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Masterprize
Tel: +44 (0)20 7233 0111 Masterprize site designed by Room101 Ltd |
 NICOLAS BACRI |
 JÖRGEN DAFGÅRD |
 RICHARD DUBUGNON |
 BECHARA EL KHOURY |
 ROBERT HENDERSON |
 ARTURS MASKATS |
 ANTON PLATE |
 PHILIPPE SCHOELLER |
 CHRISTOPHER THEOFANIDIS |
 MICHAEL TORKE |
Nationality French D.O.B. 23 November 1961 Title of piece Symphonie no. 6 Opus 60
Publisher Salabert Symphonie No. 6 was performed by Orchestre National de France under Leonard
Slatkin in Nov 1998.
NICOLAS BACRI
After studying music analysis and composition with Françoise Gangloff-Levéchin, Christian Manen and Louis Saguer (from 1979), Nicolas Bacri entered the Paris Conservatoire (graduated 1983, first prize for composition), where his teachers were Claude Ballif, Marius Constant, Serge Nigg and Michel Philippot.
During a two-year residency at the Académie de France in Rome (1983-85) he met Scelsi, who had a great spiritual influence on him.
From 1987 he was at the head of the chamber music department of Radio-France, a position he relinquished in 1991 to devote himself entirely to composition. He had also held residencies at the Casa de Velasquez (Spain) and with a number of French orchestras (from 1993).
His early works, which culminate with the First Symphony (1983-4, dedicated to Elliott Carter), are rooted in a constructivist post-Webernian aesthetic. Later compositions, beginning with the Cello Concerto (1985/87, dedicated to Henri Dutilleux), draw on the melodic continuity displaced by the predominant aesthetic of the postwar period. This change of style has placed Bacri in the musical aesthetic of his time, where a spirit of reconciliation prevails.
His honours include the grand prize of l'Académie du disque 1993, and several awards from SACEM the French society of performing rights and the Académie des Beaux-Arts.
Nicolas Bacri's works have been performed by the best French soloists, orchestras and ensembles such as the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, the Maîtrise de Radio-France, Pages et les Chantres de la Chapelle Royale de Versailles and the Ensemble Accentus.
His works have also been performed by leading internationally acclaimed foreign performers such as Pierre Bartholomée, Martyn Brabbins, Peter Bruns, Semyon Byshkov, Akiko Ebi, Richard Hickox, Vassili Lobanov, John Poole, Diemut Poppen, Leonard Slatkin, Pieter Wispelwey, the Lindsay Quartet, Vilnius Quartet, Asko Ensemble (Amsterdam), Liège Philharmonic Orchestra, W.D.R. Köln Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra (London), Riverside Symphony Orchestra (New-York), Tapiola Sinfonietta (Helsinki) and BBC Singers (London).
Nationality Swedish D.O.B. 27 November 1964 Title of piece Veils Veils has been performed by the Swedish Radio
Orchestra and broadcast on Swedish Radio
JÖRGEN DAFGÅRD
Jörgen Dafgård received his diploma in composition in 1999 and has been active since then as a free-lance composer.
In 2000 Dafgård won a composition competition with Veils (or Slöjor) for orchestra which was performed by the Swedish Radio Orchestra. The first performance of Veils was broadcast internationally and the piece has been performed several times by two of the most prominent orchestras in Sweden.
After finishing Veils Dafgård has composed another three pieces for orchestra, of which "Mosaïque Vibrante" is the most recent. He has also written a number of choral pieces and chamber music for different forces. One of these is "Ways" which is written for the Korean string instrument kayagum and five western instruments.
Jörgen Dafgård often takes ideas of colours, gestures and movement as a starting-point for composing. It is therefore not surprising that many of his works come close to the visual arts. He has for instance written music in spectral modes corresponding to colours, made sound installations and collaborated with a video artist.
Nationality French D.O.B. 09 September 1968 Title of piece Five Symphonic Images/ 5
Images Symphoniques Five Symphonic Images was performed and recorded by the Orchestre National de France in 2002. It was commissioned by Radio France for their Alla Breve broadcasts
RICHARD DUBUGNON
The Swiss-French composer Richard Dubugnon was born in 1968. He was called the son of Ravel and Prokofiev in the French newspaper Le Figaro, because of the obvious link of his work with French masters as well as Russian and Eastern European composers. His music combines refined harmonies with complex counterpoint as well as an original sense of structure and form. His love for the voice, opera, film scores and funk gives his music great lyricism, a narrative direction and a strong feeling of rhythm and dynamics. Dubugnon's music also shows great awareness of colour and has been often praised for the quality of its orchestration.
