Ondřej Adámek
Czech composer born in Prague in 1979.
Ondřej Adámek received a degree in composition from the Academy of Music in Prague in 2004 and from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris in 2007, where he also studied electroacoustics, orchestration, improvisation, analysis, and Indian music.
He composes orchestra and ensemble pieces, as well as mixed music, drawing inspiration from different musical cultures including those of Bali, New Caledonia, and Japan, with a particularly detailed focus on instrumental and vocal sound. He seeks out novel extended techniques for classical instruments and develops innovative systems combining video, electroacoustic sound, and instrumental ensembles.
In 2002 he received a grant from the UNESCO-Aschberg programme for artists to complete an artistic residency in Nairobi with the Gàara Dance Company, with whom he created Abila. He was a finalist in the biannual Metamorphoses Acousmatic Music Competition in Belgium in 2002 and 2004. In 2004, he also participated in the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne’s International Young Composers Forum, and his Sinuous Words was broadcast on Radio-Canada and Radio-Télévision during the 2004 edition of Radio Canada’s Montréal - Cité de la musique. In 2007 he received a grant from Culturesfrance and completed a residency at the Villa Kujoyama in Kyoto. He was an artist-in-residence at the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid for two seasons, 2009-2011, and was invited to Berlin in September 2010 to be an artist-in-residence of the DAAD-Berliner Kunstlerprogramm. He was invited to be a composer-in-residence with the Ensemble 2E2M in 2012. He completed a residency at the Villa Medicis in Rome in 2014-2015.
In 2008, his Endless Steps for orchestra was performed by the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, conducted by Pierre Boulez. That same year, Ça tourne ça bloque was performed by l’ensemble Court-circuit at IRCAM’s Agora Festival. In February 2010, the Ensemble intercontemporain, conducted by Susanna Mälkki, performed Nôise, which had been commissioned for the ensemble, at the Cité de la Musique in Paris. In 2010, a second string quartet, commissioned by the SWR for the Donaueschingen Festival, was performed there by the Diotima quartet. The world premiere of B-low Up was performed at the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik by Klangforum Wien. In May 2012, a musical theater piece with musicians, video, and painter, titled Diner, was performed by the 2E2M ensemble.
Adámek is also the creator of a polymorphic instrumental installation called the Airmachine that functions with air that is rythmically blown in or aspirated out, and which can be connected with other objects or instruments. Pieces he has composed for the Airmachine include Körper und Steele for Airmachine, choir, and orchestra, which premiered in 2014 at the Donaueschingen Festival, and Conséquences particulièrement blanches ou noires for Airmachine 2 and ensemble, performed at the GRAME Biennale Musiques en Scène Festival in 2016. He is also the founder and conductor of the vocal ensemble NESEVEN, which has toured extensively.
Ondřej Adámek has received numerous awards and prizes, including the Prix de Bourges (IMEB) in 2003, the Hungarian Radio Prize in 2004, the Brandenberg Biennale Prize in 2006, the Grand Prix of the Alexandre Tansman Competition in 2010 for Dusty Rusty Hush, and the Enescu Prize in 2011.
