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Julian Anderson
photo: John Batten

Julian Anderson

Country of origin: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Birthday: April 6, 1967

About Julian Anderson

Julian Anderson is among the most esteemed and influential composers of his generation, with regular performances both internationally and at home in the UK. Anderson was born in London in 1967 and studied composition with John Lambert, Alexander Goehr and Tristan Murail. He was awarded a prestigious RPS Composition Prize in 1992 at the age of 25 for his two movement work Diptych (1990) for orchestra, launching his career. His success as a composer has also fed a prominent academic career, which has included Senior Composition Professorships at the Royal College of Music (1996-2004), where he was also Head of Composition for 5 years, Harvard University (2004-7), and Guildhall School of Music & Drama where he holds the specially created post of Professor of Composition and Composer in Residence. Anderson is also much in demand as concert programmer and public speaker. Between 2002 and 2011 he was Artistic Director of the Phiharmonia’s Music of Today concert series at the Royal Festival Hall in London, and from 2013 to 2016 he was Composer in Residence at Wigmore Hall.

Close associations and residencies with CBSO, The Cleveland Orchestra, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra have contributed to Anderson’s significant orchestral output. Fantasias (2009) for The Cleveland Orchestra won a British Composer Award, and The Discovery of Heaven (2011), co-commissioned by the LPO and the New York Philharmonic won a South Bank Sky Arts Award. The LPO under Vladimir Jurowski premiered the violin concerto In lieblicher Bläue (2014-15) for Carolin Widmann which was co-commissioned by Seattle Symphony Orchestra and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. Further orchestral commissions include Incantesimi (2016) commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Society, premiered by Sir Simon Rattle, and The Imaginary Museum (2017), a piano concerto for Steven Osborne co-commissioned by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. The 2020/21 season saw world and national premieres of Anderson's cello concerto Litanies (2018-19) written for Alban Gerhardt and following this, Exiles (2021) for voices and orchestra, commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks was premiered in 2022. Symphony No. 2 ‘Prague Panoramas’ (2019-2021), commissioned by the BBC, Munich Philharmonic and The Cleveland Orchestra was premiered at the BBC Proms conducted by the dedicatee Semyon Bychkov.

Anderson’s strong relationships with ensembles including BCMG, the Nash Ensemble, London Sinfonietta, and Asko-Schönberg Ensemble have resulted in many commissions. Book of Hours (2004) for ensemble and electronics was written for BCMG and Oliver Knussen. The work won the RPS Award for Large Scale Composition in 2006, and the following recording on NMC won the 2007 Gramophone Award. Commissioned by Wigmore Hall, the Koussevitzky Foundation and Casa da Música and premiered by the Nash Ensemble, Van Gogh Blue (2015) won both a BASCA Award and the RPS Award for Small Scale Composition. Sensation (2015-16) for solo piano, was commissioned by Aldeburgh Music and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and was premiered by Pierre-Laurent Aimard at the 2016 Aldeburgh Festival. Anderson’s String Quartet No.3 ‘Hana no hanataba’ (2018), co-commissioned by Wigmore Hall and the Tanglewood Music Center, was premiered by the JACK Quartet in April 2018.

Alongside this impressive catalogue of instrumental works is a rich body of choral music. Four American Choruses (2003) was premiered by the Groot Omroepkoor at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. His 2006 oratorio, Heaven is Shy of Earth (rev. 2009) was premiered at the BBC Proms by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, and went on to win a 2007 BASCA award for Choral Composition. Alleluia (2007) for choir and orchestra opened the first season of the refurbished Southbank Centre in London, premiered by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus. Further choral works include a Magnificat (2016) for ORA and a Nunc Dimittis (2017) for the Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge.

Thebans, Anderson’s opera based on the Oedipus myth, was highly praised at its premiere production at English National Opera in May 2014 and its German premiere in Bonn in 2015. His music is frequently used for dance and his association with choreographer Mark Baldwin led to the 2009 ballet The Comedy of Change, which toured nationally.

Portrait discs of Anderson’s works have been recorded on NMC (2005 and 2019), Ondine (2006 and 2018) and Delphian (2018). Two discs on the LPO Live label document Anderson’s time as composer in residence with the LPO: The first (Fantasias, 2013) was shortlisted for a 2014 Gramophone Award and the second (In lieblicher Bläue, 2016) won the 2017 BBC Music Magazine ‘Premiere’ Award.

In recognition of his varied musical career, Anderson was awarded the CBE in the 2021 New Year’s Honours and the Monaco Chevalier de l’Ordre de Mérite Culturel in October 2022, both for his for his services to music. He is currently President of the Music Council for the Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco and Senior Professor of Composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Most recently, Anderson received the highly coveted 2023 Grawemeyer Award in Musical Composition for his Cello Concerto 'Litanies'. 

Julian Anderson’s music up to 2014 is published by Faber Music. Music written from August 2014 onwards is published by Schott Music.

