About
Philippe Schoeller is a French composer born April 13, 1957.
From an early age, he followed a solid traditional musical training: piano with Jean-Claude Henriot, harmony and counterpoint with Béatrice Berstel, analysis with Robert Piencikowski, initiation into conducting at the École normale de musique de Paris with Gérard Dervaux, choral singing in the Bach choir of Justus von Websky.
Although, from 1982 to 1986, he followed the courses of Pierre Boulez at the Collège de France as well as the master-classes of Franco Donatoni at the National Conservatory of Music in Paris, but also the free courses of Iannis Xenakis at the School After graduating, still in Paris, the composer defines himself in a number of interviews as having learned by himself, by composing since his early childhood, the principles of construction and inventions specific to musical composition. “The writing of inner movement, music, is learned by writing, playing, sharing music with musicians. "
Philippe Schoeller in studio
However, his most significant encounters are those with Helmut Lachenmann at a conference in 1985 in Paris, with Henri Dutilleux in Tours in 1990 and with Elliott Carter in 1983.
Sketch for orchestra, graphic micro-orchestration system
Philippe Schoeller also enriched his training as a musician with a license in musicology and a master's degree in philosophy, option Philosophy of art, at the University of Paris-Sorbonne.
Laureate of the international composition competitions Antidogma (Turin, 1984) and Henri-Dutilleux (Tours, 1990), Philippe Schoeller was the first composer to win the Natexis Foundation (1993-1997). He was elected “composer in residence” during 2001 with the Beethovenhalle Philharmonic Orchestra in Bonn and the same year unanimously received the Paul-Gilson Grand Prize, awarded by Canadian and Swiss radio stations, French and Belgian, for his work Totems, for large orchestra. In January 2003, he was selected, among more than 900 scores, to participate with nine other composers in the semi-final of the Masterprize, in London, with this work.
He has given numerous lectures (Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne, Angers School of Fine Arts, Versailles National School of Landscape, Massy-Palaiseau Central School) led masterclasses at the National Conservatory of Copenhagen and at the Hanover Hochschule in 2004. He also taught analysis and composition at the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Lyon.
After having followed the computer music internship at IRCAM, he carried out important work on "sound synthesis", then organized various master classes for young composers in residence or in the course of 2005. The objective of its work was to develop, with the tools available to this institute, a new violin making in accordance with the times but also - and above all - in harmony and continuity with the traditional violin making, the artisanal part of the orchestra; thus this “digital violin making” tries to meet the same perfection and requirement to which traditional instruments have been responding for centuries.
Oratorio for mixed choir, spatialized electronic materials and orchestra.
He was invited as composer in residence with the Orchester national de Montpellier from 2008 to 2010.
Songs for Esstal, on manuscripts of the author's poems.
Two discographic publications (Voix interiors by the ensemble Alternance and The Eyes of The Wind, Concerto for cello and large orchestra by Jean-Guihen Queyras and the Orchester philharmonique de Radio France, conducted by Alexander Briger) were honored with the “Coup de cœur”. »From the Charles-Cros Academy.
In 2009, Philippe Schoeller received the Sacem “Spring Prize” for his third string quartet Tree to Soul for the best instrumental composition of the year.
He is the author of more than 70 works which are played in Europe, Russia, New York, San Francisco, Japan and are published by Schott Music Verlag International, Durand Salabert Universal France since 2008, Éditions Musicales ARTCHIPEL (Paris).