Johannes Maria Staud

Johannes Maria Staud (born 17 August 1974) is an Austrian composer. His works have been performed internationally by major orchestras, ensembles, and soloists, and he has received several composition prizes.

Biography

Staud was born on 17 August 1974 in Innsbruck. He studied musicology and philosophy in Vienna before continuing his composition studies with Brian Ferneyhough and Michael Jarrell at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, and later with Hanspeter Kyburz at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin. He is also a co-founder of the Vienna-based composers' group Gegenklang.

Career

Early major works Staud achieved early international recognition with Apeiron (2005), commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic and premiered under Sir Simon Rattle and Segue (2006), for violoncello and orchestra, written for Heinrich Schiff and the Vienna Philharmonic under Daniel Barenboim at the Salzburg Festival.

Later career In 2010–2011, Staud served as Capell-Compositeur of the Staatskapelle Dresden. Other significant works of the 2010s include Auf die Stimme der weißen Kreide (Specter I–III) (2015), premiered at Festival Musica in Strasbourg, and the diptych Par ici ! – Par là ! (2015), performed in full by Ensemble Intercontemporain at the Acht Brücken festival in Cologne.

Staud has also composed extensively for opera. Die Antilope (2014), on a libretto by Durs Grünbein, was premiered at the Lucerne Festival. His opera Die Weiden (2018), also with a text by Grünbein, was staged at the Vienna State Opera under conductor Ingo Metzmacher. Other collaborations with Grünbein include the monodrama Der Riss durch den Tag (2011), written for Bruno Ganz.

His orchestral work Stromab (2017) was premiered by the Royal Danish Orchestra under Alexander Vedernikov, followed by performances in Vienna, Cleveland, and New York. In 2018, the Vienna Philharmonic premiered his work Scattered Light. Later works include Terra pinguis (2019) for the Munich Chamber Orchestra, Terra fluida (2019) for the Boulanger Trio, and Epicentre. Seismic construction in 3 parts (2020) for three percussionists.

Recent vocal and ensemble works include Listen, Revolution (we’re buddies, see –) (2021), premiered by ensemble xx. jahrhundert at Wien Modern, and two settings of William Carlos Williams: Jittering Directions (2022) for soprano and orchestra, premiered by Yeree Suh and the Vienna Symphony under Andrés Orozco-Estrada, and Once Anything Might Have Happened (2022) for soprano, horn, ensemble, and live electronics, commissioned by Ensemble Intercontemporain and IRCAM. In 2023 his music theatre work Missing in Cantu, with a libretto by Thomas Köck, premiered at the Kunstfest Weimar.

Current projects In 2023 the percussion concerto Whereas the Reality Trembles was premiered by Christoph Sietzen and the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst. The work, co-commissioned by Wiener Konzerthaus, BR, WDR, and SWR, has been performed during the 2024–25 season in Vienna, Munich, Essen, Stuttgart, and Hamburg. Other projects include Die schöne Müllerin / These Fevered Days, an instrumental version of Schubert's cycle interwoven with settings of Emily Dickinson texts.

Since 2018 he has been Professor of Composition at the Mozarteum University Salzburg.

Awards 2001 – Special music prize of the Austrian Republic 2012 –

Discography

Johannes Maria STAUD, including A map is not the territory; Bewegungen; Polygon. Musik für Klavier und Orchester; Black Moon; Berenice. Lied vom Verschwinden, Marino Formenti (piano), Petra Hoffmann (soprano), Ernesto Molinari (bass clarinet), Thomas Larcher (piano), Klangforum Wien (Sylvain Cambreling), Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bertrand de Billy), CD KAIROS, 2003, n° 0012392KAI. Johannes Maria STAUD, Apeiron, including Apeiron; Incipit III; Towards a Brighter Hue; Violent Incidents; Peras. Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Sir Simon Rattle), WDR Symphony Orchestra (Lothar Zagrosek), Windkraft Tirol (Kasper de Roo), Marcus Weiss (saxophon), Uwe Dierksen (trombone), Marino Formenti (piano), Ernst Kovacic (violin), CD KAIROS, 2007, n° 0012672KAI.