Hanspeter Kyburz (born 8 July 1960) is a contemporary Swiss composer of

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

, known for applying

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

techniques to his productions.

Career

Kyburz was born in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

to Swiss parents. In 1980, he began studying music composition, first in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

with A. Dobrowolsky and Gösta Neuwirth, then, from 1982–1990, with Gösta Neuwirth and Frank Michael Beyer at the Universität der Künste in Berlin, later with Hans Zender in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. In 1990, he received the Boris Blacher Prize and won a

Cité internationale des arts The Cité internationale des arts is an artist-in-residence building complex which accommodates artists of all specialities and nationalities in Paris. It comprises two sites, one located in the Marais and the other in Montmartre. Approximately ...

scholarship for 1990/91 in Paris. In 1991, Kyburz began collaborating with the Insel-Musik-Konzerte group in Berlin. His study of music theory as well as the philosophy and history of art assured him acquisition of the Magistertitels title. He was awarded the Schneider-Schott Music Prize in 1996, and the Förderpreis Prize from the Berlin Akademie der Künste in 1994. He has held lectures on electronic music production in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and in 1996 he participated as a guest lecturer on the subject of the Basler composer week. As a composer, he is by performances with the citizens of Berlin Biennale, Wiener Festwochen (Vienna's week-long musical festival), the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik and in Donaueschingen. Kyburz has led such internationally renowned ensembles such as Klangforum in Vienna, Ensemble Contrechamps in Geneva, Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris, musikfabrik

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble für Neue Musik in Zürich, Ensemble UnitedBerlin, Camerata Quartett in Warsaw and ensemble recherche in Freiburg. CD recordings have documented his work. Hanspeter Kyburz wrote for the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris. He has also performed for Südwestfunk Radio in

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

, the Konservatorium in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

and the Steirischen Herbst, the

Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival The Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival (SHMF) is a classical music festival held each summer throughout the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany. History The festival was founded in 1986 by German concert pianist and conductor Justus Fr ...

, Sender Freies Berlin and the Süddeutscher Rundfunk. Since 1997, Kyburz has served as professor for composition at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" in Berlin. Kyburz produced a piece that is a musical interpretation of the enigmatic Voynich Manuscript.

Recent activities

On 1 September 2006 Simon Rattle and the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...

, performed the London Premiere of ''Noesis'' as part of the Promenade Concert season at London's Royal Albert Hall.

Works

(Not complete) *Malstrom, SWR-SO Baden-Baden & Freiburg/ Zender *The Voynich Cipher Manuscript, Südfunk-Chor Stuttgart/ Klangforum Wien/Huber *Parts, Klangforum Wien/Rundel *Cells; Danse aveugle pour six instruments (1997) *Double Points Plus *A travers (1999) *Noesis (2001–2003)

Sources

Biography at hfm-berlin.de
*
Bio at ircam.frHanspeter Kyburz
Operabase 1960 births Living people Swiss composers Swiss male composers Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin Musicians from Lagos Nigerian people of Swiss descent {{switzerland-composer-stub