Carlos Roqué Alsina (born 19 February 1941) is a French composer and pianist of Argentinian origin.

Biography

Born in Buenos Aires, Alsina's career as a pianist, which began at the age of six, quickly led him to give numerous concerts first in Latin America, then in North America and finally in Europe, some under the direction of prestigious conductors:

Gilbert Amy Gilbert Amy (born 29 August 1936) is a French composer and conductor. Career Born in Paris, Amy entered the Conservatoire de Paris in 1954, where he was taught and influenced by Olivier Messiaen and Darius Milhaud and studied piano with Yvonne Lo ...

Ernest Bour Ernest Bour (20 April 1913 - 20 June 2001) was a noted conductor. Born in Thionville, Moselle (in north-eastern Lorraine, then part of Germany), Bour studied at both the University and the Conservatoire of Strasbourg. His conducting teachers inc ...

, Semyon Bychkov,

Jascha Horenstein Jascha Horenstein (russian: Яша Горенштейн; – 2 April 1973) was an American conductor. Biography Horenstein was born in Kiev, Russian Empire (now Ukraine), into a well-to-do Jewish family; his mother (Marie Ettinger) came fr ...

Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (14 May 18856 July 1973) was a 20th-century conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the US, Hungary and finally Britain. His early career was in opera houses, but he was later better known as a concer ...

Manuel Rosenthal Manuel Rosenthal (18 June 1904 – 5 June 2003) was a French composer and conductor who held leading positions with musical organizations in France and America. He was friends with many contemporary composers, and despite a considerable list of c ...

Michel Tabachnik Michel Tabachnik (born November 10, 1942) is a Swiss conductor and composer with an international career. Promoter of contemporary music, he has premiered a dozen works by Iannis Xenakis, among others. He is also the author of essays on music ...

, among others. At the same time, he studied

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called ...

on his own, writing his first piece at the age of fourteen. In Argentina, he actively participated as a pianist and composer in artistic programs of various musical institutions (including "Nueva Musica" in Buenos Aires from 1959 to 1964). In 1964, he was invited to Germany as part of the "Artists-in-Residence" program, which gave him the opportunity to meet

Iannis Xenakis Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; el, Γιάννης "Ιωάννης" Κλέαρχου Ξενάκης, ; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde ...

Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer. One of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century, he combined elements of European modernism and American "ultra- ...

and

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...

. In 1965, his composition ''Funktionen'' was premiered in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

under the direction of

Bruno Maderna Bruno Maderna (21 April 1920 – 13 November 1973) was an Italian conductor and composer. Life Maderna was born Bruno Grossato in Venice but later decided to take the name of his mother, Caterina Carolina Maderna.Interview with Maderna‘s th ...

, of whom he became the assistant to the

Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the De ...

the following year. In 1967, a New York period began, participating in the Center of Creative and Performing Arts in New York, leading numerous

master class A master class is a Class (education), class given to students of a particular Academic discipline, discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are b ...

es on contemporary piano at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

. He also worked at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

in 1969 as a visiting professor. During this period, he experimented with musical theatre (see the "Trio" of 1967 for cello, trombone and percussion). In April 1969, with

Jean-Pierre Drouet Jean-Pierre Drouet (born 30 October 1935) is a French multi-instrumentist percussionist and composer. Born in Bordeaux, Drouet studied with René Leibowitz, Jean Barraqué and André Hodeir. In India, he deepened his knowledge of non-European ins ...

Michel Portal Michel Portal (born 27 November 1935) is a French composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist. He plays both jazz and classical music and is considered to be "one of the architects of modern European jazz". Early life Portal was born in Bayonne on ...

, and

Vinko Globokar Vinko Globokar (born 7 July 1934) is a French-Slovenian avant-garde composer and trombonist. Globokar's music uses unconventional and extended techniques, places great emphasis on spontaneity and creativity, and often relies on improvisation. Hi ...

