Nicolas Bacri (born 23 November 1961) is a French

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

who has written more than one hundred works, including

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

s, and

violin concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

Career

Nicolas Bacri was born in Paris, France. His musical studies began with piano lessons at the age of seven. He continued to study

harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

, analysis and composition as a teenager with Françoise Levechin-Gangloff and Christian Manen. After 1979, he continued his studies with Louis Saguer. In 1980, Bacri entered the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

where he studied with Claude Ballif,

Marius Constant Marius Constant (7 February 192515 May 2004) was a Romanian-born French composer and conductor. Although known in the classical world primarily for his ballet scores, his most widely known music was the iconic guitar theme for ''The Twilight Zon ...

, Serge Nigg, and Michel Philippot. After graduating in 1983 with the ''premier prix'' in composition, he attended 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 ...

. Back in Paris, he worked for four years (1987–91) as the Director of Chamber Music for

Radio France Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist media, generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed wi ...

. Bacri has received commissions in major musical fields: opera, symphony, concertante, vocal, choral and chamber music. In February 2020

Riccardo Muti Riccardo Muti (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He is current music director of the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the ...

conducted the world premiere of his ''Concertante Elegy for Bass Clarinet and Orchestra op. 150 "Ophelia's Tears,"'' with soloist J. Lawrie Bloom, a piece commissioned by the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891, the ensemble has been based in the Symphony Center since 1904 and plays a summer season at the Ravinia F ...

. Reviewing this performance, Howard Reich of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' wrote: "The openly emotional writing for the bass clarinet (...) surely defied musical fashions of our noisy age." In his book ''The Classical Revolution: Thoughts on New Music in the 21st Century'', John Borstlap hailed Bacri as "the most important French composer since Messiaen and Dutilleux...". Bacri has been Professor of Composition at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional (CRR) de Paris (October 2017-October 2023) and at the Schola Cantorum (Paris) (October 2018-October 2023). Bacri's Symphony No. 6, Op. 60, was a finalist in the 2003 Masterprize international composing competition. Bacri made his debut as conductor with the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

conducting the

world premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the film ...

of his

opus Opus (: opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera ...

130 titled ''A Day (Four Images for Orchestra)'' at L'Opéra of the Palace of Versailles in Paris on 8 September 2013. The 29 minutes long symphonic suite was written on commission for the son of South Korean businessman

Yoo Byung-eun Yoo Byung-eun (; 11 February 1941 – 12 June 2014), also known by the art name Ahae, was a South Korean clergy, clergyman, businessman and photographer. Yoo became the focus of Park Geun-hye's administration shortly after the Sinking of MV Se ...

. It has been recorded at the

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

for a planned future release.

Recordings

* Nicolas Bacri: Une Prière WDR Sinfonie Orchester Köln, Semyon Bychkov (conductor), Laurent Korcia (violin).

RCA Red Seal RCA Red Seal is a classical music label whose origin dates to 1902 and is currently owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment. History The first "Gramophone Record Red Seal" discs were issued in 1901.BIS Records BIS Records is a record label founded in 1973 by Robert von Bahr. It is located in Åkersberga, Sweden. BIS focuses on classical music, both contemporary and early, especially works that are not already well represented by existing recording ...

CD-1579, released 2009. * Nicolas Bacri – Piano Music (Reyes) – Piano Sonata No. 2 / Diletto classico / Prelude et Fugue / L'Enfance de l'art. Eliane Reyes (pianist).

Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records, which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about ...

8.572530, released 2011 * Zodiac Trio – Nicolas Bacri, "A Smiling Suite" (2007). Kliment Krylovskiy (clarinet), Vanessa Mollard (violin), Riko Higuma (piano). Recorded for the Blue Griffin Recording (BG 257) and released in 2012 * Nicolas Bacri – "LES QUATRE SAISONS" François Leleux (oboe), Valeryi Sokolov (violin), Adrien La Marca (viola), Sebastien Van Kuijk (cello), Orchestre Victor Hugo-Franche-Comté/Jean-François Verdier. Recorded for Klarthe and released in 2016 : http://www.klarthe.com/index.php/fr/enregistrements/les-quatre-saisons-detail * Mysteries - Sabine Weyer – Nicolas Bacri, Piano Sonate No. 2 op. 105, Piano Sonata No. 3 op. 122 "Impetuosa", Fantasy op. 134, recorded for ARS Produktion, and released in 2021 * Brahms aujourd'hui - Agnès Pyka/Laurent Wagschal – Nicolas Bacri, Sonata No. 4 "in Anlehnung an Brahms" op. 148, for violin and piano, recorded for Klarthe

References

External links

Official website

Nicolas Bacri at Virtual International Philharmonic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bacri, Nicolas 1961 births Conservatoire de Paris alumni French classical composers French male classical composers Living people Composers from Paris