© Ircam-Centre Pompidou, 2019
- Chamber music
- Inflexion for two saxophones (2001), 11 mn, Billaudot
- elec Rapid Eye Movements for string quartet and electroacoustic device (2003-2005), 12 mn, BabelScores [program note]
- Fishbones for six percussions (2006-2007), 16 mn, BabelScores
- Coups d’ailes for brass octet and space (2008), 7 mn, BabelScores
- Chamber nôise for cello and double bass (2010), 15 mn, Billaudot
- Lo que no’ contamo’ string quartet n° 2 (2010), 17 mn, Billaudot
- Instrumental ensemble music
- Danse Mécanique for six musicians (2003), 12 mn, Inédit
- Gouttes, petites Gouttes for eighteen instruments (2002-2003), 12 mn, Inédit
- Sinuous Voices for seventeen to twenty musicians (2009, 2004), 16 mn, BabelScores
- elec Strange Night in Daylight for fifteen musicians and electroacoustic device (2002-2004), 15 mn, Inédit
- Falling Dreams for symphony orchestra (2005-2006), 12 mn, Inédit
- Shiny or Shy for symphony orchestra (2005-2006), 12 mn, Billaudot
- Dusty Rusty Hush for symphony orchestra (2006-2007), 20 mn, Billaudot
- elec Ça tourne ça bloque for ten instruments and electronics (2007-2008), 16 mn, BabelScores [program note]
- Endless Steps for symphony orchestra (2006-2008), 18 mn, Billaudot
- B-low Up for seventeen instruments (2010), 11 mn, Billaudot [program note]
- Nôise for twenty-seven instruments (2009-2010), 30 mn, Billaudot [program note]
- Diner for thirteen instruments, painter and video (2012), 30 mn, Billaudot
- Concertant music
- Conséquences particulièrement blanches ou noires for Airmachine 2 and fourteen instruments (2015-2016), 24 mn, BabelScores
- Follow me for violin and orchestra (2017), 24 mn, Billaudot
- Vocal music and instrument(s)
- Tremblement... Retour for soprano and four instruments (1999-2000), Inédit
- Silent Touches for baritone and five instruments (2005), 8 mn, BabelScores
- Jardin Perdu for three voices and orchestra (2006), 27 mn, Billaudot
- Ombre Cri for solo trumpet, four-part choir and symphony orchestra (2006-2008), 18 mn, Billaudot
- elec Imademo for soprano, violin-viola and keyboard-sampler (2009-2010), 20 mn, BabelScores
- Karakuri - Poupée mécanique for voice and ensemble (2011), 19 mn, Billaudot [program note]
- Steine for voice and ensemble (2012)
- Kameny for choir and ensemble (2012-2013), 30 mn, Billaudot
- Polednice for choir and orchestra (2013), 17 mn, Billaudot
- Körper und Seele for Airmachine, choir and orchestra (2014), 30 mn, Billaudot
- STEINAR for six voices playing instruments (2015), Billaudot
- Throwing for six voices playing instruments and a percussionist (2014-2017), 16 mn, Billaudot
- A cappella vocal music
- Les ombres qui passent for six singers (2001), Inédit
- Electronic music / fixed media / mechanical musical instruments
- elec Un Souffle, une Ombre, un Rien acousmatic piece (2000-2001), 11 mn, Inédit
- elec Cercle des Rythmes Vitaux acousmatic piece (2003-2004), 15 mn 30 s, Inédit
- 2017
- 2016
- Conséquences particulièrement blanches ou noires for Airmachine 2 and fourteen instruments, 24 mn, BabelScores
- 2015
- STEINAR for six voices playing instruments, Billaudot
- 2014
- Körper und Seele for Airmachine, choir and orchestra, 30 mn, Billaudot
- 2013
- 2012
- 2011
- Karakuri - Poupée mécanique for voice and ensemble, 19 mn, Billaudot [program note]
- 2010
- B-low Up for seventeen instruments, 11 mn, Billaudot [program note]
- Chamber nôise for cello and double bass, 15 mn, Billaudot
- elec Imademo for soprano, violin-viola and keyboard-sampler, 20 mn, BabelScores
- Lo que no’ contamo’ string quartet n° 2, 17 mn, Billaudot
- Nôise for twenty-seven instruments, 30 mn, Billaudot [program note]
- 2008
- Coups d’ailes for brass octet and space, 7 mn, BabelScores
- Endless Steps for symphony orchestra, 18 mn, Billaudot
- Ombre Cri for solo trumpet, four-part choir and symphony orchestra, 18 mn, Billaudot
- elec Ça tourne ça bloque for ten instruments and electronics, 16 mn, BabelScores [program note]
- 2007
- Dusty Rusty Hush for symphony orchestra, 20 mn, Billaudot
- Fishbones for six percussions, 16 mn, BabelScores
- 2006
- Falling Dreams for symphony orchestra, 12 mn, Inédit
- Jardin Perdu for three voices and orchestra, 27 mn, Billaudot
- Shiny or Shy for symphony orchestra, 12 mn, Billaudot
- 2005
- elec Rapid Eye Movements for string quartet and electroacoustic device, 12 mn, BabelScores [program note]
- Silent Touches for baritone and five instruments, 8 mn, BabelScores
- 2004
- elec Cercle des Rythmes Vitaux acousmatic piece, 15 mn 30 s, Inédit
- Sinuous Voices for seventeen to twenty musicians, 16 mn, BabelScores
- elec Strange Night in Daylight for fifteen musicians and electroacoustic device, 15 mn, Inédit
- 2003
- Danse Mécanique for six musicians, 12 mn, Inédit
- Gouttes, petites Gouttes for eighteen instruments, 12 mn, Inédit
- 2001
- Inflexion for two saxophones, 11 mn, Billaudot
- Les ombres qui passent for six singers, Inédit
- elec Un Souffle, une Ombre, un Rien acousmatic piece, 11 mn, Inédit
- 2000
- Tremblement... Retour for soprano and four instruments, Inédit
Liens Internet
- Site d’Ondřej Adámek : http://ondrejadamek.com
- Éditions Billaudot : http://www.billaudot.com
(liens vérifiés en janvier 2019).
