Sebastian Rivas

Saturday 6 October 2018, 8:00 pm
Teatro Goldoni

Sebastian Rivas will be awarded the Silver Lion at the 62nd International Festival of Contemporary Music on October 6th: that same evening, there will be a performance of Aliados, “a real-time opera”, as the sub-title reads, focused on the historic figures of Margaret Thatcher and Augusto Pinochet.

“Born in Argentina but French by choice, in his music Sebastian Rivas merges the Hispanic-American ‘duende’ with the systematic approach of the contemporary western world, expressing the vocation of thought to perpetually regenerate the warp and weft of disquietude. His overwhelming musical talent combined with the most enlightened issues of social commitment make him one of the most interesting and innovative protagonists of young music in our time” (from the motivation).

Franco-Argentinian composer and sound artist Sebastian Rivas began his musical studies by learning the saxophone, first oriented by rock, jazz and improvised music. He studied Composition at the Faculty of Music of the Universidad Catolica de Buenos Aires with Gerardo Gandini among others, and in Paris: First Prize in Music Analysis at the Boulogne-Billancourt Conservatory, Composition Diploma with Sergio Ortega. Graduated with honors in 2003 from the Composition Department of the Strasbourg Conservatory. Participation in workshops (Royaumont, Acanthes, Ictus Seminar, Darmstadt) thanks to grants, working with Klaus Huber, Jonathan Harvey, Philippe Manoury, Toshio Hosokawa, Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Jarrell, François Paris.
In 2003, 2004 and 2008: Laureate of the IRCAM/Ensemble Intercontemporain International reading panel, for Tremplin and for the one-year composition and computer music programs. Laureate of the International Society for Contemporary Music ISCM in 2004. Winner of the prestigious Prix Italia 2012 for the radio opera La Nuit Hallucinée, produced by Radio France. Fellow Composer of the French Academy in Rome-Villa Medici from 2013 to 2015.
Work for orchestra recommended by the 63rd International Rostrum of Composers 2016/ UNESCO.
Collaborations with disciplines such as Dance, Video, and Theatre. Teaching composition and electroacoustic music since 2004.