Karlheinz Essl (born 15 August 1960) is an Austrian composer, performer, sound artist, improviser, and composition teacher.
Essl was born in Vienna. His studies at the University of Music in Vienna included composition under Friedrich Cerha, electroacoustic music under Dieter Kaufmann, and double bass. At the University of Vienna he studied musicology and wrote his doctoral thesis on "Das Synthese-Denken bei Anton Webern" (1989).
From 1992 to 2016, he was the music curator of the Essl Collection in Klosterneuburg, near Vienna. Between 1995 and 2006, he taught algorithmic composition at the Studio for Advanced Music & Media Technology for the Anton Bruckner Private University for Music, Drama, and Dance in Linz, Austria. As of 2007, Essl is professor of composition for electroacoustic and experimental music at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. [1]
Essl's work with computers (with emphases on algorithmic composition and generative music) and prolonged occupation with the poetics of serial music have been formative influences on his compositional thinking. Besides writing instrumental music, Karlheinz Essl also works in the field of electronic music, creating interactive realtime compositions and sound installations.
Since the early 1990s, he has developed various software environments for realtime composition which he uses for his own live performances and also in collaboration with artists from other fields, including choreographers, dancers, visual artists, and poets). [2] Essl has also carried out a number of Internet-based projects and became increasingly involved with improvisation. [3]
Essl began developing a computer-based electronic instrument called m@ze°2 in 1998. He has used it to improvise during live performances. Since 2008, he is working on Sequitur, a series of compositions for various solo instruments and live electronics. He has recently written several solo and ensemble pieces for electric guitar.
While working on commission at IRCAM in Paris (1992-1993), he was composer-in-residence at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse für Neue Musik (1990-1994). In 1997, Essl was featured at the Salzburg Festival with portrait concerts and sound installations. In 2003, he was artist-in-residence of the festival musik aktuell, and in 2004 he was presented with a series of portrait concerts at the Brucknerhaus Linz. He was the 2008–2009 composer-in-residence of the Belgium ensemble Champ d'Action.
Timothy "Tim" George Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds, lap steel guitar, and keyboards. He first became known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968. After the demise of Henry Cow, he participated in numerous bands and projects, eventually concentrating on composing contemporary music and performing as an improviser.
Tristan Murail is a French composer associated with the "spectral" technique of composition. Among his compositions is the large orchestral work Gondwana.
Tod Machover, is a composer and an innovator in the application of technology in music. He is the son of Wilma Machover, a pianist and Carl Machover, a computer scientist.
Georg Hajdu is a German composer of Hungarian descent. His work is dedicated to the combination of music, science and computer technology. He is noted for his opera Der Sprung – Beschreibung einer Oper and the network music performance environment Quintet.net.
York Höller is a German composer and professor of composition at the Hochschule für Musik Köln.
Jukka Santeri Tiensuu is a Finnish contemporary classical composer, harpsichordist, pianist and conductor.
Jennifer Walshe is an Irish composer, vocalist and artist.
Richard Barrett is a Welsh composer.
The trumpet repertoire consists of solo literature and orchestral or, more commonly, band parts written for the trumpet. Tracings its origins to 1500 BC, the trumpet is a musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family.
Erich Urbanner is an Austrian composer and teacher.
Lindsay Vickery is an Australian composer and performer.
Gordon Fitzell is a composer, concert organizer, and professor of music. His catalog consists of solo, chamber, and electroacoustic music, including open and improvisatory works.
Shai Cohen is an Israeli music educator and composer of contemporary classical music.
Richard David Carrick is an American composer, pianist and conductor. He was a Guggenheim Fellow in Music Composition for 2015–16 while living in Kigali, Rwanda. His compositions are influenced by diverse sources including traditional Korean Gugak music, the flow concept of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Gnawa Music of Morocco, Jazz, experimental music, concepts of infinity, the works of Italo Calvino and Ludwig Wittgenstein, and his work as improviser.
Marko Ciciliani is a composer, audiovisual artist and performer.
Annesley Black is a Canadian composer based in Germany and Austria. Her works span from instrumental music to electronics and video performances, from orchestra and chamber music to theatre, solo performances and installations. She has appeared as a performer, improviser and sound-director.
Péter Kőszeghy is a Hungarian composer and music eductor.