Frédéric Verrières studied piano at the Royal Brussels Conservatory before entering the Paris Conservatoire (CNSMDP), where he studied with Marc-André Dalbavie, Gérard Grisey, Michaël Levinas, François Théberge, and Gabriel Yared. In 1997, he graduated from the Conservatoire summa cum laude. Two years later, he participated in the IRCAM Cursus (IRCAM’s composition and computer music course).

In 2000, he was awarded the SACEM Prize for the best new work of contemporary music, and the following year, was composer-in-residence at the Villa Médicis in Rome. In 2003, he received a “New Talent” award from the SACD. His opera, The Second Woman, directed by Guillaume Vincent, was premiered at the Bouffes du Nord Theatre (Paris) in 2011, and was named “Best new work by a French Composer” by the Union of Theatre, Music, and Dance Critics.

His opera, Mimi, loosely insired by Puccini’s La Bohème, was premiered in 2014 at the Bouffes du Nord Theatre, also directed by Guillaume Vincent.

Frédéric Verrières composes concert works and film scores, as well as theatrical and operatic works, in a style which fuses elements from Bach, Debussy (e.g., A travers), Puccini, Coltrane, Ellington, flamenco (e.g., Scelsius Firmus, Palimpseste) and Balkan and Central-African music, as well as French Chanson (e.g., The Second Woman) and electronic music.

His works have been performed by Nicholas Angelich, Jeanne Cherhal, Dana Ciocarlie, David Grimal, Camélia Jordana, Michel Portal, Alexandre Tharaud, and Baptiste Trotignon, and by ensembles such Orchestre Lamoureux, Itinéraire, TM+, Court-circuit, Ictus, and Ensemble Cairn.

© Ircam-Centre Pompidou, 2014

Sources

Site personnel du compositeur.