Nationality French D.O.B. 18 March 1957 Title of piece Les Fleuves Engloutis (Eternal Rivers) Publisher Editions Max Eschig, Paris Les Fleuves Engloutis was commissioned by Radio France in 2001 and recorded for broadcast by the Orchestre National de France.
BECHARA EL KHOURY
In five movements
Brouillard (Fog)
Chant du Silence (Song of Silence)
Alerte (Alert)
Lutte (Struggle)
Chant des Fleuves (Song of the Rivers)
A French-Lebanese composer and poet, Bechara El-Khoury was born on 18 March 1957 in Beirut.
His artistic debut occurred very early on but it was not until 1969 that he started serious music studies in Beirut under the direction of Agop Arslanian while continuing advanced general studies. Since that time, he has devoted himself to composing for piano, choir and orchestra. Between 1973 and 1976, he was Kapellmeister at the Church of Saint Elias in Antelias near Beirut.
Since 1979 Bechara El-Khoury has been based in Paris where he first took advanced lessons in composition with Pierre-Petit and since 1980 has been a jury member for exams at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Musique de Paris. In 2000 Bechara El-Khoury received the Prix Rossini of the Académie des Beaux-Arts (Institut de France) and in 2002 was appointed Knight of the National Order of the Cedar of Lebanon.
His catalogue includes some seventy works that have been performed in various venues such as the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Salle Pleyel, Théâtre du Châtelet, Radio France, Salle Cortot, Kiev Philharmonia, Cairo Opera House, Noga Theatre of Tel-Aviv, Israeli Radio-Television and many more by orchestras such as the Orchestre National de France, the Moscow Philharmonic, the Ukraine National Symphony, the Orchestre Symphonique Français, and the Orchestre Colonne (Paris).
Some of El-Khoury's works have been commissioned by Radio France, Musique Nouvelle en Liberté, the Orchestre Symphonique Français, the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris, Francophonie, and Shlomo Mintz Masterclasses to name just a few.
Forthcoming concerts include his violin and piano concertos, symphonies and symphonic poems, mainly in New York, Paris, Tel-Aviv, Kiev and Moscow.
His symphonic music has first been recorded by Erato in 1983 and by Forlane in 1996.
In 2002, Naxos released a CD entirely devoted to his symphonic music with the Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Sirenko.
"A powerfully committed new voice, this is a composer to be reckoned with" Gramophone (February 2003) Ivan March
http://www.durand-salabert-eschig.com
Nationality USA D.O.B. 13 May 1948 Title of piece Einstein's Violin Einstein's Violin was commissioned by the Utah Arts Festival and performed by the Utah Symphony in June 1998.
ROBERT HENDERSON
Robert Henderson has built a career that encompasses a diverse range of musical pursuits as a conductor, composer and instrumentalist in a variety of venues including symphony, opera, ballet, film, television and popular music.
Born in Los Angeles in 1948, Mr. Henderson began violin studies at age three with his father. As a teenager he studied piano and horn, as well as conducting. He began his studies in composition and music theory at age 14 with Donal Michalsky. While attending the University of Southern California, Henderson continued private studies in both composition and conducting with Ingolf Dahl. He served as Associate Conductor of both the Idyllwild Music Festival Orchestra and the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra.
Mr. Henderson wrote numerous solo, chamber and symphonic works during his teens. At the age of 15 he received the Young Musician's Foundation Composer's Award for his Orchestral Variations. which was subsequently premiered by Michael Tilson Thomas and the YMF Debut Orchestra. Two years later, Henderson received the BMI Student Composer Award for three works including Variation Movements for Solo Trumpet. Recognised as a modern day trumpet classic, Variation Movements was featured at the 1976 International Brass Convention in Zurich and the 1986 Munich Instrumental Competition. Frequently performed by the world's top trumpet soloists, it is currently in it's fourth recording.
Einstein's Violin, commissioned by the Utah Arts Festival, was premiered in 1998 by the Utah Symphony and has enjoyed performances by the Utah Symphony and the Orquesta Sinfonica de Chile. Other pieces of note include Fanfare for Eight Horns written for the Los Angeles Horn Club, Fanfare (1967), recorded by the brass section of Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Capriccio, a chamber work performed at the International Contemporary Music Festival in Los Angeles as well as numerous times in the United States, Europe and, most recently, at the 5th International Contemporary Music Festival of South America. Invention, composed for the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet, was performed for over 70 elementary school- aged audiences during 1980's to demonstrate the variety of musical sounds produced by a symphony percussion section. Another work for full orchestra, Momentum, was premiered by the Utah Symphony in 1982 . A Tangoed Web, for small ensemble, was premiered in 2001 at the Nova Chamber Series in Salt Lake City.
