Johannes Maria Staud
Austrian composer. From the outset of his collaboration with Universal Edition publishers he became one of the most successful composers of his generation. He studied composition and electroacoustic music at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin (Iván Erőd, Dieter Kaufmann, Hanspeter Kyburz) and completed master courses with Brian Ferneyhough and Alois Piňos. Staud’s music has won appreciation among music critics and currently it is performed by prominent soloists and orchestras specialising in contemporary music. In his work he draws upon world literature (Bewegungen, 1996; Die Ebene, 1997), contemporary visual art (Polygon, 2002), film production (Black Moon, 1998; Hommage à Bruce Nauman, 2005–2006), and also a variety of scientific disciplines (A mapis not the territory, 2001; Dichotomie, 1997). Segue (2006–2008) for cello and orchestra contains fragments from the works of Mozart; the opera Berenice (2003–2006) is again an excursion into the world of popular music. In the 2010/2011 season Staud became composer-in-residence of the Dresden orchestra Sächsische Staatskapelle. His second opera Die Antilope (libretto: Durs Grünbein) had its premiere in August 2014. Staud is a co-founder of the Gegenklang composers’ group in Vienna. He has received a number of prestigious awards: Kompositionswettbewerb (2000), International Rostrum of Composers (2003), Ernst-von-Siemens-Musikstiftung Prize (2004), Paul Hindemith Prize (2009) and Music Award of the City of Vienna (2012).