of the bagpipes, the Indian zither and the piano, he is a member of traditional Scottish bagpipes ensembles as well as of rock groups. An autodidact in composition, he studied the rhythms of Indian music with the sitar player Punita Gupta in the UK (1972) and took part in the summer classes in Darmstadt (1982) as well as Ircam’s summer courses (1984-1985).

A French composer born March 17, 1944 in Paris. 

A pianist and oboist, Isabelle Fraisse studied music theory and composition with Michel Philippot. She approached composition through the analysis of all kinds of works, both classical and contemporary, with individual and solitary work, considering the works as her veritable masters. She also took part in the summer schools of Darmstadt and the Centre Acanthes, following the seminars led by Luciano Berio and Franco Donatoni.

A French and Chilean composer born October 30, 1964 in Santiago (Chile).

Nurtured with Chilean folk music, Marco-Antonio Pérez-Ramirez studied the classical guitar with Alberto Ponce and composition with Sergio Ortega while following higher studies in mathematics in France. A laureate of the Khachaturian and Boucourechliev foundations as well as of Unesco, he also followed the composition and computer music course of Ircam (1996-1997).

A French composer born August 12, 1955 in Pau. 

A cellist trained at the Conservatory of Saint Étienne, Agnès Poisson explored composition at the Théâtre de Recherche in Marseilles and the Compagnie de Théâtre Expérimental in Provence. She studied in the class of Guy Maneveau at the University of Pau and worked with the Groupe Musical Universitaire de Pau (GMU Pau), for the performance and diffusion of the new electroacoustic music.