Componisten nieuws

At the age of 97, the French composer Henri Dutilleux died in Paris on 22 May. In the 1930s he studied at the Paris Conservatory under Henri Paul Busser and Maurice Emmanuel. His wrote mainly instrumental music, which can be described as richly colourful, sensual, and sensitive.

[source: www.bbc.co.uk]

To celebrate Benjamin Britten's 100th birthday a self-guided trail was opened near Aldeburgh, England. The route includes Aldeburgh Parish Church, site of Britten's grave, the Old Mill, Snape, the Moot Hall, and the Jubilee Hall, which was the main venue for the Aldeburgh Festival until 1967. Also the Scallop sculpture is included, as well ast he Peter Pears Gallery, Snape Maltings concert hall and the Red House.

[source: www.eadt.co.uk]

“In recognition of his efforts to promote intercultural dialogue through music, consciousness of the scarcity of natural resources such as water, and the diversity of languages, as well as for his dedication to the ideals and aims of the Organization.” That was the explanation of UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova on the occasion of making Tan Dun as UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador at a ceremony in Paris, France.

The composer said he was honored to be named as the first Chinese Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO, and that he would join other peers to work dedicatedly to fulfil the mission of UNESCO. Specifically trying to build communication bridges between different cultures, and raising the awareness of saving and protecting water resource for the wellbeing worldwide.

[source: www.nzweek.com]

Michael Berkeley, who is a composer as well as broadcaster, is to be made a non-party political peer in the House of Lords.

For over 15 years he has been presenter of the BBC Radio 3 programme Private Passions.

[source: www.bbc.co.uk]

The Mauricio Kagel Music Prize for 2013 has been awarded to Michel van de Aa by the North Rhine-Westphalia Arts Foundation. It will be presented to the composer on 28 April during the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik.

The prize, worth a total of €50,000, of which €20,000 is to be used to fund a new project for the North Rhine-Westphalia region, is rewarded every two years, and was first given in 2011.

[Source: www.vanderaa.net]

Belgian composer Vic Nees died on 14 March after a prolonged illness. He is considered as the most important Belgian choral composer, and his compositions are also often performed in The Netherlands, Germany, and other countries. He was also a choir conductor and organist.

The 2013 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition was won by Dutch composer Michel van der Aa. He received the award for his multimedia composition Up-Close, which is said to be “a highly innovative fusion of musical and visual art".

The Grawemeyer Award is granted annually by the University of Louisville. It is the world’s most prestigious composition prize, and isworth $100,000 (EUR78,000).

[source: www.vanderaa.net]

Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt, who became world famous with his Canto Ostinato, died yesterday in a hospital in Alkmaar. Last year there was a Dutch documentary film about the Canto Ostinato, called Over Canto (About Canto) about the influence the composition had on various people.

Simeon ten Holt became 89 years old. He started his composing career as a serial music composer, but switched to his now famous harmonious, repetitive style in the 1970s.

[source: www.nrc.nl]

His last composition was finished in August, and he completed 14 works after his 100th birthday. One of the most important American contemporary music composers, Elliot Carter, died on 5 November in Manhattan, New York. He was 103 years old.

[source: www.nytimes.com]

On 27 October Hans Werner Henze died in Dresden, Germany. As he composer he was an important innovator who tried to give traditional styles a place in his works.

When he was 17 years old, in 1944, he was made prisoner of war by the British. In England he first heard modernist music, which was forbidden in Nazi Germany. After the war he was one of the first German composers to start composing in a serialistic style. However, he was never a radical atonalist. He also used Jazz, Music Hall, and other popular music.