Bibliographie
- Pierre ROULLIER (dir. de publication), Ondřej Adámek, Rituels… Robots, édition 2e2m, coll. « À la ligne », 2012, avec des articles de Pierre Roullier, Jean-Pierre Derrien, Éric Denut, un entretien de Corinne Schneider avec Ondřej Adámek.
- Ondřej ADÁMEK, « Une seule musique », dans la revue Filigrane n° 5 : Musique et globalisation (dir. Makis Solomos), éditions Delatour France, 2007.
- « Entretien avec Ondřej Adámek », par Véronique Brindeau, Accents, le Webmag de l’ensemble intercontemporain, 2013, http://www.ensembleinter.com/accents-online/?p=5815
- « Les voix du Nô : Entretien avec Ondřej Adámek », par Véronique Brindeau, Accents, le Webmag de l’ensemble intercontemporain, 2012, http://www.ensembleinter.com/accents-online/?p=1413
(liens vérifiés en janvier 2019).
Discographie
- Ondřej ADÁMEK, Polednice ; Nôise ; Dusty rusty hush ; Endless steps ;Karakuri; Kameny ; Luft-Inszenierung ; Körper und Seele ; Conséquences particulièrement blanches ou noires, dans « Körper und Seele, portrait du compositeur », Shigeko Hata, voix ; Christoph Grund, Ondej Adámek, airmachine ; Chœur de la radio polonaise ; Ensemble vocal de la radio de Stuttgart ; Orchestre Symphonique de la radio de Katowice ; Ensemble intercontemporain ; Ensemble Modern ; Orchestre Symphonique de la radio de Baden-Baden et Fribourg ; Orchestre Symphonique de Berlin ; Orchestre du Festival de Lucerne ; Alexander Liebreich, Pierre Boulez, Marco Angius, George Benjamin, François-Xavier Roth, Manuel Nawri, direction, 1 cd et 1 DVD Wergo, 2016, 64192.
- Ondřej ADÁMEK, Lo que no’ contamo’, dans « Donaueschinger Musiktage 2010 », avec des œuvres d’Aaron Cassidy, James Dillon, Brian Ferneyhough, Vinko Globokar, Georg Friedrich Haas, Philippe Manouri, Alberto Posadas, Simon Steen-Andersen, Marco Stroppa et Ivan Wyschnegradsky Quatuor Diotima : Naaman Sluchin et Yun-Peng Zhao : violon, Franck Chevalier : alto, Pierre Morlet : violoncelle, 4 sacd Neos, 2011, 11114-17.
- Ondřej ADÁMEK,Dusty rusty hush, Orchestre philharmonique de Varsovie, direction : Reinbert de Leeuw, festival d’automne à Varsovie 2010, cd Polmic 061.
- Ondřej ADÁMEK, B-low up, dans « Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik 2010 », Klangforum Wien, direction : Stefan Asbury, WDR 3.
- Ondřej ADÁMEK, Cercle des rythmes vitaux, dans « Métamorphoses 2004 – 3e concours biennal de composition acousmatique » (avec également des œuvres de Théodore Lotis, Martin Bédard, António Ferreira, Elizabeth Anderson…), Nouvel ensemble moderne, direction : Lorraine Vaillancourt, 2 cds Atma classique, 2005, n° ACD 2 2375 [enregistré à la salle Claude-Champagne de l’Université de Montréal les 10, 11 et 13 novembre 2004].
- Ondřej ADÁMEK, Un souffle, une ombre, un rien, dans « Métamorphoses 2002 – 2e concours biennal de composition acousmatique » (avec également des œuvres de Théodore Lotis, Christian Bouchard, Apostolos Loufopoulos, Gilles Gobeil, Laurent Bigot…), Nouvel ensemble moderne, direction : Lorraine Vaillancourt, 2 cds Atma classique, 2003.