In 1979 Mr. Henderson left Los Angeles to become the associate conductor of the Utah Symphony. In 1981 he was appointed Music Director of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. He has conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Houston Symphony, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Chile, the Iceland Symphony as well as over 35 orchestras throughout the US.
Henderson's career as a professional horn player began as a teenager, recording with Igor Stravinsky on Columbia Records. He was much in demand by the Hollywood recording studios performing the sound tracks to over 3000 motion pictures and television episodes. He also performed with the Los Angeles and London Philharmonics, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Pasadena Symphony. During this same time, Mr. Henderson conducted several ensembles in Los Angeles, recording 14 albums for the Ford Foundation as well as serving as the Conductor of Orchestras at Pomona College.
Nationality Latvian D.O.B. 20 December 1957 Title of piece Tango Publisher Musica Baltica Tango was premiered by the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra in September 2002.
ARTURS MASKATS
Arturs Maskats was born in 1957 in Valmiera, Latvia. He started his music studies at the age of six and studied piano at the children's music school in Valmiera. In 1977 he enrolled at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian State Conservatoire where he studied composition with Professor Utkins.
In 1982 Maskats started work at the Riga's Dailes Theatre as Musical Director and composer in residence where he remained until 1997. From 1993 - 1996 he was appointed as Chairman of the Latvian Composers' Union and since 1996 has held the position of Artistic Director to the Latvian National Opera. In 2002 he was appointed professor of composition at the Jazeps Vitols Academy of Music.
He has been awarded the Latvian Grand Music Award three times, in 1996, 2001 and 2002. His work to date includes over 30 chorus works, 10 orchestral works, music for cinema as well as music for over 90 theatre productions.
Arturs Maskats' works have been performed by ensembles such as Kremerata Baltica and the Riga Chamber Players at numerous prestigious international venues and festivals including St John's Smith Square in London and the Lockenhaus Festival in Austria as well as Italy and the USA.
A CD of Arturs Maskats' music was released by the Swedish label BIS in 2002.
Nationality German D.O.B. 4 January 1950 Title of piece You Must Finish Your Journey Alone Publisher Eichen Musikverlag You Must Finish Your Journey Alone was released on EMI Classic's 'Who is Afraid of 20th Century Music' having been recorded by Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg under Ingo Metzmacher
ANTON PLATE
Anton Plate was born 1950 in Hildesheim, Germany. He received his teaching credentials in music pedagogy and studied music theory and composition. In 1976 he was given a scholarship to work at the Villa Massimo, Italy. Since 1982 Anton Plate teaches as Professor for music theory at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover, Germany.
http://www.eichen-musikverlag.de
Nationality French D.O.B. 13 April 1957 Title of piece Totems Publisher Editions Musicales
Europeennes, Paris Totems was commissioned by Radio France and performed by the Orchestre National de France under Pascal Rophe in 2001.
PHILIPPE SCHOELLER
"The sensual, subtle but also archaic - in the sense of romantic- art of Philippe Schoeller could be called psychotropic, or " a treatise on the psyche: a science of the emotions". It is a music which lies somewhere between the most elementary and the most subtle and infinitely complex emotions and the living psychic phenomena brought into play when listening to music."
(Alexandra Steinberg Still, Mucicologist, Vienna, Austria, 2003)
Philippe Schoeller was born on in France on April 13th, 1957. From a very young age, he received a solid, traditional musical education in Paris: piano under Jean-Claude Henriot, choral music in Justus Von Websky's Bach Choir, harmony and counterpoint with Beatrice Berstel, introduction to conducting under Gerard Dervaux at the Ecole Normale de Musique, analysis with Robert Piencikowski, and he followed Pierre Boulez's courses at the College de France and Franco Donatoni's masterclasses at the Conservatoire de Paris.
The masters he recognises are linked to three essential meetings which crystallised his artistic life: above all with Henri Dutilleux, with whom Philippe Schoeller worked from 1990 to 1991, but also with Maurice Ohana in 1979 and Olivier Messiaen in 1983.
Philippe Schoeller won first prize in the Henri Dutilleux International Competition for Composition at Tours, France in 1990, and the Antidogma Competition for Composition at Turin, Italy in 1984. He was resident conposer at the BeethovenHalle Philharmonic Orchestra in Bonn, Germany in 2001. He was also the first composer to benefit from the prestigious Natexis Foundation in France between 1993 and 1997.
