André Ristic (born December 19, 1972) is a Canadian composer, pianist, accordion player, and

music theorist Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the " rudiments", that ...

. He has won several awards, including the

Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music The Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music is a Canadian contemporary classical music award given to composers in recognition of quality new works of chamber music. Granted annually since 1978 (with the exception of 1984 and 1990 when no prize was ...

in 2000 for his work ''Catalogue de bombes occidentales'', the

Prix Opus Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who ...

for Composer of the Year in 2002, and the Prix Québec-Flandre in 2003.

Life and career

Born in

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

, Ristic's parents originated from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

. He began his professional studies at the

Université du Québec à Montréal The (UQAM; ), is a French language, French-language public university, public research university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the system. UQAM was founded on April 9, 1969, by the government o ...

in mathematics, and at the

Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal The Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal (, CMQM) is a music conservatory located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In addition to the Montreal region, the school takes in students from nearby cities, including Granby, Joliette, St-Jean ...

, where he studied piano, harpsichord, and musical composition. His background in mathematics has influenced his work as a music theorist, with a particular interest being the mathematical representation of sound. In the early 1990s, he applied himself to research in video synchronisation by the algorithmic numerical analysis of audio data. Later on, the use of mathematical models in his compositions took various forms, usually mixing simple musical material with sophisticated systems such as the Lotka–Volterra equations. In the mid-1990s, Ristic served as the pianist for the Ensemble contemporain de Montréal. In 1998, he co-founded the

chamber ensemble Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

Trio Fibonacci with Gabriel Prynn and

Julie-Anne Derome Julie-Anne Derome is a Canadian violinist who was born in Montreal, Quebec. Early life and education Julie-Anne Derome started playing the violin at the age of three. She has studied with Taras Gabora and Sonia Jelinkova at the Montreal Conser ...

, performing and composing music for the group until 2006. The ensemble notably won the Prix Opus in 2001. As a pianist, he is regularly invited by many contemporary music festivals and Canadian orchestras. He has also commissioned or premiered a number of works from both Canadian and international composers, especially those of his generation. Ristic played for many years with the KORE Ensemble in Montreal (2000–2007). In 2004, he moved to

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

to join the piano faculty at the

Institut Jaques-Dalcroze (Brussels) The Institut de rythmique Jaques-Dalcroze de Belgique is a music education institute based in Brussels, Belgium. It exists from the beginning of the 1950s. In 1975, the French Community of Belgium recognized it as a National Institution of Musi ...

. Ristic quit the Fibonacci Trio in 2006. In Belgium, he performs with the ensemble Musiques Nouvelles in Mons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ristic, Andre 1972 births Living people Université du Québec à Montréal alumni Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal alumni Canadian classical pianists Canadian male classical pianists Canadian classical musicians Canadian male composers Musicians from Quebec City Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music winners Canadian classical composers Canadian people of Montenegrin descent Canadian people of Polish descent Polish people of Montenegrin descent