Worklist

Chronology

1967
in London geboren
1977-80
erste Kompositionsversuche
1981-84
Privatunterricht bei Oliver Knussen und George Benjamin
1981
Wird Hörer des Radio France und kommt so mit Stücken von Grisey, Lachenmann und Radulescu in Berührung, die ihn stark beeinflussen.
1984-85
Schließt das Streichquartett Nr. 1 "Light Music", seine erste Komposition, ab.
1985
Nimmt sein Kompositionsstudium bei John Lambert auf.
1987
Studiert spektrale Komposition bei Tristan Murail.
Teilnahme an einem Analyse-Sommerkurs bei Olivier Messiaen am Centre Acanthes, Avignon
1987-90
Studium am Royal College of Music, London
Erhält die Auszeichnung "First Class Honours BMus degree" der Londoner Universität.
1988
Teilnahme an den Internationalen Ferienkursen für Neue Musik, Darmstadt
1990
Teilnahme an Sommerkursen bei György Ligeti in Szombathely (H) und Per Nørgård in Dartington (UK)
1990-91
Studium bei Alexander Goehr an der Cambridge University (MPhil Komposition)
1991
"Diptych" wird mit dem Royal Philharmonic Society Prize for Young Composers ausgezeichnet.
1992
Teilnahme am Kurs Contemporary Composition and Performance bei Oliver Knussen und Colin Matthews an der Britten-Pears School
1993
Benjamin Britten Memorial Fellow am Tanglewood Music Center, MA (USA)
1994-96
Constant and Kit Lambert Fellow am Royal College of Music
1995
Portraitkonzert im Rahmen von BBC Talking Music am Barbican, London
"Diptych" ausgewähltes Werk beim "UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers"
1996-99
Unterrichtet Komposition, Orchestrierung, Analyse und Ästhetik am Royal College of Music.
1997-2001
Composer in Residence bei Sinfonia 21
1999-2004
Head of Composition am Royal College of Music
2000-05
Composer in Residence des City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra unter Sakari Oramo
2001
"The Bird Sings with its Fingers" wird bei den South Bank Show Awards als bestes neues Tanzwerk ausgezeichnet.
2002
Teilnahme am Kurs für elektro-akustische Komposition des IRCAM
vier Werke bei den BBC Proms 2002
2004-07
Fanny P Mason-Musikprofessur an der Harvard University, MA (USA)
2005
Portraitkonzert bei der Helsinki Biennale for New Music
2005-07
Daniel Lewis Young Composer Fellow des Cleveland Orchestra
2006
"Book of Hours" wird mit dem Royal Philharmonic Society Prize for Large Scale Composition ausgezeichnet.
2007

"Heaven is Shy of Earth" wird mit dem British Composer Award for Choral Composition ausgezeichnet.

Berufung in den "Conseil Musical de la Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco"

Wird als Professor für Komposition und Composer in Residence an die Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, berufen.

Eröffnung der neu renovierten Royal Festival Hall, London, mit dem "Alleluia" für Chor und Orchester (London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus unter Vladimir Jurowski)

Gramophone Award for Contemporary Music für "Alhambra Fantasy" (Ondine); "Book of Hours" (NMC Recordings) in der engeren Auswahl

2010-14
Composer in Residence des London Philharmonic Orchestra
2010
Uraufführung des im Kontext der Feierlichkeiten zum 350-jährigen Jubiläum der Royal Society, London, entstandenen Auftragswerks "Transferable Resistance" (London Philharmonic Orchestra)
2012
Ernennung zum Vizepräsidenten des "Conseil Musical de la Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco"
2013
"The Discovery of Heaven" wird mit dem South Bank Sky Arts Award ausgezeichnet.
Ernennung zum Composer in Residence der Wigmore Hall, London
2014

Uraufführung der Oper "Thebans" an der English National Opera

2014

"Julian Anderson Orchestral Works" (LPO Live) auf der Shortlist für den Gramophone Award for Contemporary Music

2015
Uraufführung von "In lieblicher Bläue" für Violine und Orchester in der Royal Festival Hall, London (Carolin Widmann/LPO unter Vladimir Jurowski)
2016

Van Gogh Blue ausgezeichnet mit dem Royal Philharmonic Society Award für klein besetzte Werke

2017

Uraufführung von The Imaginary Museum bei den BBC Proms (Steven Osborne, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ilan Volkov)

2017

Preis des BBC Music Magazine für die Einspielung von In lieblicher Bläue und Alleluia beim Label LPO

2020

Uraufführung des Cellokonzert Litanies mit Alban Gerhardt und dem Orchestre National de France

2021

Ernennung zum Commander of the British Empire

2022

Uraufführung der vollständigen Fassung von Exiles für Stimmen und Orchester durch das Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin

2022

Uraufführung von Symphony No. 2 "Prague Panoramas" bei den BBC Proms unter der Leitung des Widmungsträgers Semyon Bychkov

2022

Ernennung zum Chevalier de l’Ordre de Mérite Culturel de Monaco

2022

Grawemeyer Award 2023 für das Cellokonzert 'Litanies'

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