philippe hurel
composer
Philippe Hurel, was born in 1955. French composer of mostly orchestral and chamber works that have been performed throughout Europe and elsewhere. Philippe Hurel studied musicology at the Université de Toulouse from 1974-79 and composition with Betsy Jolas and Ivo Malec at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris from 1980-83. He also had private studies in musical computer science with Tristan Murail in Paris in 1983. His honors include the Pensionnaire à la Villa Médicis à Rome (1986-88), the Förderpreis der Siemens-Stiftung in Munich (1995, for Six miniatures en trompe l'œil), the Prix des Compositeurs from SACEM (2002), and the Prix de la Meilleure Création de l'Année from SACEM (2003, for Aura). Mr. Hurel is also active in other positions. He worked as a music researcher at IRCAM in 1985-86 and 1988-89. He taught composition at IRCAM from 1997-2001. He also served as composer-in-residence to both the Arsenal de Metz and the Philharmonie de Lorraine from 2000-02. With Pierre André Valade he founded the new music ensemble Court-circuit in 1990 and has since served as its artistic director. His music has been performed in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, the USA… His pieces has been conducted by Pierre Boulez, David Robertson, Jonathan Nott, Esa Pekka Salonen, Reinbert de Leeuw, Bernard Kontarsky, Stefan Asbury, Kent Nagano, Peter Eötvös, Markus Stenz, Ed Spanjaard… and Pierre-André Valade. In 2007/2008, among the performances of his works, « Cantus » for soprano an ensemble (2006) - tribute to the french writter Georges Perec - will be premiered by Françoise Kubler and Ensemble Accroche-Note at the Festival Musica in Strasbourg . Moreover, ICE Ensemble from New York will give three portrait concerts in New York (Miller Theater), Boston (Gardner Museum) and San Francisco. In United States as well, the New York New Music Ensemble will premiere in New York his new piece « Step », commissioned by the « Fonds franco-américain ». He will also be invited by the Festival Maerzmusik in Berlin who has commissioned him a new piece for saxophone and ensemble in collaboration with the Berliner Festpiele and the City of Warburg. Finally, the Ensemble Intercontemporain will premiere the new version for piano and large ensemble of « Aura » at the Cité de la Musique in Paris. His next pieces have been commissioned by the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cirm (Nice) and the « Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France » … Editions Billaudot publishes his music written between 1981-96 and Éditions Lemoine publishes his music written since 1997. www.philippe-hurel.fr