Stefano Gervasoni (1962)
(Foto: Paride Galeone) Web-site:
Stefano GervasoniGervasoni was born in Bergamo, Italy. He began studying composition in 1980 at the suggestion of Luigi Nono. In the 1980s he attended the "Giuseppe Verdi" Conservatory in Milan, where he studied with Luca Lombardi, Niccolò Castiglioni and Azio Corghi. After visiting György Ligeti's classes in Hungary in 1990, he completed his education at the IRCAM, in Paris, where he enrolled in the "Cursus de Composition et Informatique Musicale" in 1992. His meeting with Luigi Nono, Brian Ferneyhough, Peter Eötvös and Helmut Lachenmann have been crucial in developing his vocation and talent.
The composer's international career was established during his three-year stay in Paris (1992-95), where he received several commissions from the main cultural French institutions, and was finally appointed as a fellow at the "Académie de France à Rome". A composer in residence at Villa Médicis in Rome for the years 1995-96, Gervasoni had previously been awarded many other important international prizes. These include the second prize at the 1985 G.B. Viotti competition in Vercelli, the third prize at the 1987 G. Petrassi competition in Parma, the first prize at the Premio Lario Musica 1988 (held by Iannis Xenakis) in Como, the second prize at the 1989 G. Petrassi competition in Parma, the second prize at the Kompositionswettbewerb Mozart 1991 in Wien, the first prize at Forum 91 (Université de Montréal) and the first prize at the 11. Internationalen Kompositionswettbewerbs Kompositionsseminars Boswil 1995. In 1989, 1990 and 1991 Gervasoni was selected for the International Gaudeamus Music Week. The following year he was called to participate in the Forum Junger Komponisten (Köln), and in 1994 Klangforum Wien asked him to take part in the Internationales Komponistenseminar. In the summer of 1998 he was invited to give a seminar at Darmstadt Ferienkurse and in 2001 he held the master class in composition at the Royaumont Foundation. Moreover, he has received grants from the "Académie Musicale de Villecroze" (Paris) and SACEM. In 2005 he received a DAAD grant and will be guest of the Berlin Artists-in-Residence programme, Berliner Künstlerprogramm, for 2006. He is professor of Composition at Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Dance de Paris (CNSMDP).
Since 1992, Gervasoni has regularly been commissioned pieces by the Ensemble InterContemporain, the French Government's Ministry of Culture, WDR-Köln, SWF-Baden-Baden, RAI National Orchestra, the festival Archipel (Genève), the Festival d'Automne à Paris, Berliner Biennale, Ars Musica (Bruxelles), the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Ensemble Contrechamps, ProQuartet Foundation, Royaumont Foundation, Radio France, DeutschlandRadio-Berlin, Internationale Stiftung Preis E. Balzan-Fonds, Busoni International Piano Competition Foundation, IRCAM (Paris), Suntory Hall (Tokyo). His works have been performed at the world's leading festivals and musical seasons (Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte di Montepulciano; Musik-Biennale, Berlin; Gaudeamus Music Week, Amsterdam; Festival of Contemporary Music from Italy, New York 1990; Presence, Paris; Woche der zeitgenössischen Musik der Mozart-Städte, Salzburg 1992; Münchener-Biennale; Wien Modern; Festival Musica, Strasbourg; Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; Musik im 20. Jahrhundert, Saarbrücken; Festival d'Automne, Paris; UltraSchall, Berlin; Wittener Tage; Biennale di Venezia; Romaeuropa Festival, Rome; Archipel, Geneva; Milano-Musica; Ars Musica, Brussels; Huddersfield festival; Ultima, Oslo the musical seasons of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, of the Juilliard School in New York, of the Ircam-Ensemble InterContemporain in Paris, of the Purcell Room in London, of the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, of the Tonhalle in Zurich, of the Ensemble Modern in Frankfurt, of the London Sinfonietta, of the Köln Philarmonie). His pieces have been broadcast by National Radios all over the world. A disk produced in 1997 by Radio France-Harmonia Mundi in the series Music Française d'Aujourd'hui gathers a selection of his pieces.
Due to Gervasoni's early recognition as one of the most promising young Italian composers, his production has been published by Ricordi since its very beginning in 1987. Starting from 2000 his works are published by Suvini-Zerboni (Milan). His catalogue includes pieces for orchestra (In Eile zögernd III, Sensibile, Adagio für Glasorchester, Sonata sopra Sancta Maria, Un leggero ritorno di cielo, Metà della ripa, Fantasia, Irrene Stimme), for ensemble (Concertino per contrabbasso, An, Macchina del baccano sentito, Su un arco di bianco, Animato, Dal belvedere di non ritorno, Concerto pour alto, Lilolela, Descdesesasf, Bleu jusqu'au blanc, Parola, Atemseile, Far niente, Pas si, Antiterra, Eyeing, Rigirio, Strada non presa, chhamp, Dir, Epicadenza, Six lettres à l'obscurité (und zwei Nachrichten), Sviete Tihi - Capriccio dopo la Fantasia) and for voice or voices and ensemble (Die Aussicht, Un recitativo, Quattro voci, Least Bee, L'Ingenuo, Due poesie francesi d'Ungaretti, Due poesie francesi di Rilke, Due poesie francesi di Beckett, Godspell, In dir).