Beat Furrer
Composition Jury Chair 2022
Biography
Beat Furrer was born in Schaffhausen (Switzerland) in 1954 and received his first musical training on piano at the Music School there. After moving to Vienna in 1975, he studied conducting with Otmar Suitner and composition with Roman Haubenstock Ramati at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst. In 1985 he founded the Klangforum Wien, which he directed until 1992, and with which he is still associated as conductor.
Commissioned by the Vienna State Opera, he composed his first opera Die Blinden. His second opera Narcissus was premiered in 1994 as part of the Festival “steirischer herbst” at the Graz Opera. In 1996 he was composer-in-residence at the Lucerne Festival. His music theatre work Begehren was premiered in Graz in 2001, the opera invocation in Zürich in 2003 and the sound theatre piece FAMA in Donaueschingen in 2005.
In autumn 1991 Furrer became a full professor of composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Graz. He has been guest professor in composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt 2006–2009. Together with violinist Ernst Kovacic he founded "impuls", a International Ensemble and Composers Academy for Contemporary Music.
In 2004 he was awarded the Music Prize of the City of Vienna, and in 2005 became a member of the Academy of Arts in Berlin. He was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale in 2006 for his work FAMA. In 2010 his music theatre Wüstenbuch was premiered in Basel. In 2014 he was awarded with Great Austrian State Prize. In 2018 he received the Ernst-von-Siemens music prize in recognition of his lifetime's compositional outoput.
His latest opera La Bianca Notte based on texts by Dino Campana, was premiered in Hamburg in spring 2015. In January 2019 his new opera Violetter Schnee (Violet Snow) with a libretto by Händl Klaus based on a libretto by Vladimir Sorokin premiered at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin. Since the 1980s Beat Furrer has composed a wide range of works, from solo and ensemble music to orchestral and choral works and opera. He is well know for his nuanced exploration of the human voice and its relationship to instrumental sound.
Events
76e CONCOURS DE GENÈVE - COMPOSITION FINAL ROUND
WEDNESDAY 26 OCT. 2022, 19:00, Conservatoire (Salle Franz Liszt)
The Competition is open to composers of all nationalities born after June 1st, 1982 (40 years old). The subject of the 2022 edition is a 15–20-minute work for vocal ensemble, composed for six singers: bass, barytone, tenor, mezzosoprano, soprano, high soprano (mezzo-soprano can be replaced by a counter-tenor). The use of electronics was allowed following certain specificities.
This year, 97 composers aged 18-39 years old, from 37 countries applied for the competition. The official jury, chaired by Beat Furrer, met in Geneva to study their scores; they selected three finalists to participate in the Final:
- Ármin Cservenák (26 years old, Hungary) for his work “Madrigali”
- Shin Kim (27 years old, Korea) for his work “The Song of Oneiroi”
- Yuki Nakahashi (26 years old, Japan) for his work “Settings”
The finalists are invited to Geneva from 20-26 October to rehearse and prepare for the Final. Their works will be performed as world premiere by the Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart during the public Final Round on 26 October at the Conservatoire in Geneva.
COMPOSITION COMPETITION 2022
APPLICATION DEADLINE: 15 JUNE
CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION
- The 76th Concours de Genève Composition Competition will be held in October 2022. Its objective is to distinguish new works, composed at the earliest after June 2019.
- The Competition is open to composers of all nationalities born after June 1st, 1982 (40 years old). Composers who have already won the Queen Marie Jose International Music Composition Prize or the Concours de Genève Composition Competition are not eligible to take part.
CALENDAR
- 10 June: Deadline for completing the application form
- 20-22 June: Jury meeting, screening of the scores, choosing the finalists
- 23 June: Announce of the finalists selected
- 20-26 October: Stay in Geneva, rehearsals and concert
- 26 October: Final concert with the Neue VocalSolisten Stuttgart
WORK
The subject of the Composition Prize 2022 is a Work for vocal Ensemble, composed after following specifities:
- The work must last between 15 and 20 minutes.
- The work must be written for vocal ensemble of 6 voices.
- The ensemble set must imperatively be the following: 1 bass, 1 barytone, 1 tenor, 1 mezzo, 1 soprano, 1 high soprano (mezzo-soprano can be replaced by a counter-tenor)
- The work may (not mandatory) use electronic device. (see specifications in Annex below)
- The musical score may be hand-written or in digital form, but must be perfectly legible.
PRESENTATION
In order to better know the candidate’s personality and artistic background, we ask them to join to the submitted work the following items:
- A program note presenting their work (to be published if selected for the final concert), in English, French or German.
- A text or a video presenting their work in general and their artistic project for the future. This can be done in any of these following international languages: French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese or Arabic.
- A list of existing works, from which two works are chosen (max. 10 min.) for solo instrument or chamber music, to be performed in a concert organized by the Concours de Genève.