Lanza, Mauro

Born in 1975 in Venice, where he studied composition and piano performance. On completing his studies, he attended a one-year course in composition and computer music at IRCAM (1998- 99). He obtained scholarships from the Civitella Ranieri Foundation (2006), the French Academy in Rome (2007-8), as well as Akademie Schloss Solitude (2009-10). He taught composition at McGill University in Montreal (2004-5), Conservatorio Ghedini in Cuneo (2004-10), Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya in Barcelona (2013-14), High School of Music in Detmold (2014-15), and University of the Arts in Berlin (2015-17). As a composer he did research at IRCAM, where in 2010-13 he was also a consultant at courses for composers.

His highly ironic compositions reflect his intense the effort to achieve the fullest possible fusion of classical instruments and less conventional sources of sound: sound synthesis, toy instruments, various sources of noise as well as found objects and devices constructed by the artist himself, such as the rain machine used in Le nubi non scoppiano per il peso (2011) or the "augmented" household goods, appliances and devices that appear in the cycle Systema naturae (2013-17, in collaboration with Andrea Valle). Apart from purely musical activity, Mauro Lanza has a natural predilection for interdisciplinary work. In 2004, he was commissioned by Opéra National de Paris and IRCAM to compose music for the ballet Le songe de Médée choreographed by Angelin Preljocaj. In collaboration with video artist Paolo Pachini he also wrote music for Descrizione del Diluvio (2008), a video-opera for twelve musicians, electronics and video projection. In 2009 he created the vast electronic score for Benjamin Christensen's silent movie Häxan of 1922 (commissioned by the Louvre). In 2011 Mauro Lanza and Jean-Michel Othoniel prepared an audiovisual installation for Centre Pompidou.

Mauro Lanza delights in the clarity and inhuman character of formalised processes and frequently applies computer algorithms in his music. His works have been published since 2004 by Ricordi in Milan. In 2014 he received the Premio Franco Abbiati for the best composition, granted by the Italian National Association of Music Critics (Critica Musicale Italiana).

Selected works: Gli occhi urgenti di Barbugno for soprano and ensemble (1996), La coquille de l'escargot for flute and piano (1996-97), L'Allegro chirurgo for tenor saxophone (1997), Erba nera che cresci segno nero tu vivi for soprano and sound synthesis (1999-2001), Aschenblume for ensemble (2001-2), Burger Time ou les Tentations de Saint­Antoine for tuba and sound synthesis (2001), The Skin of the Onion for ensemble (2002), Predella for organ (2003), Barocco for soprano, alto and children's instruments (1998-2003), Mare for soprano, children's instruments ensemble, ensemble and electronics (2003-4), Et exultate ei cum tremore for choir (2003-4), Le songe de Medée, ballet music for ensemble and electronics (2004), Chop suey for cimbalom solo (2005), Predellino for piano (2005), I Funerali dell'anarchico Passannante for chamber choir and electronics (2005-6), Negativo for organ (2006), Vesperbild for toy instruments ensemble and electronics (2007), Sol for ensemble (2007), Mess for piano (2008), Descrizione del Diluvio, multimedia spectacle (with Paolo Pachini, 2007-8), Häxan, electronic music (2008-9), I Funerali dell'anarchico Acciarito for six musicians with futurist instruments and sound objects (2009), #9 for orchestra (2010), Herzstücke for string quartet and electronics (2010), Vorspiel for five instruments (2010), Sculpture's Sound for glass objects and electronics (2011), Le nubi non scoppiano per il peso for ensemble, electronics and computer-controlled raindrops (2011), La bataille de Caresme et de Charnage for cello and piano (2012), Der Kampf zwischen Karneval und Fasten for eight string instruments (2012), Ludus de morte regis for choir and electronics (2013), Regnum animale for string trio and electromechanical devices (with Andrea Valle, 2013), Anatra digeritrice (piccola Wunderkammer di automi oziosi) for orchestra (2014), Regnum vegetabile for six musicians and electromechanical devices, in collaboration with Andrea Valle (2014), Disiecta membra for six voices (2014-15), Six coquillages sur une tranche de pierre for piano (2014), Tutto ciò che è solido si dissolve nell'aria for six musicians (2015), The Kempelen Machine for prepared voice, eight musicians and electromechanical devices (2015), John Conway in gondola for piano trio (2016), Regnum lapideum for eight instruments and electromechanical devices (with Andrea Valle, 2016), Fossilia for 10 instruments and electromechanical devices (with Andrea Valle, 2016), The 1987 Max Headroom Broadcast Incident for string quartet and electronics (2017).