Michael Jarrell (born 8 October 1958) is a Swiss composer and academic teacher, whose operas, such as ''
'', have been performed internationally.
Life
Born in
Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
, Jarrell studied at the
Geneva Conservatoire, and later with
Klaus Huber
Klaus Huber (30 November 1924 – 2 October 2017) was a Swiss composer and academic based in Basel and Freiburg. Among his students were Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Jarrell, Younghi Pagh-Paan, Toshio Hosokawa, Wolfgang Rihm, and Kaija Saaria ...
in
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...
. His works span many genres. In 1982, he won first prizes for composition and went on to win many more, including the Acanthes Prize in 1983, the Beethovenpreis awarded by Bonn in 1986, the Marescotti Prize (1986), both the
Gaudeamus International Composers Award
The Gaudeamus International Composers Award is made by the Gaudeamus Foundation. The prize is awarded yearly, to a young composer at Dutch music concert, ''Gaudeamus Muziekweek''.
The Gaudeamus Foundation had held an annual music week of Dutch ...
and the Henriette Renié prizes in 1988, and the
Siemens-Förderpreis (1990).
From 1986 to 1988, he was resident at the Cité des Arts in Paris, taking part in the computer music course at
IRCAM
IRCAM (French: ''Ircam, '', English: Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music) is a French institute dedicated to the research of music and sound, especially in the fields of Avant-garde music, avant garde and Electroacoustic ...
. His next residency was at the
Villa Medici
The Villa Medici () is a sixteenth-century Italian Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with 7-hectare Italian garden, contiguous with the more extensive Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in the historic ...
(1988–89), home of the
French Academy in Rome
The French Academy in Rome (, ) is an academy located in the Villa Medici, within the Villa Borghese, on the Pincio (Pincian Hill) in Rome, Italy.
History
The Academy was founded at the Palazzo Capranica in 1666 by Louis XIV under the dire ...
, followed by membership of the Istituto Svizzero di Roma in 1989–90, after which he became composer-in-residence at the Orchestre de Lyon (October 1991–June 1993). In 1993, Jarrell was appointed professor of composition at the
University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna
The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university established in 1817 located in Vienna. With a student body of over three thousand, it is the largest institution of its kind in Austria, and one of t ...
.
In 1990, he established some of the bases of
Computer Music
Computer music is the application of computing technology in music composition, to help human composers create new music or to have computers independently create music, such as with algorithmic composition programs. It includes the theory and ...
. In 2016, the composition problem he proposed was successfully solved using a
Constraint programming
Constraint programming (CP) is a paradigm for solving combinatorial problems that draws on a wide range of techniques from artificial intelligence, computer science, and operations research. In constraint programming, users declaratively state t ...
.
[Mauricio Toro, Carlos Agon, Camilo Rueda, Gerard Assayag.]
GELISP: A FRAMEWORK TO REPRESENT MUSICAL CONSTRAINT SATISFACTION PROBLEMS AND SEARCH STRATEGIES
" Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology 86 (2). 2016. 327-331.
In 1996, he became composer-in-residence at
Lucerne Festival
Lucerne Festival is one of the leading international festivals in the world of classical music and presents a series of classical music festivals based in Lucerne, Switzerland. Founded in 1938 by Ernest Ansermet and Walter Schulthess, it curr ...
, while the 2000 Musica Nova Helsinki festival was dedicated to him. In 2001, the
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...
commissioned a piano concerto entitled ''Abschied'' (Farewell). The same year, Jarrell was made a Chevalier of the
Order of Arts and Letters
The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...
. In 2004, he was named professor of composition at the higher Academy of Geneva.
He is regarded throughout Europe as one of the most important Swiss composers of his generation. His "spoken opera" ''
'', which is based on
Christa Wolf
Christa Wolf (; Ihlenfeld; 18 March 1929 – 1 December 2011) was a German novelist and essayist. She is considered one of the most important writers to emerge from the former East Germany.[Cassandra
Cassandra or Kassandra (; , , sometimes referred to as Alexandra; ) in Greek mythology was a Trojan priestess dedicated to the god Apollo and fated by him to utter true prophecy, prophecies but never to be believed. In modern usage her name is e ...]
'', was premiered in Paris in 1994 and performed at the
Ojai Festival, CA, in June 2008.
Works
Stage
* ''Bérénice'', opera (2018)
Orchestral
* ''...Le ciel, tout à l'heure encore si limpide, soudain se trouble horriblement...'' (2009)
* ''Sechs Augenblicke'' (2022)
Concertante
* Viola Concerto ''From the Leaves of Shadow'' (1991)
* Percussion Concerto ''...un long fracas somptueux de rapide céleste...'' (1998)
* Piano Concerto ''Abschied'' (2001)
* Flute Concerto ''...Un temps de silence...'' (2007)
* Nachlese III ''...Es bleibt eine zitternde Bebung...'' for clarinet, cello and orchestra (2007)
* Nachlese IV ''Paysages avec figures absentes'' for violin and orchestra (2009)
* Violin Concerto ''Des nuages et des brouillards'' (2016)
* Viola Concerto ''Émergences-Résurgences'' (2016)
* Oboe Concerto ''Aquateinte'' (2016)
* Violin Concerto ''4 Eindrücke'' (2019)
* Piano Concerto ''Reflections'' (2019)
References
External links
*
*
*
Michael Jarrell at Musinfo– List of works and short bio
1958 births
Living people
Alumni of the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève
20th-century Swiss classical composers
Gaudeamus Composition Competition prize-winners
Swiss male classical composers
Musicians from Geneva
20th-century Swiss male musicians
{{Switzerland-composer-stub