Panisello, Fabián

conductor and composer, born in 1963 in Buenos Aires. He studied composition with Francisco Kröpfl in Buenos Aires and with Bogusław Schaeffer in the Mozarteum in Salzburg (Diploma of Excellence, 1993). He completed his formation in composition with Elliott Carter, Franco Donatoni, Brian Ferneyhough, and Luis de Pablo and in conducting with Peter Eötvös.

His works have been performed by artists such as Pierre Boulez, Peter Eötvös, the Arditti Quartet, Susanna Mälkki, Dimitri Vassilakis, Allison Bell, Marco Blaauw, Leigh Melrose, and Francesco D’Orazio, and ensembles such as the SWR orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Salzburg Mozarteum, Orquesta Nacional de España, Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid, BBC Symphony, Orchestre de L’Opéra de Lyon, Dresden Symphony, Puerto Rico Symphony, Ensemble Modern, and Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, among others. In 2016 he is composer-in-residence at the New Music Week in Shanghai and collaborates with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Klangforum Wien, Phoenix Ensemble, National Orchestra of Argentina, Neue Oper Wien, Daegu Orchestra in Korea, Teatro Real and Teatros del Canal in Spain. His awards include the Mozarts Erben of the City of Salzburg, and the Rodolfo Halffter Iberoamerican Composition Prize (2004, for Cuadernos para orquesta), as well as scholarships from numerous foundations, including the Dean of the Salzburg Mozarteum.

The beginnings of Panisello’s conducting career are linked with Peter Eötvös. Another seminal experience was working with Luciano Berio and Karlheinz Stockhausen as an assistant conductor and répétiteur of the WDR orchestra in Cologne and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin for the first performances of Hoch-Zeiten and Mixtur 2003. As a composer and conductor, Fabián Panisello participates in the most important international forums and festivals of modern music, including the Donaueschinger Musiktage, Venice Biennale, Klangspuren, Warsaw Autumn, Présences, Musica in Strasbourg, Ars Musica, Ultraschall, Aspekte, Manca, and Mondavi Center (California) as well as other festivals in Japan and the Americas. As a guest conductor, he cooperates with Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain, Musiques Nouvelles, Meitar Ensemble, and Israel Contemporary Players.

He is a prominent contributor to Spanish musical life. He is director of the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid and the International Chamber Music Institute in Madrid. He is also member of the Música Presente group, which unites leading composers and virtuosos working for the promotion and reception of modern music and notably organises the Plural Ensemble concert cycle. As the founder and conductor of that programme, Fabián Panisello has largely contributed to the presentation of Spanish modern music on many world stages, including in Germany, France, Israel, Japan, Chile, and Argentina.

In 2005, the Col Legno label published a monographic CD of his works. His music is published by C. F. Peters in Frankfurt.

Selected works (since 1990): GEIM, Séance for string quartet (1990–91), A Game With Shifting Mirrors for piano and orchestra (1990–91), El camino del valle del lobo for violin (1990, rev. 1991), Concertino for mezzo-soprano, two narrators and instrumental ensemble (rev. 1990), Poems by Hugo Mujica for soprano, contralto, tenor and string trio (1992), Presencias transparentes for instrumental ensemble (1991, rev. 1995), Aire for orchestra (1993), Medea, chamber opera (1994), Intermezzo for instrumental ensemble (1995), Piano Trio no. 2 (1996), Tango for viola and guitar (1998), Festen, cello octet (1999), Cinco piezas métricas for three recorders (2000), Violin Concerto (2002), Cuadernos para orquesta (2003–4), Chamber Concerto (2005), Canciones de Silvia for soprano and piano (2006), Aksaks for orchestra (2008), Mandala for orchestra (2009), Movements for piano and orchestra (2010), Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra (2010), Libro del frío for soprano and ensemble (2011), Gothic Songs for baritone and orchestra (2012), Solstice for ensemble (2013), L’officina della resurrezione for baritone, electronics, speaking choir and string orchestra (two versions: 2013, 2014), Studies for Piano (2014), Le malentendu, opera (2016, also a suite for ensemble and electronics, 2016).