Christophe Bertrand

Christophe Louis-Pascal Bertrand (24 April 1981 – 17 September 2010) was a French composer of contemporary classical music.

Biography Bertrand, a French pianist and composer of mainly chamber works, was born in Wissembourg in 1981. After earning gold medals for piano and chamber music at the Conservatoire de Strasbourg, he performed and recorded with the Ensemble "Accroche-Note" and the Ensemble "In Extremis" of which he was a co-founder. He collaborated with composers such as Ivan Fedele and Pascal Dusapin.

He studied composition since 1996, under the supervision of Ivan Fedele at the Strasbourg Conservatoire, obtaining with distinction his diploma in 2000.

His compositions, conducted among others by Pierre Boulez, Jonathan Nott, Hannu Lintu, Marc Albrecht have been performed by several ensembles and soloists such as the Ensemble Intercontemporain, Arditti Quartet and the Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg.

His compositions have been played internationally, amongst others in:

France: Festival Musica, IRCAM, Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, Festival Agora, Centre Georges Pompidou, Salle Olivier Messiaen de la Maison de Radio France, etc. Germany: Beethovenfest Bonn, Ultraschall-Festival à Berlin, Internationale Ferienkurse in Darmstadt, Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Switzerland: Lucerne Festival Belgium: Ars Musica in Brussels Italy: Festival Traiettorie in Parma, Rondo-Milano, Spoleto Festival The Netherlands: Gaudeamus Festival in Amsterdam The USA (San Francisco), in the United Kingdom (Manchester), in Slovenia (Ljubljana) French radio channel France Musique provided his compositions airtime (broadcasting).

He died by suicide in September 2010 in Strasbourg, where he also lived.

Awards Prix de la Musique de l'Académie des Marches de l'Est (2001) Earplay Prize (2002) SACEM Hervé Dugardin prize (2007) André Caplet prize (2007)

He was selected by the Académie française in Rome to be in residence at the Villa Médicis in Rome for 18 months.

