Welcoming French composer Raphaël Cendo to June in Buffalo 2013!

Following up on our last post on Ensemble Linea and the French constituency at June in Buffalo 2013, we thought we’d introduce French composer Raphaël Cendo, who will be on the June in Buffalo 2013 composition faculty. Cendo was born in Paris in 1975 and was educated at IRCAM, where he specialized in composition and electronics. Cendo has been teaching composition at the Conservatory of Nanterre since 2008.

Raphaël Cendo

Raphaël Cendo has had a very illustrious education and career, and has studied with many great composers, including Allain Gaussin, Brian Ferneyhough, Fausto Romitelli, and Philippe Manoury, and has had works commissioned and performed by L’Itinéraire, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Nouvel Ensemble Modern, Ictus, and MusikFabrik, among many other ensembles.

Alex Ross featured an interesting post on Raphaël Cendo and his percussion piece Scratch Data, performed by Belgian percussionist Tom De Cock, which can be found here.

Cendo's music has enjoyed tremendously popularity, as well as many performances at a diverse array of festivals, including Ars Musica Brussels, Donaueschinger Musiktage, Voix Nouvelles Royaumont, Présences, and Musica Strasbourg. From 2009 until 2011 he lived and worked at the Villa Medici in Rome.

Below is the audio from Cendo’s remarkable Charge, for seven instruments and electronics:

Link to this post here.

Ensemble Linea at June in Buffalo 2013!

We’re looking forward to having Ensemble Linea for June in Buffalo 2013 – they were a big hit here in 2011 and we’re happy to have them back for round 2. Adding to the French constituency will be composer Raphaël Cendo, who will be accompanying them from France as part of this year’s JiB Composition Faculty. While they’re here they’ll be interpreting works from June in Buffalo composition students, as well as JiB 2013 Faculty Composer Brian Ferneyhough’s flute piece Mnémosyne, and a fresh concert of contemporary music pieces from France.

Ensemble Linea

A little more on their approach and background from their mission statement:

“Founded in Strasbourg by pianist and conductor Jean-Philippe Wurtz in 1998, Ensemble Linea has, since its beginnings, been committed to promoting a democratization of contemporary music, giving priority to the encounter with the audience, to openness towards other artistic disciplines, and to an active booking strategy.

“Beyond any schools and trends, the artistic project of Linea covers quite diverse aesthetic perspectives, from musical theater to electronic music, from Western music to the rich Asian repertoires. Based in Alsace (eastern France, bordering on Germany and

Ensemble Linea

Switzerland), at the crossroads of many different cultures, Linea naturally approaches the repertoires in their multicultural dimension. Linea advocates an engaged music anchored in modernity: it favors works that question the mutations and complexities of our era.”

Coincidentally, another connection currently exists between Ensemble Linea and the University at Buffalo Music Department, as Daniel Bassin, the current conductor and music director of the University at Buffalo Symphony Orchestra, is now studying at the Abbaye de Royaumont Conductor Master Class, where he is rehearsing with Ensemble Linea the works of Iannis Xenakis, György Ligeti, Hanna Eimermacher, and others, under the tutelage of Péter Eötvös.

Below is a video of Ensemble Linea’s beautiful performance of Gerard Grisey’s Talea from June in Buffalo 2011:

Link to this post here.