Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain & Bruno Mantovani
Biography Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain & Bruno Mantovani
Bruno Mantovani
was born on October 8, 1974. After receiving five first prizes from the Paris Conservatory (analysis, aesthetics, orchestration, composition, music history) and attending the computer music Cursus at Ircam, he began an international career. His works have been performed at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Philharmonie in Cologne, the KKL in Lucerne, La Scala in Milan, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Centre in New York, the Cité de la musique and the Salle Pleyel in Paris. Faithful to his preferred performers, he collaborates with prestigious soloists (Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Alain Billard, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Antoine Tamestit, Tabea Zimmermann), conductors (Pierre Boulez, Sir Andrew Davis, Peter Eötvös, Laurence Equilbey, Gunter Herbig, Emmanuel Krivine, Susanna Mälkki, Jonathan Nott, Pascal Rophé François-Xavier Roth), ensembles (Accentus, Intercontemporain, TM+) and orchestras (Bamberg Symphony, BBC Cardiff, Chicago Symphony, WDR Cologne, La Chambre Philharmonique, Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, Liège Philharmonic, BBC London, Lucerne Academy, Orchestre de Paris, Paris Opera Orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra of Radio France, Sarrebrücken Radio Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, NHK Tokyo, RAI Turin, Sinfonia Varsovia, RSO Vienna).
He is the headmaster of the Paris Conservatory since September 2010.
He has received distinctions from international competitions (Stuttgart in 1999, Unesco Composer Tribune in 2001), the Hervé Dugardin and Georges Enesco prizes as well as the "Grand Prix" from the Sacem in 2000, 2005 and 2009, the André Caplet and Institute Prizes in 2005, the new talent prize from the SACD in 2007, the Belmont prize from the Forberg-Schneider Foundation that same year, a "Victoire de la Musique" for composer of the year in 2009, the Claudio Abbado prize from the Berlin Philharmonic and the international music press prize in 2010, as well as numerous awards for his recordings (including several "coups de Coeur" from the Charles Cros Academy, a "Choc de l'année" from the Monde de la musique, and chosen as one of the best recordings of 2008 from the New York Times). He became "Chevalier des Arts et Lettres" in January 2010. He was in residency at the Herrenhaus at Edenkoben in 1999, at the October in Normandy festival in 2001, at Bologna as part of the "Villa Médicis hors les murs" program sponsored by AFAA in 2002, at the French Academy of Rome (Villa Médicis) in 2004 and 2005, at the Besançon festival between 2006 and 2008, and with the National Orchestra of Lille between 2008 and 2011. The Musica festival, where he has been special guest artist since 2001, dedicated a portrait to him in 2006.
Starting in 2010 he began an extended collaboration with the Paris Opera (the ballet Siddharta, and an opera based on the life of Russian poet Anna Akhmatova in 2011, a violin concerto for Renaud Capuçon and Philippe Jordan in 2012, a trio in 2014).
Inspired by the relationships linking music with other forms of artistic expression, he has collaborated with novelists Hubert Nyssen and Eric Reinhardt, librettists Christophe Ghristi and François Regnault, chef Ferran Adrià, choreographers Jean-Christophe Maillot and Angelin Preljocaj, and film maker Pierre Coulibeuf. His work is often a reflection on the history of Western music (Bach, Gesualdo, Rameau, Schubert, Schumann) or popular forms (jazz, Eastern music).
Bruno Mantovani is also a conductor, and regularly conducts contemporary music ensembles (Accentus, Alternance, Cepheus, Intercontemporain, Sospeso, TM+) as well as the National Orchestra of Lille or Lyon, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse and Orchestre de Paris.
Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain
Founded in 1989 by conductor Daniel Kawka, the Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain was one of the first independent French ensembles dedicated to contemporary music. Over the years, the EOC’s creative output and tours in France and abroad have helped it forge a unique place in the musical landscape.
The Ensemble is renowned for being a key interpreter of 20th and 21st century music and an important player in musical creation. Composers of all generations have placed their trust in us. Today, the EOC counts more than 700 works in its repertoire, including 300 premieres.
The EOC is an instrumental ensemble home to around 15 musicians, who may also play a solo role. Bruno Mantovani is at the helm of the ensemble, as artistic director and principal conductor. The EOC stages concerts of large- and medium-sized formations, championing pure instrumental concerts, as well as a mix of instrumental and electroacoustic sounds paired with other artistic expressions (dance, opera, literature and visual arts).
With a repertoire spanning more than one hundred years of music, the internationally renowned ensemble has helped make a name for its hometown region, the Loire, playing in some of the most acclaimed cultural and arts venues in France and abroad.
The EOC is committed to engaging, involving and developing a wider musical community in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Along with its local partners, the EOC encourages learning, discovery and creativity, for audiences of all ages and from all backgrounds. It reaches deep into the regional landscape, fully contributing to enhancing the local arts and cultural scene.
