Joël-François Durand

Joël-François Durand (born 17 September, 1954) is a French composer resident in the United States.

Biography

Born in Orléans, Durand studied mathematics, music education and piano in Paris, then composition with Brian Ferneyhough in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany (1981-84). Between 1979 and 1984 he attended masterclasses by György Ligeti, Luciano Berio and Luigi Nono. In 1982 he was awarded a scholarship from the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service). That same year he received a Darmstadt Institute Scholarship for his String Trio, and in 1983 his piano piece "...d'asiles déchirés..." was awarded a prize at the Third International K.H. Stockhausen Composition Competition in Brescia, Italy. He left Europe in 1984 to pursue a Ph.D. in Composition (awarded in 1988) at the Stony Brook University (USA), where he studied composition with Bülent Arel and electronic music with Daria Semegen.

Durand was awarded scholarships from the Fulbright Foundation (1984) and from the French Ministry of Culture (1985). He received the "Kranichsteiner Musikpreis" from the Darmstadt Internationalen Ferienkurse in 1990. Since 1991 he has been Professor of Composition in the School of Music at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Works

* "String Trio" (1981)
* "Roman" (1982) for violin
* "...d'asiles déchirés..." (1983) for piano
* "So er" (1985) for 20 instruments
**Commission of the European Community Youth Orchestra (London)
* "Trois Mélodies" (1986) for mezzo soprano and 5 instruments; 6 min.
* "Lichtung" (1987) for 10 instruments
**Commissioned by the Ensemble Intercontemporain (Paris)
* "Die innere Grenze" (1988) for string sextet
**Commission of the French Ministry of Culture, Paris, for the "Sextuor Schoenberg"
* "L'exil du feu" (1991) for 16 instruments and electronics
**Commission of the IRCAM (Paris)
* "Un feu distinct" (1991) for flute, clarinet, piano, violin and cello
**Commission of the Ensemble Contrechamps
* "La mesure des choses I. La mesure de l'air" (1992) for Bb clarinet
**Commission of the Festival "Musica," Strasbourg
* "B.F., ein Mittelpunkt" for 8 instruments
* "Piano concerto", 1993
**Commission of Radio France
* "La mesure des choses II. La mesure de la mer" (1993) for piano
* "Le chemin" (1994) for piano
* "Un chant lointain" (1995) for electronic carillon
* "Les raisons des forces mouvantes" (1996) for organ
* "Par le feu receuilli" (1997) for flute
* "Au-delà, Cinq Etudes pour Piccolo" (1997-98) for piccolo
* "Five Musical Tales" (1998) for orchestra
* "She or not" (1998) for barytone
**Commission of the VIII. Internationaler Meisterkurs für Komposition des Brandenburgischen Colloquiums für Neue Musik, Rheinsberg (Germany)
* "La terre et le feu" (1999) for oboe and ensemble
* "La mesure des choses III. La mesure de la terre et du feu" (1999) for oboe and viola
* "Cinq Duos" (1999) for violin and viola
* "Athanor" (2000-2001) for orchestra
**Commission from Radio France, Paris
* "Tiodhlac" (2001) for Bb clarinet
* "In the mirror land" (2003) for flute and oboe; also versions for flute and Bb clarinet and for Bb clarinet and oboe
* "Ombre/Miroir" (2004) for flute and ensemble
**Commission from musikFabrik and the Kunststiftung NRW
* String Quartet (2005)
**Commission of the Beethovenfest 2005 for the Quatuor Diotima

His music is published by DURAND Editions Musicales, Paris, and Editions Musicales Européennes, Paris

Discography

"La terre et le feu" - "Les raisons des forces mouvantes" - "La mesure des choses III. La mesure de la terre et du feu" -"Athanor"BBC Symphony Orchestra - London Sinfonietta - Gareth Hulse (oboe) - Paul Silverthorne (viola) - Hans-Ola Ericsson (organ)Mode 139

Concerto for piano and orchestra - String Trio - "Die innere Grenze"Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Stefan Litwin (piano), Bradley Lubman (conductor) - Trio de l'Ensemble Intercontemporain - Sextuor SchoenbergNaive Montaigne Mo 782093

Bibliography

* Bernard, Jonathan (ed.). 2006. "Joël-François Durand in the Mirror Land". Seattle: University of Washington Press, in association with Perspectives of New Music.

External links

* [http://joelfdurand.com Durand Homepage]
* [http://mac-texier.ircam.fr/textes/c00000696/index.html Durand at the IRCAM Mediathèque]
* [http://www.classical-composers.org/comp/durand_joel Durand at the Classical Composers Database]