Michael Pelzel

Michael Pelzel (born March 20, 1978 in Rapperswil , Switzerland ) is a Swiss organist, composer and music theorist. He lives in Stäfa on Lake Zurich .

Life

From 1998 to 2009 he completed vocational training at the music academies in Lucerne, Basel, Stuttgart, Berlin and Karlsruhe. He studied piano with Ivan Klánský , organ with Martin Sander , Ludger Lohmann and Guy Bovet and composition with Dieter Ammann , Detlev Müller-Siemens , Georg Friedrich Haas , Hanspeter Kyburz and Wolfgang Rihm as well as music theory with Roland Moser and Balz Trümpy . Michael Pelzel works as a freelance composer and organist for the Reformed parish of Stäfa on Lake Zurich. He developed an active international concert activity as an organist. He also teaches music theory at conservatoires and has held workshops for composition and organ at the University of Stellenbosch , Potchefstroom and Pretoria (South Africa). As an organist, Pelzel has been a guest at the Swiss Church, London and the cathedrals of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sydney and Cape Town as well as the Magadino Organ Festival, the Mariinsky Theater in St.Petersburg, the Berlin Cathedral, the St. Peter, Church of Our Lady Zurich, Solothurn Cathedral and the Cathedral Church in Visby, Gotland (Sweden).

Michael Pelzel's compositions are interpreted by ensembles such as the Collegium Novum Zurich , aequatuor-Ensemble, Zurich, ensemble VORTEX, Geneva, ensemble zora, Aarau, ENSEMBLE PHOENIX, Basel, ensemble alea III, Boston, ensemble recherche, Freiburg im Breisgau, ensemble mosaik, Berlin, Klangforum wien, Linea Ensemble, Strasbourg, quatuor diotima, Paris, ensemble intercontemporain, Paris, the Team Chor, Jona, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and the Sinfonieorchester Basel . His works can be heard at festivals such as Ensemblia , Mönchengladbach; Mouvements, Saarbrücken; Musica Viva, Munich; Darmstadt summer courses for new music; Donaueschinger Musiktage ; IGNM-Basel; IGNM Bern; Wien Modern; Klangspuren, Schwaz Tirol; Archipelago, Geneva; Tremplin, Paris; Lucerne Festival; Tel Aviv Museum, Tel Aviv; Art on Main, Johannesburg.

Works

Solo pieces

• "... psalmody volubile ..." Flute / flute (fl) 2003
• "... trois études-bagatelles ..." Orgel / organ (org) 2004
• "Toccata fluida" Organ / organ (org) 2004
• "... trois bagatelles perforées ..." Akkordeon / accordion (acc) 2008
• "Brushing" piano (pno) 2009
• "As time goes by" violoncello 2018

Chamber music

• "... figures perforées ..." (fl, clar, vl, vc, pno) 2006
• "... trio volubile ..." (fl, vc, org) 2007
• "Corrugated passacaille" (sax, vc, acc) 2009
• "Chant fractal" (above, from left) 2009
• "Blue and monochrome" (clar, sax, acc) 2009
• "Slivers of Sound" (string quartet) 2009
• "... mélodie fractal ..." (bass, tr, hrn, pos, org)
• "Piano Operation" (soprano, ob, vc, pno) 2009
• "... vers le vent ..." (string quartet) 2010
• “Gruis” 3 short pieces (tr, hrn) 2010
• "Erlkönig" (Goethe) (baritone voice, fl, clar, vl, vc, pno) 2012
• "... vague écume des mers ..." (string quartet) 2013
• "Alf" Sonata 2014
• "Carnaticaphobia" 2017
• "twenty piano pieces" 2018

Ensemble works / ensemble pieces

• "... par la brume flottante ..." (fl, clar, vl, vla, vc, db, perc) 2004
• "... danses oniriques ..." (fl, clar, perc, 2 pnos, vl, vla, vc, db, perc) 2005, with two pianos sixth-tone apart
• "... sentiers tortueux ..." (fl, ob, clar, perc, 2 pnos, vl, vla, vc, db, perc) 2007
• "... along 101 ..." (fl, ob, clar, fag, hrn, tr, pos, pno, cel, 2 perc, vl, vla, vc, db) 2008
• "Sempiternal lock-in" (fl, ob, clar, fag, hrn, tr, pos, 2 pnos / cel, hp, 2 perc, 2 vl, vla, vc, db) (short (12 ') and long (35 ') versions available) 2012
• "Sculture di suono" in memoriam Giacinto Scelsi (3 fl, ob, 2 cl, sax, 2 hrn, trp, 2 pos, 2 vl, 2 vla, 2 vc, 2 db) 2013
• "Dance of the Magic Waterbells" 2014
• "Chromosphère" in memoriam György Ligeti

Orchestra, choral works, concerts / orchestra, choir pieces, concertos

• "... méandre inondé ..." (clar. And orchestra) 2005
• "Dreamland" (semiprofessional choir and orchestra) 2008
• "Chatoiements à l'air" (chamber orchestra) 2012
• "Sculture di suono" in memoriam Giacinto Scelsi (3fl, ob, 2 cl, sax, 2 hrn, trp, 2 pos, 6 vl, 6 vla, 6 vc, 4 db) 2013
• "Gravity's Rainbow" 2016
• "Danse diabolique" 2016
• "Mysterious Anjuna Bell" 2016
• “Mysterious Benares Bells” (for orchestra with electronics) 2019

Opera, musical theater

• “Last Call”, musical theater in three acts, libretto: Dominik Riedo , premier June 28, 2019 Zurich Opera House

Awards

• 2003 Prize winner at the composition competition for new music with historical instruments of the Ensemblia Mönchengladbach
• 2005 laureate at the composition competition of Musica Viva, Munich
• 2005 laureate at the composition competition of the Christoph Delz Foundation, Basel
• 2006 study award from the Kiefer Hablitzel Foundation , Bern
• 2006 working year of the cultural department of the canton of St. Gallen
• 2007 Study Prize from the Kiefer-Hablitzel Foundation, Bern
• 2007 Prize winner at the composition competition Jurgenson Competition, Moscow
• 2007 Prize winner at the Edisson Wassiljewitsch Denisov composition competition , Tomsk
• 2009 Prize winner at the Music Today composition competition, Seoul
• 2009 Culture Prize of the City of Rapperswil-Jona
• 2010 winner of the Marguerite Staehelin Prize, two-week stay at Casa Pantrovà, Carona TI.
• 2011 Busoni Composition Prize from the Academy of Arts , Berlin
• 2012 winner of the Hans Balmer Prize for artistic organ playing (Basel)
• 2012 winner of the UBS advancement award
• 2012 working year for the city of Zurich
• 2015 Composition Prize of the State Capital Stuttgart
• 2017 Composer Award from the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation
• 2018 GEMA music author award
• 2020 residency scholarship Herrenhaus Edenkoben (Rhineland-Palatinate)

Web links

• Homepage of Michael Pelzel
• Michael Pelzel at SWR

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Tobias Gerosa: Dawn of an enigmatic end time. Michael Pelzel, Dominik Riedo: Last Call. In: The German Stage . June 29, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2019 .