Council members 2024

© Andris Kozlovkis

Mauro Lanza was born in 1975 and studied piano in Venice and computer music at Ircam. 

Tinged with irony, his compositions have been, since the very beginning, the result of an ever increasing effort towards an intimate fusion of classical instruments with other less conventional sound sources (physical modelling synthesis, toy instruments, noisemakers and various specimens of objets trouvés).

Exemplary of this trend is Systema naturæ (2014-2018), a cycle of compositions for ensemble and electromechanical devices conceived in four-hands with Andrea Valle.   

He enjoys the clarity and the inhuman character of formalized processes, working extensively with computer algorithms.

In residence at the Villa Medici from 2007 to 2008, he has been on several other residences (Fresnoy; Civitella Ranieri; Akademie Schloss Solitude) and has undertaken various activities in the pedagogical domain (Ircam, McGill University, ESMUC, UdK).

In 2014 he was awarded by Italy’s National Association of Music Critics with the Franco Abbiati Prize. 

His music is published by Ricordi Milano.

© Eric Marinitsch 2011

© Schott Music  Gaby Gerster

Aribert Reimann was born in Berlin on March 4, 1936 and grew up in a musical family. He commenced working as a “répétiteur” at the Städtische Oper Berlin in 1955 and simultaneously pursued studies in composition and piano at the Berlin Musikhochschule.

One year later, he enrolled in musicology courses at the University of Vienna. Dramatic works as well as Lieder were central to his artistic development. He is renowned for his operas "Lear" (1978, Bavarian State Opera) and "Medea" (2010, Vienna State Opera).

Reimann held a professorship at Hamburg University of Music from 1974, focusing on contemporary song, before being appointed to the same position at Berlin University of the Arts in 1983.

He has been awarded a number of distinctions, including the Großes Verdienstkreuz mit Stern der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Grand Cross of the Order of German Merit) and the Verdienstorden des Landes Berlin (Berlin Order of Merit and has been recognized for his contributions to music with various accolades, such as the 1971 Critics' Prize for Music, the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in 2011, and the GEMA Musikautor*innenpreis in 2024.

Until his death on 13 March 2024, Aribert Reimann lived in Berlin.

© Pascal Dusapin

The Finnish cellist Anssi Karttunen leads a busy career as a soloist and chamber-music player, performing extensively with many of the leading orchestras and musicians.

Anssi Karttunen performs all the standard cello works, has discovered many forgotten masterpieces and transcribed numerous pieces for cello, or chamber ensembles. He is a passionate advocate of contemporary music and his collaboration with composers has led him to give over 220 world premieres of works by composers as diverse as Magnus Lindberg, Kaija Saariaho, Pascal Dusapin, Luca Francesconi and Betsy Jolas.
 

Between 1994 and 1998 he was the artistic director of the Avanti!-Chamber Orchestra. He was the artistic director of the 1995 Helsinki Biennale and the Suvisoitto-festival in Porvoo, Finland from 1994 to 1997. From 1999 to 2005 Anssi Karttunen was the principal cellist of the London Sinfonietta. He was the artistic director of the Musica nova Helsinki festival in 2015.