Philippe Hurel

Biography

Philippe Hurel, after studying at the Conservatory and University of Toulouse (violin, analysis, writing and musicology) and then at the Paris Conservatoire (composition and analyse in classes run by Ivo Malec and Betsy Jolas), was involved in the “Musical Research” at IRCAM in 1985/86 to 1988/89. He was a resident at Villa Medicis in Rome from 1986 to 1988.
In 1995 he was awarded the Siemens-Stiftung-Preis in Munich for his “Six Miniatures in Trompe-l’oeil”. He taught at IRCAM, on the Computerised Music Course, from 1997 to 2001. He was a resident at the Arsenal de Metz and the Lorraine Philharmonic Society from 2000 to 2002. He was awarded the Sacem Prize for best composer in 2002 and the Sacem Prize for the best creation of the year in 2003 for “Aura”.
Since 1991, he has been the Artistic Director of the Ensemble Court-Circuit under the musical directorship of Pierre-André Valade. His works, published by Gérard Billaudot and Henry Lemoine, have been interpreted by numerous ensembles and orchestras under such conductors as Pierre Boulez, David Robertson, Jonathan Nott, Esa Pekka Salonen, Reinbert de Leeuw, Bernard Kontarsky, Stefan Asbury, Kent Nagano, Peter Eötvös, Markus Stenz, Ed Spanjaard and Pierre-André Valade, with whom he works regularly.
In 2005-06 he was the guest of numerous ensembles and festivals such as Argento Ensemble and Da Capo Chamber Players (New York), San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Yellow Barn Music Festival, Ensemble Remix (Porto), Musica Viva (Lisbon), SMCQ (Montreal), the Inter-Contemporary Ensemble, the Contemporary Orchestral Ensemble of Lyon, Tm+, the Why Note festival, and 38e Rugissants.
In addition, he was a guest of the Orchestre National de Bordeaux, which interpreted "Phonus" for flute and orchestra and "Flashback" for full orchestra. Also, Pierre Boulez conducted “Figures Libres" at the Aix en Provence festival in July 2006.

Like ten or so other composers, Philippe Hurel has written for the CENTQUATRE a piece lasting precisely 104 seconds, a commission involving a fascinating combination of figures and constraints. These compositions will be accessible on line to enable you to discover different and distant universes in the field of contemporary music, all too often reserved for initiates only. They will then be performed in the CENTQUATRE after it opens.

Lieu-dit