THIERRY ESCAICH
Biography
The internationally acclaimed composer, organist and improviser Thierry
Escaich plays a prominent role in the contemporary music creation. Considering the three facets of his art as
bound together, he uses them to reflect his prolific inner world.
Born in 1965, Thierry Escaich received enthusiastic recognition in 1990
for his early compositions, such as the saxophone concerto Le Chant des ténèbres (The Song of Darkness), and Ad
ultimas laudes for
mixed choir. In both 2003 and 2006 he
was the recipient of the Victoires de la Musique Composer of the Year award. Today, his work includes a hundred pieces known
for their rejection of sterile experimentation, their hedonistic echo and their
rhythmical fever. His music is
internationally acknowledged by soloists such as Claire-Marie Le Guay, Bertrand Chamayou, Éric Le Sage, Emmanuel Pahud,
Olivier Latry, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon,
as well as the Wanderer and Dali Trios, the Ysaÿe,
Ludwig and Voce Quartets, the Sequenza 9.3 and A Sei Voci vocal ensembles, and
Radio France’s choir. His works have
been performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra,
the Berlin Konzerthaus, and the Orchestre
Philharmonique de Radio France.
Composing largely for his instrument (solo pieces, chamber music, two
concertos, La Barque Solaire
for organ and orchestra), Thierry Escaich is also open to all genres and
forms, always investigating new universes of sound. His style ranges from the intimacy of Choral’s
Dream (2003) for piano and organ and Scènes
de bal for string quartet to vast frescos such as the Chaconne (2000)
and Vertiges de la croix
(2004) for orchestra, Les Nuits hallucinées (The Hallucinated Nights) for
mezzo-soprano and orchestra (2008), and Le Dernier Évangile
(The Last Gospel), an oratorio for double choir, organ and orchestra
(1999). He has just completed a violin
concerto dedicated to David Grimal, and is currently
writing a concerto for clarinet for Paul Meyer and a ballet for The New York
City Ballet.
Thierry Escaich has held the position of Professor of Composition and Improvisation
at the Paris Conservatoire since 1992, where he has been awarded eight First Prizes. Since 1997 he has also been the organist for the
St-Étienne-du-Mont church in Paris, succeeding Maurice
Duruflé. He
tours internationally as a concert organist, acclaimed everywhere for combining
classic repertoire with his own compositions and improvisations. Recently he has appeared in Tokyo, New York,
Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Toronto, Berlin, Amsterdam, Birmingham, Budapest,
Seville, and numerous French and international music festivals. His 2009/2010 season concerts will include Helsinki,
Munich, Hamburg, Bale, London, New York and Vancouver.
A former Composer in Residence with the Orchestre
National de Lille and the Orchestre de Bretagne,
Thierry Escaich has been with the Orchestre
National de Lyon since 2007. His passion
for cinema has led him to improvise on the piano and the organ, and to compose accompaniments
for silent films such as Frank Borzage’s L’Heure suprême,
commissioned by the Louvre in 1999.
His numerous recordings speak for themselves and have received numerous
awards. He has recently distinguished
himself as an organist with Organ Spectacular (concert improvisations,
2008, Universal) and Tanz-Fantasie, organ and trumpet with Éric Aubier (2009, Indésens), and as a
composer with recordings of Lettres mêlées (Trio
Wanderer, 2009, Universal), Miroir d’ombres (Gautier and Renaud Capuçon, Orchestre national de
Lille, 2007, Universal) and Exultet (Sequenza 9.3, 2006, Universal).
Current as
of March 2010