Márton Illés was born in Hungary in 1975. He began his musical career studying piano, percussion, and composition, then pursued his studies at the Basel Academy of Music (1997-2001) and then at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe, where he studied composition with Wolfgang Rihm and music theory with Michael Reudenbach (2001-2005). He also received mentoring from Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, György Sándor, Lazar Berman, Sándor Falvai, Ferenc Kerek, György Ligeti, György Kurtág, and Helmut Lachenmann.
From 2005 to 2018, Illés has taught music at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe as well as at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg (2011-2013). Since 2019, he teaches composition at the University of Music of Mannheim. In 2021, he is in artistic residency in Cité des Arts (Paris).
In 2006, he founded the Scene Polidimensionali ensemble, performing with them as a conductor and pianist. His compositions have been performed and commissioned by numerous festivals, including Basel’s Europäischer Musikmonat, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Orchestra and Choir of Radio Berlin, the Budapest Festival “Tribute to Bartók”, Hungarian radio, the Orchestre de Caen, Creek Art Fair Dubai, the Eisenstadt Haydn Festival, the Frankfurt Alte Oper, Hessischer Rundfunk, the Hamburg Freie Akademie der Künste, Heidelberger Frühling, Kasseler Musiktage, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, the Munich Biennale, the Schwaz Klangspuren Festival, DRS Radio Switzerland, the Spoleto Festival, and the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik.
His scores are published by Breitkopf & Härtel.
Awards and Honors
- Prize of the SWR-Symphony Orchestra, Donaueschingen Music Festival, 2017
- Paul-Hindemith-Prize of the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, 2008
- Schneider-Schott Music Prize, 2008
- Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation Composers Prize, 2008
- Christoph and Stephan Kaske Prize, 2005