Mark Andre (born 10 May 1964)
is a French composer living in Germany. He was known as "Marc André," his birth name, until 2007, when he formally revised the spelling. He lives in Berlin. Andre's compositions ''durch'' (2006), ''...auf... III'' (2007), and ''Wunderzaichen'' (2014) received multiple votes in a 2017 ''Classic Voice'' poll of the greatest works of
art music since 2000.
Biography
Andre was born in
Paris.
He studied composition from 1987 to 1993 with
Claude Ballif
Claude Ballif (22 May 1924 – 24 July 2004) was a French composer, writer, and pedagogue. He worked at a number of institutions throughout more than 40 years of teaching, one of which he had attended as a student. Among his pupils were Raynald ...
and
Gérard Grisey at the
Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique.
In Paris, he also graduated from the École Normale Supérieure about the music of
Ars subtilior
''Ars subtilior'' (Latin for 'subtler art') is a musical style characterized by rhythmic and notational complexity, centered on Paris, Avignon in southern France, and also in northern Spain at the end of the fourteenth century.Hoppin 1978, 47 ...
(Le compossible musical de l'Ars subtilior). In 1995 he received a scholarship from the French Foreign Ministry, which enabled him to continue his studies of composition at the
State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart
The State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart is a professional school for musicians and performing artists in Stuttgart, Germany. Founded in 1857, it is one of the oldest schools of its kind in Germany.
History
The school was f ...
with
Helmut Lachenmann (Graduation: "Großes Kompositionsexamen", 1996). In the Experimental Studio for Acoustic Art he studied electronic music with
André Richard. In 1996, he was able to continue his studies in Stuttgart by a grant from the
Akademie Schloss Solitude. Numerous other scholarships and residencies followed. Since then, Andre has been heard at the
Donaueschingen Festival in 2007 with his large Orchestral and electronic triptych "...auf... " III, and was awarded the prize of the SWR Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden and Freiburg, since public attention has been drawn to his work even more. But even before Andre earned numerous major awards, so at the
Darmstadt Summer Courses (
Kranichsteiner Music Prize 1996).
In 2002, the
Ernst von Siemens Composers' Prize was awarded to him. Living in Berlin, Andre taught at the Frankfurt University of Music and at the Conservatoire de Strasbourg (2002–2007).
As part of the project "...auf ...", a collaboration between the
Ensemble Modern and Siemens Arts Program, in cooperation with the
Goethe Institute, Andre's piece "üg", was developed in Istanbul jointly with the computer music and sound engineer Joachim Haas (Experimentalstudio des SWR) and others, and was premiered in October 2008 at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt by the Ensemble Modern. In 2009 he was appointed a member of the
Berlin Academy of Arts
The Academy of Arts (german: Akademie der Künste) is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany.
The Academy's predecessor organization was fo ...
and professor of composition at the Hochschule für Musik in Dresden.
Since 2010 he has been a member of the
Saxon Academy of Arts. 2012: Fellow of the
Berlin Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin (german: Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin) is an interdisciplinary institute founded in 1981 in Grunewald, Berlin, Germany, dedicated to research projects in the natural and social sciences. It is modeled ...
and a member of the
Academy of Fine Arts, Munich. On 2 March 2014 his opera "Wunderzaichen" was premiered in Stuttgart directed by Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito.
Andre is well known on the continent, though does not have such a large profile in the predominantly English-speaking world. Referring to this, ''
The Guardian'' noted "though
Manchester International Festival director
Alex Poots
Alexander Moinet Poots (born 1967), is the founding chief executive and artistic director of The Shed in New York City. He was formerly the founding chief executive and artistic director of the Manchester International Festival (2005-2015) and ...
's claim that Mark Andre is "one of Europe's leading composers" is far-fetched, there is no doubt that Andre's music remains virtually unknown in the UK."
Works
Andre's music is published by
Edition Peters in Frankfurt am Main.
*''Ein Abgrund'' for bass-baritone, viola and violoncello based on
Georg Büchner's drama "
Woyzeck" (1992)
*''Un-Fini III'' (1993–1995) for piano
*''Le loin et le profond'' for Ensemble (1994–1996)
*''Fatal'' for Ensemble (1995)
*''AB II'' for double bass clarinet, cello, cymbalon, percussion, piano and
live electronics (1996/1997)
*''Contrapunctus'' for piano (1998/1999)
*''Modell'' for four orchestra groups (1999/2000)
*''...22,13...'' Musiktheater-
Passion in three parts (1999–2004)
*''...als... I'' for bass clarinet, cello and piano (2001)
*''...als... II'' for double bass clarinet, cello, piano and live electronics (2001)
*''...IN...'' for verstärkte bass clarinet (2001)
*''...zu...'' for string trio (2003/2004)
*''asche'' for ensemble (2005)
*''durch'' for saxophone, piano and percussion (2004/2005) – written for
Trio Accanto
*''...hoc...'' (2006)
*''...auf... III'' (2007) for orchestra and live electronics
*''iv2'' for cello solo (2007)
*''iv3'' for clarinet solo (2007)
*''...es...'' for chamber ensemble (2008)
*''üg'' for orchestra and live electronics (2008)
*''hij'' for orchestra (2009)
*''Wunderzaichen'' an opera (2014)
*''über'' for clarinet, orchestra and live electronics (2015)
*''woher...wohin'' for orchestra (2015–2017)
*''...selig sind...'' for clarinet and electronics (2017–2018)
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*
Mark Andre at the Living Composers ProjectMark Andre at the Edition Peters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andre, Mark
French composers
French male composers
French expatriates in Germany
1964 births
Living people
Musicians from Paris
Pupils of Gérard Grisey
Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin
Ernst von Siemens Composers' Prize winners