Helmut Lachenmann Guest composer

Wilhelm Bruck Guitar
Massimiliano Damerini Piano
Walter Grimmer Cello
Sylvio Gualda Composition workshop
Frank Hilberg Lectures
Martin Kaltenecker Lectures
David Smeyers Clarinet

Helmut Lachenmann (born in Stuttgart en 1935) followed a classical course of studies for musicians of his generation: academic studies in his town of birth, then, necessarily, the Darmstadt summer courses, learning electronic techniques at the University in Ghent, as well as periods of work in Venice under Luigi Nono and in Cologne under Karlheinz Stockhausen.
As a composer, Helmut Lachenmann is interested in the orchestra (with different groups of instruments) as well as in chamber music. His work has earned him many international prizes, particularly the Ernst-von-Siemens Foundation prize in 1997.
He started teaching when he was 30, both in Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg before organizing many seminars from Basle to Toronto, from Buenos Aires to Saint Petersburg.
Helmut Lachenmann said: "I feel that the real starting points in art, when the barriers break down and revolution breaks out, arise on the basis of inner need (...) I am a musician and not a prophet, but I always try to see clearly". He also stated, as Schönberg did, that "the ultimate aim of the artist is to express himself".

Wilhelm Bruck was born in Luneburg and studied music in Cologne before starting to teach. From 1980 to 1990, he taught guitar at the Musikhochschule in Karlsruhe. He also taught new music and musical theatre in a number of schools.
For more than thirty years he has played in a guitar duet with Theodor Ross and they have performed in a large number of countries. Many important new works have been written for them which are significant in the field of the relationship between gesture and sound.

Massimiliano Damerini studied piano and composition in Genoa, his home town, with Alfredo They and Martha Del Vecchio. He is now engaged in an international career and in 1992, the association of Italian critics gave him the "Abbiati" prize of "Best soloist of the year".
He works regularly with Helmut Lachenmann and many other composers have dedicated works to him: Claudio Ambrosini, Franco Donatoni, Salvatorre Sciarrino, Brian Ferneyhough, etc.
In 1990, in New-York, Elliott Carter said that "listening to Damerini in a concert was an unforgettable experience".

Walter Grimmer studied at the Zurich conservatory, and was awarded the diploma of the Swiss Confederation for teaching and virtuosity. He is one of the founders of the Bern Quartet. He has devoted a large part of his activity to contemporary music, and has given the first performance of works by Brian Ferneyhough, Helmut Lachenmann, Heinz Holliger, Klaus Huber, Isang Yun and Pascal Dusapin among others.Walter Grimmer taught at the Bern Conservatory from 1966 to 1987, and now teaches at the Musikhochschule in Zurich. He edited (in Germain and in French) Maurice Gendron's artistic testament, "L'Art du Violoncelle" (published by Schott Ed.).

Sylvio Gualda is one of the most active musicians in the field of musical creation, and has worked on broadening the possibilities of percussion instruments. In 1968 he became first solo timpanist of the Orchestra of the Paris Opera. Many composers were interested in his work and wrote for him, particularly Iannis Xenakis. He is the creator and conductor of the percussion ensemble Les Pléiades.
Along with his activities as percussionist and teacher, he is also a conductor, and at the Centre Acanthes, he conducted the first world performance of Nguyen-Thien Dao," Les Enfants d'Izieu".

Frank Hilberg received degrees in musicology and philosophy at the “Technische Universität” of Berlin. As a journalist, he worked for several daily newspapers and broadcasting companies, specializing in contemporary music. In 1996 he published a book on the concept of amplified keyboards in David Tudor’s music, and his interpretation of John Cage's "Variations II".
He is program producer at the Cologne radio and writes for "Der Zeit" and "Fono Forum".

Martin Kaltenecker studied humanities and received a degree of doctor in musicology at the University Paris IV. He produces programs regularly for France Musique since 1982 and has done a number of translations of literature like "Marbot" by Wolfgang Hildesheimer (Lattès), and of books on music from Italian, such as "Entretiens avec Luciano Berio" (Lattès) and from German: "Correspondance Mahler-Strauss" (Coutaz) as well as "L'idée de la musique absolue" by Carl Dahlhaus (Contrechamps).
He has contributed to the foundation of the contemporary music review "Entretemps" and collaborates to the reviews "Recueil" and "MusikTexte".

David Smeyers was born in Detroit (U.S.A.) and studied music at the Juilliard School in New-York, then in France as a Fulbright scholar. He has won international competitions (Toulon in 1979, Paris in 1983) and has played with the Paris ensemble "Kaleïdocollage". In 1980, he organised a clarinet duet with Beate Zelinsky. He has been a member of the "Quartett Avance" since 1986.David Smeyers teaches the 20th Century repertoire at the Musikhochschule in Cologne. He recently published a collection of contemporary etudes for clarinet with Beate Zelinsky (Breitkopf & Härtel).

Acanthes 1999 - teaching team 1999 - concerts 1999 - accueil Acanthes - welcome