Thomas Demenga (born 12 June 1954) is a Swiss composer and cellist.

Life and career

Born in Bern, Demenga studied with Walter Grimmer, Antonio Janigro,

Leonard Rose Leonard Joseph Rose (July 27, 1918 – November 16, 1984) was an American cellist and pedagogue. Biography Rose was born in Washington, D.C.; his parents were Jewish immigrants, his father from Bragin, Belarus, and his mother from Kyiv, ...

and

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian cellist and conductor. He is considered by many to be the greatest cellist of the 20th century. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well ...

and at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most ...

in New York, among others. He gives concerts as a

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small num ...

ian and soloist at all important festivals and music centres of the world. Since 1980, Demenga has been leading a training and soloist class at the Hochschule für Musik. From August 2001, Demenga was

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

of the Davos Festival ''young artists in concert'', which he directed for the last time in 2006. At the Summer 2003

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 curre ...

, Demenga performed as ''artiste étoile''. An extensive series of CD recordings, published by

ECM ECM may refer to: Economics and commerce * Engineering change management * Equity capital markets * Error correction model, an econometric model * European Common Market Mathematics * Elliptic curve method * European Congress of Mathematics ...

, documents his artistic work. In 2002, the last CD of his recording of Bach's solo suites in combination with works by contemporary composers such as

Heinz Holliger Heinz Robert Holliger (born 21 May 1939) is a Swiss virtuoso oboist, composer and conductor. Celebrated for his versatility and technique, Holliger is among the most prominent oboists of his generation. His repertoire includes Baroque and Classi ...

Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernism (music), modernist composer. One of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century, he combined elements of European modernism a ...

Sándor Veress Sándor Veress (, – ) was a Swiss composer of Hungarian origin. He was born in Kolozsvár/Klausenburg, Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire, nowadays called Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and died in Bern. The first half of ...

Bernd Alois Zimmermann Bernd Alois Zimmermann (20 March 1918 – 10 August 1970) was a German composer. He is perhaps best known for his opera '' Die Soldaten'', which is regarded as one of the most important German operas of the 20th century, after those of Berg. As ...

Isang Yun Isang Yun, also spelled Yun I-sang (17 September 1917 – 3 November 1995), was a Korean-born composer who made his later career in West Germany. Early life and education Yun was born in Sancheong (Sansei), Chōsen (today part of independ ...

and

Toshio Hosokawa is a Japanese composer of contemporary classical music. He studied in Germany but returned to Japan, finding a personal style inspired by classical Japanese music and culture. He has composed operas, the oratorio ''Voiceless Voice in Hiroshima'' ...

was released. Several of his recordings have been awarded the Vierteljahrespreis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. He performs in concerts with fellow musicians such as Heinz Holliger,

Gidon Kremer Gidon Kremer ( lv, Gidons Krēmers; born 27 February 1947) is a Latvian classical violinist, artistic director, and founder of Kremerata Baltica. Life and career Gidon Kremer was born in Riga. His father was Jewish and had survived the Holo ...

Thomas Larcher Thomas Larcher (born 16 September 1963, in Innsbruck) is an Austrian composer and pianist. Biography and Work Thomas Larcher completed his studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna under Heinz Medjimorec and Elisabeth Leon ...

, Paul Meyer, Aurèle Nicolet, Hansheinz Schneeberger,

Thomas Zehetmair Thomas Zehetmair (born 23 November 1961) is an Austrian violinist and conductor. Biography Zehetmair was born in Salzburg, and studied at the Salzburg Mozarteum, where both of his parents taught. His festival debut was at age 16. He was in mast ...

and Tabea Zimmermann. Demenga has worked with conductors like

Moshe Atzmon Moshe Atzmon ( he, משה עצמון, born 30 July 1931) is an Israeli conductor. He was born Móse Grószberger in Budapest, and at the age of thirteen he emigrated with his family to Tel Aviv, Israel. He started his musical career on the horn ...

, Myung-Whun Chung,

Charles Dutoit Charles Édouard Dutoit (born 7 October 1936) is a Swiss conductor. He is currently the principal guest conductor for the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia and co-director of thMISA Festival in Shanghai In 2017, he became the 103rd recipient of thR ...

Claus Peter Flor Claus Peter Flor (born 16 March 1953, Leipzig) is a German conductor. Flor studied violin and clarinet at the Robert Schumann Conservatory in Zwickau. He continued his music studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Weimar and the HMT Felix ...

Howard Griffiths Howard Griffiths may refer to: *Howard Griffiths (conductor) (born 1950), British conductor *Howard Griffiths (scientist), British plant scientist *Howard Griffiths (presenter), British television presenter *Howard Griffiths (screenwriter) (1935– ...

, Heinz Holliger,

Armin Jordan Armin Jordan (9 April 1932 – 20 September 2006) was a Swiss conductor known for his interpretations of French music, Mozart and Wagner. Armin Jordan was born in Lucerne, Switzerland. "Mr. Jordan was a large man, with a slab of a face and a ful ...

Okko Kamu Okko Tapani Kamu (born 7 March 1946, Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish orchestral conductor and violinist. Kamu was born into a family of musicians. His father played double bass in the Helsinki Philharmonic. He began violin studies at age two a ...

, Rostropovich,

Dennis Russell Davies Dennis Russell Davies (born April 16, 1944 in Toledo, Ohio) is an American conductor and pianist, He is currently the music director and chief conductor of the Brno Philharmonic. Biography Davies studied piano and conducting at the Juilliard Sc ...

Wolfgang Sawallisch Wolfgang Sawallisch (26 August 1923 – 22 February 2013) was a German conductor and pianist. Biography Wolfgang Sawallisch was born in Munich, the son of Maria and Wilhelm Sawallisch. His father was director of the Hamburg-Bremer-Feuerversich ...

Sándor Végh Sándor Végh (17 May 19126 January 1997) was a Hungarian, later French, violinist and conductor. He was best known as one of the great chamber music violinists of the twentieth century. Education Sándor Végh was born in 1912 in Kolozsvár, ...

Mario Venzago Mario Venzago (born 1948) is a Swiss conductor. Biography Venzago began piano studies at age five. He studied at the conservatory and the university in Zurich. He later studied conducting with Hans Swarowsky in Vienna. His other positions ha ...

and

Hiroshi Wakasugi was a Japanese orchestra conductor. He premiered many of the major Western operas in Japan, and was honoured with many awards for cultural achievement. He was best known for conducting works by German composers such as Richard Wagner, Anton Br ...

. He devotes himself especially to

Neue Musik Neue Musik (English ''new music'', French ''nouvelle musique'') is the collective term for a wealth of different currents in composed Western art music from around 1910 to the present. Its focus is on compositions of 20th century music. It is char ...

and also deals with improvisation. Thus his own musical language as a composer and interpreter of 20th and 21st century works (including many world premieres) forms a new and complementary dimension to the historical performance practice of Baroque music and his interpretations of the classical and romantic repertoire. He also represents these interests as

, since 2011, of the chamber orchestra . In 1991, Demenga was the first Swiss composer to be awarded first prize at the

International Rostrum of Composers The International Rostrum of Composers (IRC) is an annual forum organized by the International Music Council that offers broadcasting representatives the opportunity to exchange and publicize pieces of contemporary classical music. It is funded by ...

in Paris for his work "solo per due" for two violoncellos.Thomas Demenga
on Tarisio

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Demenga, Thomas Swiss cellists Swiss composers Juilliard School alumni 1954 births Living people People from Bern