He was resident composer at the Beethoven Halle Philharmonic Orchestra in Bonn, Germany in 2001. He was also the first composer to benefit from the prestigious Natexis Foundation in France between 1993 and 1997. In 2001 he won the Paul Gilson Prize awarded by the French-speaking radio stations.
He has had the great pleasure and honour to work with, among others, Marek Janowski, Peter Eötvös David Robertson, Myung-Whun Chung, Marc Soustrot, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Pascal Rophé, Pascal Gallois, Laurence Equilbey, Stefan Asbury, Irvin Arditti...: the French National Orchestra, the Radio-France Philharmonic Orchestra, The Orchestre National de Lyon, The Pays de Loire Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ensemble Intercontemporain ( Paris), the Modern Ensemble ( Frankfurt) the Beethoven Academy (Brussels), The Suddeutscherundfunk Choir Stuttgart, Choeur de Chambre Accentus ( Paris), Le Jeune Choeur de Paris, Choeur de Chambre Mikrokosmos etc.
Fascinated by teaching, he has also organised and participated in "workshops to promote musical and sensory awareness for the 21st century orchestra" aimed at the very young in schools in France and Bonn.
His works are played in Europe and Japan. They are published by Schott Verlag International (Mainz, Tokyo, New York, Paris, London, Madrid, Toronto) and Editions Musicales Européennes (Paris).
Nationality American D.O.B. 18 December 1967 Title of piece Rainbow Body
Rainbow Body was commissioned by Meet the Composer and the Houston Symphony. It was recorded and performed by the Atlanta Symphony. Rainbow Body is released on Telarc Records CD-80596
CHRISTOPHER THEOFANIDIS
Christopher Theofanidis was born in Dallas, Texas in 1967. His studies have included a DMA and MMA from Yale University, an MM from the Eastman School of Music and a BM from the University of Houston.
Mr. Theofanidis has held the positions of composer-in-residence for the California Symphony and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. He is also on the faculties of the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins' University and the Juilliard School in New York City.
His compositions have won numerous awards, including the Prix de Rome, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Barlow Prize, a Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Columbia-Bearns Prize, a Fulbright Fellowship to France, and six ASCAP Morton Gould Prizes.
His music has been performed by several orchestras, including the Atlanta, Houston, National, Brooklyn, Monte-Carlo, Oregon, Madison, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestras and the Oslo Philharmonic. He has also been performed by chamber music ensembles including the Moscow Soloists, Speculum Musicae, the Absolute Ensemble, and SONYC as well as the Cassatt, Alexander, Muir, Henschel and Cuartetto Latinoamericano String Quartets.
Current projects include a viola concerto for Kim Kashkashian and the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, a ballet for the American Ballet Theatre, and an opera for the Moores School of Music.
Nationality American D.O.B. 22 September 1961 Title of piece Jasper Publisher Boosey and Hawkes Jasper has been performed by the Milwaukee Symphony in 1998 and the RSNO under Marin Alsop in 2000. The RSNO performance was recorded and released on Naxos in November 2002.
MICHAEL TORKE
The music of Michael Torke has been called "some of the most optimistic, joyful and thoroughly uplifting music to appear in recent years" (Gramophone). Hailed as a "vitally inventive composer" (Financial Times) and "a master orchestrator whose shimmering timbral palette makes him the Ravel of his generation" (New York Times), Michael Torke has created a substantial body of works in virtually every genre, each with a characteristic personal stamp that combines restless rhythmic energy with ravishingly beautiful melodies.
Recent projects include a millennium symphony commission from Michael Eisner and the Walt Disney Company, performed by Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic, the Central Park trilogy, written with A.R. Gurney for Great Performances, Glimmerglass Opera, and New York City Opera, and The Contract, an evening length story ballet for James Kudelka and the National Ballet of Canada.
Current projects include a musical drama based on Wharton's House of Mirth (with book and lyrics by A. R. Gurney), a new story ballet for the National Ballet of Canada based on The Italian Straw Hat, a music theater meditation on Marcel Carne's Children of Paradise, for John Kelly & Co, and music for Classic Stage Company's production of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale.
Naxos has recently released a newly recorded orchestral CD of works, including An American Abroad, Jasper, and Rapture, Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra, commissioned and performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra during Torke's residency with that orchestra. Spring of 2003 will see the launch of Ecstatic Records, a label established to re-release the complete music formally recorded by Argo/Decca Records, available at michaeltorke.com. The sole agent for Torke's music is Boosey and Hawkes.
