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Georg Friedrich Haas / Jon Fosse (A, N)


Georg Friedrich Haas was born in Graz in 1953. From 1972 to 1979 he studied composition, among others with Ivan Eröd and Gösta Neuwirth, piano with Doris Wolf, and music education at the University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Graz. In 1981 he went to the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna to take a postgraduate course with Friedrich Cerha. As early as 1978 Haas began teaching at Graz University of Music, since 2003 as associate professor. Since 2005 he has also held a composition class at the University of Music of Basel’s Music Academy.

In his work he has broken new musical ground step by step and with great consistency over the years. Realising that the well-tempered scale did not offer him sufficiently differentiated means of expression, Haas developed and refined sounds whose fascination stems from the use of microtonality, e.g. in the Hölderlin chamber opera “Nacht” (1995/96; premièred at the Bregenzer Festspiele). Floating overtone constellations such as the dialectics of individual voices and collective acoustic output also play a major role. Impressively implemented in “... Einklang freier Wesen ...” (1994/96) and in the formally daring ensemble piece “in vain”, that premièred in Cologne in 2000 and was performed at musikprotokoll during steirischer herbst in 2001. Several of the composer’s pieces are to be played by musicians in total darkness. A tribute to his love of fuzziness. With “Hyperion”, a “concert for light and orchestra”, Haas pulled off an “unforgettable three quarters of an hour” (Die Zeit) in 2006. “Spellbinding music” was the verdict of Süddeutsche Zeitung after the première of the orchestral piece “Bruchstück” in May 2007 (Munich Philharmonic).

Haas has published texts on Luigi Nono, Ivan Wyschnegradsky, Alois Hába and Pierre Boulez and has received prizes and scholarships including the Austrian music scholarship (Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Culture), the Ernst-Krenek prize of Vienna, and the Andrzej-Dobrowolski composition prize from the Styrian Provincial Government. Most recently, Haas was awarded the Grand Austrian State Prize in November 2007.


www.universaledition.com/haas



Jon Fosse was born in the Norwegian coastal town of Haugesund in 1959 and has lived in Bergen since the end of the seventies. Studied comparative literature, lecturer at the Academy of Creative Writing in Hordaland. Freelance writer since the beginning of the nineties. His first novel “Raudt, svart” (“Red, black”) was published in 1983, followed by further novels, poetry collections, essays and children’s books. For his novel “Melancholy” (“Melancholia I & II”), published in German by Kindler Verlag in March 2001, Fosse was awarded the Melsom prize and the Sunnmøre prize in 1996. The novel “Morning and evening” was published by Alexander Fest Verlag in September 2001 (also awarded the Melsom prize). Fosse received the Ibsen prize and the Austrian “Nestroy” theatre prize for best author for his play “The Name” in 2000. He was awarded the Nordic playwright’s prize for “A summer day” in 2000. A survey held by Theater heute voted him best foreign author of 2002. In 2002 he also received the Scandinavian national theatre prize for “Variations of dead”, which he also received for his complete work for stage in 2003. Further prizes include the special prize of the Norwegian Culture Council (2003) and the Norwegian Armanda prize (2003). France made him a Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite (2003), Norway awarded him the Saint Olaf’s Medal for his literary work in 2005 and the Anders Jahre culture prize, one of Norway’s highest distinctions, in 2006. “Sister” received the German youth literature prize in the children’s book category in 2007. He was awarded the Nordic prize of the Swedish Academy the same year. His novella “Sleepless” is due to be published by Rowohlt in October 2008.



Stanislas Nordey (F)


Stanislas Nordey counts among the most important exponents of the younger generation of directors in France. He trained at the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique in Paris, among other places. In 1988 he founded the “Companie Nordey” together with Véronique Nordey. Nordey produced Stravinski’s “Le Rossignol” at Théâtre du Châtelet (musical director: Pierre Boulez), György Ligeti’s “Le Grand Macabre” and Peter Eötvös’s “Tre sestri”, among many others.

In 2002 he produced the première of the opera “Le Balcon” by Peter Eötvös after Jean Genet at the Festival International d’Art lyrique in Aix-en-Provence. He debuted as a director at Staatsoper Hannover with Bellini’s “I Capuleti e i Montecchi”. His production of Olivier Messiaen’s “Le Saint François d’Assise” at Opéra Bastille in Paris in November 2004 met with much acclaim.







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