, he founded the improvisation group "New Phonic Art",New Phonic Art discography
(

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

) which led him to give numerous concerts and to make multiple international tours. In 1972, he settled in France. Since 1978, in parallel to his activities as pianist and composer he has devoted himself to teaching (he has taught piano at the

Conservatoire national supérieur musique et danse de Lyon A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

for nine years) and also teaches as a guest professor in several European institutions. To honour his 60th birthday (2001) and his contribution to French musical life, he received a special commission from the Ministère de la Culture: ''Phares et Rayonnements''. This anniversary was also the occasion for numerous portrait concerts celebrating his multiple career. Today, Alsina continues to exercise his activities as a pianist, teacher and composer: recitals, master classes and productions of his works punctuate his last years and lead him to many trips in Europe, North America but also in China, Argentina etc.

Works

To date, he has written more than 110 works (the majority of which have been commissioned by musical institutions) - including several for large orchestra, performed at most international contemporary music festivals (Berlin, Hamburg, Donaueschingen, Darmstadt, Vienna,

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the T ...

, Amsterdam, Paris,

Royan Royan (; in the Saintongeais dialect; oc, Roian) is a commune and town in the south-west of France, in the department of Charente-Maritime in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. Its inhabitants are known as ''Royannais'' and ''Royannaises''. Capi ...

, Metz, Lille, Venice, etc.).. * First Piano Study (Op.3) * Second Piano Study (Op.6) * Third Klavierstück for piano (Op.8) (1963–65) * ''Funktionen'' (1965) * Concerto for piano and orchestra (1965) * ''Auftrag'' (1967) * ''Überwindung'' (1967), commission of the Südwestfunk radio premiered in

Donaueschingen Donaueschingen (; Low Alemannic: ''Eschinge'') is a German town in the Black Forest in the southwest of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg in the Schwarzwald-Baar '' Kreis''. It stands near the confluence of the two sources of the river Da ...

conducted by

. * ''Schichten'' for instrumental ensemble (1971) * Study for

tonbak The ''tombak'' ( Persian: تمبک), ''tonbak'' (تنبک), or ''zarb'' (ضَرب) is an Iranian goblet drum. It is considered the principal percussion instrument of Persian music. The tombak is normally positioned diagonally across the torso ...

(1973) * ''A Letter'' (1976) * Cantate (1977) * ''La Muraille'' (1981) * Prima Sinfonia (1983) * ''Undici''(1987) * ''Suite indirecte'' for chamber orchestra (1989) * ''Fantaisie'' for clarinet and orchestra (1991) * Symphonie n° 2 (1992) for large orchestra, commissioned by the

Orchestre de Paris The Orchestre de Paris () is a French orchestra based in Paris. The orchestra currently performs most of its concerts at the Philharmonie de Paris. History In 1967, following the dissolution of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Co ...

on the occasion of his 50th anniversary, premiered under the direction of Semyon Bychkov. * ''Pénombres'' (1993) for choir, children's choir and orchestra to a text by Claire Billot * ''Concerto en deux mouvements'' (1999) for wind quintet and orchestra * ''Phares et Rayonnements'' (2001), for tape and three instrumentists * ''Concertino'' (2002) for piano and 12 instruments * ''Reflet'' (2002) for solo

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

* ''Reflets en trio'' (2002) for vibraphone,

djembé A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...

and

marimba The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...

* ''Bel Canto'' (2009)

Distinctions

* 1971: ''Guggenheim'' Prize for his works ''Überwindung'' and ''Schichten'' (). * 1986: Officier of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

* 2004: the

Académie des beaux-arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

awards him the Paul-Louis Weiller Composition Prize for his work as a whole.

References

External links

*
Alsina: Consequenza
(YouTube)
Carlos Roque Alsina
(

France Musique France Musique is a French national public radio channel owned and operated by Radio France. It is devoted to the broadcasting of music, both live and recorded, with particular emphasis on European classical music, classical music and jazz. Hist ...

)
Carlos Roque Alsina
(

Encyclopædia Universalis The ''Encyclopædia Universalis'' is a French-language general encyclopedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., a privately held company. The articles of the ''Encyclopædia Universalis'' are aimed at educated adult readers, and writt ...

)
Discography
(

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Alsina, Carlos Roque French male classical composers 20th-century French male classical pianists 20th-century French composers 1941 births Musicians from Buenos Aires Argentine emigrants to France Living people Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres French composers of sacred music 21st-century French male classical pianists