Works Illya 1996 Solo flute (4') Trois Arcanes 1996–1997 Flute in C (6') Misty Dawn 1997 Flute, clarinet, percussion and piano (5') Et je sus que j'étais la lune 1998 Alto flute (6') Soap Opera 1998 Solo cello (5') Skiaï 1998–1999 Five instruments (8') To Pierre-Yves Meugé World premiere: 11/05/1999 – Strasbourg, Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame – Ensemble du Conservatoire de Strasbourg Strofa II 1998 Female voice, violin and piano (5'30) World premiere: 11/05/2000 – Strasbourg, Oratoire du Temple-Neuf – Ensemble du Conservatoire de Strasbourg Strofa IIb 1998–2000 Female voice, alto flute (+ flute in C) and piano (5'30) World premiere: 02/07/2000 – Wangen (67), Vieux Freihof – Aline Metzinger (voice), Olivier Class (fl), Christophe Bertrand (pno) La Chute du Rouge 2000 Clarinet, cello, vibraphone and piano (11') To Ivan Fedele World premiere: 11/05/2000 – Strasbourg, Oratoire du Temple-Neuf – Ensemble du Conservatoire de Strasbourg Treis 2000 Violin, cello and piano (10') Honorable mention at the Gaudeamus Festival 2001 / First Prize Earplay 2002 To Rosalie Adolf, Anne-Cécile Litolf and Godefroy Vujicic World premiere: 07/10/2000 – Strasbourg, Musica Festival Dikha 2000–2001 Clarinet/bass clarinet and electronics (9'30) Composed during the "Cursus de composition et d'informatique musicale" at the IRCAM To Pierre Dutrieu World premiere: 15/06/2002 – Paris, Agora Festival, Espace de Projection de l'IRCAM – Pierre Dutrieu, clarinet Ektra 2001 Solo flute (5') To Olivier Class World premiere: 16/06/2001 – Strasbourg, Cercle européen, Académie des Marches de l'Est – Olivier Class, flute Full 2001 Four vibraphones, piano and eight amplified voices (15') Commissioned by Les Percussions de Strasbourg To Odile Charvet and the École des Percussions de Strasbourg World premiere: 20/01/2002 – Strasbourg, La Laiterie – Les Percussions de Strasbourg Yet 2002 20 musicians (10') Commissioned by Ensemble Intercontemporain World premiere: 29/09/2002 – Strasbourg, Musica Festival – Ensemble Intercontemporain, dir. Jonathan Nott Haos 2003 Solo piano (10') Commissioned by Festival Rendez-vous Musique Nouvelle, Forbach, to Laurent Cabasso World premiere: 09/11/2003 – Forbach, Festival RVMN – Raoul Jehl, piano Iôa 2003 8-part female choir (3') To Catherine Bolzinger World premiere: 23/05/2003 – Strasbourg, Palais du Rhin – Ensemble Vocal Féminin du Conservatoire de Strasbourg, dir. Catherine Bolzinger Aus 2004 Viola, soprano saxophone, clarinet (+ bass clarinet) and piano (8') Commissioned by Radio Berlin-Brandenburg To Philippe Hurel World premiere: 24/01/2004 – Berlin, Ultraschall-Festival – Ensemble Intégrales Virya 2004 Flute, clarinet (+ bass clarinet), percussion and piano (7') Commissioned by Francis Rueff World premiere: 19/03/2004 – Espace 110 Illzach – Ensemble In Extremis Mana 2004–2005 Large orchestra (10') Commissioned by Lucerne Festival To Pierre Boulez World premiere: 09/09/2005 – Lucerne KKL – Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, dir. Pierre Boulez Madrigal 2004–2005 Female voice and ensemble (11') Commissioned by the André Boucourechliev Foundation World premiere: 30/09/2005 – Strasbourg, Festival Musica – Accroche-Note Quatuor I 2005–2006 String quartet (20') Co-commissioned by Beethovenfest Bonn and Peter McBurney To the Arditti Quartet World premiere: 19/03/2006 – Brussels, Ars Musica Festival – Arditti Quartet Sanh 2006 Bass clarinet, cello and piano (11') Commissioned by French Ministry of Culture World premiere: 11/10/2007 – Strasbourg, Musica Festival / Accroche-Note Arashi 2007 Solo viola (6') To Thomas Monod World premiere: 29/02/2008 – Strasbourg, Mamcs – Thomas Monod, viola Vertigo 2006–2007 2 pianos and orchestra (20') Co-commissioned by French Ministry of Culture and Musica Festival World premiere: Musica Festival 2008 Hendeka 2007 Violin, viola, cello and piano (13') Kamenaia 2008 12 solo voices (6') Commissioned by Ensemble Musicatreize Dall'Inferno 2008 Flute, viola and harp (10') Satka 2008 Flute, clarinet, violin, cello, percussion and piano (13') Commissioned by Festival d'Aix-en-Provence Diadème 2008 Soprano, clarinet and piano (9') Commissioned by Ensemble Accroche-Note Haïku 2008 Piano (6') Scales 2008–2009 Large ensemble (20') Arka 2010 Soprano, horn, violin and piano Quatuor II 2010 String quartet (11') Ayas 2010 Brass and percussion (3') Okhtor 2010 Large orchestra (15')

Discography La Chute du rouge (2015) – Motus Christophe Bertrand — Écrits, entretiens, analyses et témoignages, ed. Olivier Class (2015) – Éditions Hermann (book) Solo Clarinet (2016) – Triton, Armand Angster (clarinet) Trio catch : Sanh (2017) – Col Legno L'intégrale de la musique instrumentale (2020) – Bastille Musicale L'oiseau rebelle (2021) – B Records, Mikhail Bouzine (piano) Lumières (2026) – Hortus, Lions Gate Trio