Michael Ranta

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Michael W. Ranta (born April 17, 1942 in Duluth , Minnesota ) is an American composer and percussionist .

Life

Ranta studied drums with Jack Mackenzie and Thomas Siwe and composition with Lejaren Hiller and Herbert Brün at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1960 to 1967 . He also worked on productions by his teacher Harry Partch , whose studio assistant he was from 1964 to 1965. From 1967 to 1970 he lived in Cologne and worked a. a. with Mauricio Kagel , Helmut Lachenmann , Josef Anton Riedl and Karlheinz Stockhausen .

As a member of the Stockhausen group, Ranta took part in the 1970 World Exhibition in Osaka . In 1971 he worked in the electronic studio of the Japanese radio. As a soloist he played Jean-Claude Eloys Yo-In at concerts in Europe and Japan and Lachenmanns Air at the Steirischer Herbst in Graz; In 1970 he was involved as an interpreter on the recording of Riedl's Paper Music . In 1973 he worked in the Wired improvisation ensemble with Karl-Heinz Böttner and Mike Lewis (LP for Wergo -Box Free Improvisation ). From 1973 to 1979 he lived in Taiwan . Here he taught at the Art Academy, the College of Chinese Culture and was a professor of music history at the Gwang-ren Academy .

Since 1979 Ranta has lived in Cologne as a composer and drummer. Here he founded the percussion ensemble Transit , with which he a. a. Performed at the Darmstadt Summer Courses in 1980 and at the Cologne Drum Festival in 1981. He also worked with the Tanzforum and the Urania Theater in Cologne, wrote the ballet Die Mauer in 1989, commissioned by the Ulm Opera, and composed the music for Jaroslav Poncar's film Tibet-Tor zum Himmel . For the 750th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral in 1998, he performed with Günther Oellers ' Die Steine ​​der Singenden .

Works

  • Horinouchi for solo winds, two guitars and eight percussionists, 1971
  • Percussion Duo II , 1973
  • Transits II for two to twelve percussionists and tape, 1975
  • Transits I for solo winds, guitar, four percussionists and nine strings, 1976
  • At night for nine percussionists and synthesizers, 1976
  • Aspects II for synthesizer and three percussionists, 1976
  • Mharuva for marimba solo, 1977
  • Seven Pieces for Three percussionists , 1977
  • Three Pieces for Seven percussionists , 1977
  • Transits III for piano solo with electronics, 1978
  • The Wall , Ballet, 1989
  • Yuen Shan for four percussion sets and tape, 2005

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Ranta, Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ranta, Mike; Ranta, Michael W.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American composer and percussionist
DATE OF BIRTH April 17, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Duluth, Minnesota