Composer, organist and improviser Thierry Escaich is a formative figure in contemporary music and one of the most important French composers of his generation. The three elements of Escaich's artistic work are inseparable and enable him to express himself as an interpreter, creator and contributor in the most diverse fields.
He presents himself to the Dresden audience in all three facets. He can be heard as a soloist in the organ concert on New Year's Eve; with the Quatuor Tchalik he will perform a concert for string quartet and organ. Together with the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra he will present his symphonic poem "La barque solaire". He shows that he is an outstanding improviser when he accompanies the silent film "Sunrise". His "Mecanic Song" for wind quintet and piano can be heard in the chamber concert with Philharmoniker:innen.
Escaich composes in many genres and forms. More than 100 works exist to date, attracting a wide audience. Drawing from Ravel, Messiaen, and Dutilleux, and infused with references to contemporary, popular, and sacred music, the distinctive sound world of Escaich's music is marked by an obsessive rhythmic impulse and a keen sense of musical architecture.
His oeuvre includes both intimate works and large-scale pieces such as the Cha-conne for orchestra, the oratorio "Le Dernier Évangile" and the double concerto for violin and cello "Miroir d'ombres". His first opera, "Claude," premiered to great acclaim at the Opéra de Lyon in 2013. His more recent works include the viola concerto "La Nuit des chants" for Antoine Tamestit and the organ concerto No. 3 "Quatre Visages du temps" (2017). Escaich's works have been performed by leading orchestras in Europe and North America and by musician:s such as Lisa Batiashvili and François Leleux, Valery Gergiev, Paavo Järvi, Alan Gilbert, Alain Altinoglu, Louis Langrée, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Emmanuelle Bertrand and Paul Meyer.
Thierry Escaich teaches composition and improvisation at the Paris Conservatoire, where he himself studied and received eight Premiers prix. In 2013 he was appointed to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris; in 2018 he was Featured Composer at the Radio France Présences Festival in Paris.
Works for organ are an important part of Escaich's music and are performed by organists around the world, including solo and chamber works, three concertos, and the symphonic poem "La Barque solaire" for organ and orchestra.
Thierry Escaich's path as a composer is closely linked to his activity as an organist, in which he is a representative of the French school of improvisation in the wake of Mau-rice Duruflé, whom he followed as organist of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont in Paris. He performs in international concerts, combining repertoire pieces with his own compositions and improvisations. His passion for cinema has led him to perform cine-concerts, improvised accompaniments on the organ and piano to silent films such as "Phantom of the Opera" and "Metropolis."
Many of Escaich's works have been recorded by Accord/Universal. Most recently, the CD "Baroque Song" was released on Sony Classical to critical acclaim. His 2011 CD "Les Nuits hallucinées" crowned his collaboration with the Orchestre National de Lyon and received numerous awards, including a "Choc de l'année" from Classica magazine as the outstanding release of the year.