Karol Beffa, a musician who writes
We are very honoured to announce that Karol Beffa will attend to the 2nd edition of the 'Night of Ideas' at the French Institute on Thursday 25 January.
With Jonathan Cross, Professor of Musicology at the University of Oxford, and Eric De Visscher, Music & Art consultant and researcher, visiting Professor at the V&A museum, he will give a talk about contemporary music: 'Contemporary Music as a Creative Medium', in the beautiful listed room at the French Institute from 8.30 to 9.20 p.m.
They will deal with enthralling questions: Where are we now? How does musical creativity express itself in our global world of digital exchanges and fast-moving trends and fashions? How different is the current creative process from preceding times? How does musical creativity connect with other arts and with science? What kind of dialogue is there among those fields?
If you're interested in this talk, we strongly recommend you to book your tickets as soon as possible on the 'Night of ideas' website!
On this special occasion, we feature a portrait of this talented French musician and composer who is publishing book after book about his musical practice and has a name to be looked out for.
A talented musical carreer
Born in Paris in 1973, he obtained eight first prizes at 14 years old at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris (CNSMDP). Then, he studied at the Ecole normale supérieure de Paris (ENS Ulm) and at the Ecole nationale de la statistique et de l'administration économique (ENSAE). He is also graduated as a doctor in Musicology because of his thesis on the piano studies by György Ligeti.
He was awarded the SACEM Grand Prix de la musique symphonique in 2017 for his lifetime achievement. Lecturing in musicology at the Ecole Normale Supérieure since 2004, he was invited to occupy the prestigious Professorship for Artistic Creation at the Collège de France in 2012-2013. He has also been composer in residence for the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse from 2006 to 2009 and received a Victoire de la Musique as best composer of the year 2013.
Karol Beffa, as an author
Karol Beffa is also someone who wants to share his idea of what the contemporary music - and music in general - represents to him.
He is the author, with Fields medal-winning mathematician Cedric Villani, of Les coulisses de la création published by Flammarion in 2015. The book tries to answer the following questions: Where the ideas come from? Does creative freedom needs coercion? What role play rituals in elaborating thought?
Book release date (hardback): 04/11/2015
Book release date (paperback): 08/03/2017
Read more on Flammarion website.
In 2016, he published György Ligeti (Fayard).
Book release date: 15/05/2016
Read more on Fayard website.
In 2017, Fayard published Parler, jouer, composer. Sept leçons sur la musique (Seuil), a retranscription from Karol Beffa's inaugural conference at the Collège de France.
Book release date: 09/03/2017
Read more on Seuil website.
He also published last year the musical and poetic tale Le Roi qui n'aimait pas la musique (Gallimard Jeunesse) about the power of music and the love of art. Written by Matthieu Laine, this beautiful story gathers the singer Patrick Bruel as a narrator, accompanied by pianist Karol Beffa, clarinettist Paul Meyer and violinist Renaud Capuçon.
Book release date: 02/11/2017
Read more on Gallimard Jeunesse website.
More recently, last week was published Diabolus in Opera (Alma), an essay about about listening to and composing opera music. With this book, he inaugurates the new collection 'Concerto' of Alma - Nuvis publisher.
Book release: 18/01/2018
Read more on Alma - Nuvis website.
We look forward to seeing him at the French institute!
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