Sandeep Bhagwati
born 1963 in Mumbai (Bombay) / India Music and ScoresIndian-German composer of mostly stage, chamber and multimedia works that have been performed worldwide; he is also active as a conductor, theatre director, university researcher, curator, performer, visual artist and writer.
Bhagwati studied Composition with Edison Denisov and Boguslaw Schäffer and Conducting with Kurt Prestel at the Salzburg Mozarteum from 1984-87 and Composition with Wilhelm Killmayer at the Musikhochschule Munich from 1987-90, where he graduated with distinction. 1995-96 Cursus annuel de Composition et Informatique Musicale, IRCAM, Paris, where he encountered Brian Ferneyhough and Tristan Murail.
Among his numerous honors are the European Composition Prize from the Academy of Arts Berlin (1991, for Variations) and the Ernst-von-Siemens-Förderpreis (1992, 2003).
He has served as a fellow at IRCAM (1997-98) and ZKM in Karlsruhe (1998-99) and has served as composer-in-residence at Royaumont (1997), the Abbaye de la Prée (1997) and Darmstadt (2003), to the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn (1999-2000), at the Villa Concordia Bamberg (2004/5), to the California Institute of the Arts (2007), to Turku Music Academy (2009) and to Heidelberg University (2009).
His mostly evening-length compositions have been featured at many leading festivals, including the Munich Biennale (1998), Éclat Stuttgart (1999), Millennium Sangat Mumbai (2000), maerzmusik Berlin (2002, 2005), Darmstadt Spring Festival (2003), Venice Biennale (2006), World New Music Festival (2006) and Wien Modern (2008). His in situ installation-performances could be experienced in Klagenfurt (1994/2005), Linz (1995), Munich (1995), Paris (1997), Stuttgart (1999), Ulm (2000), Berlin (2000), Karlsruhe (2002), Montreal (2007), Los Angeles (2007) and Vienna (2008)
As a writer, Sandeep Bhagwati has written many articles for European and Indian publications, many of which appear in the collection Komponieren im 21. Jahrhundert (1998, Kunstuniversität Graz). He is also a regular contributor of music programs to German public-radio stations. As a performer, he has often participated in many aspects of his own installation-performances, and has also designed and redefined concert spaces for his site-specific works and, as a stage director, has directed several plays, music theatres and performance events. As a conductor, he has mainly led performances of his own work.
He served as artistic director of the concert series Kammer-Musik-Utopien in Munich in 1989-90 and with Moritz Eggert, he co-founded the biannual new music festival A•DEvantgarde in Munich in 1991 and served as its artistic director from 1991-95. He also assisted Hans Werner Henze and Gerd Kühr with workshops at the Münchener Biennale from 1992-94 and founded the festival KlAngRiffe – Festival for Risky Music in Karlsruhe in 2003.
With Gauri Tripathi and the Ondine Ensemble, he gave composition and dance workshops for children in London in 1993 and 1997. He led zukunft@bphil composition workshops for Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 2004/2005.
He has served as the curator of contemporaryXchange since 2001, a project of Ensemble Modern and the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, which promotes the creative exchange of Indian musicians and new music and has been highlighted at festivals throughout Europe and India, most recently at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam in 2008. In addition, he served as the curator of the festival Rasalîla-Spiel der Gefühle in Berlin in 2003, which featured the results of this exchange process, as well as newly-commissioned works by composers of the Indian diaspora.
Since 2006, he is Canada Research Chair for Inter-X Art at Concordia University Montréal where he directs matralab, a research node for interdisciplinary, intercultural, intermedia art. He taught as Professor für Komposition und Multimedia at the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe from 2000-2003. He also taught as a visiting professor of electronic music at the Institut für Elektronische Musik of the Universität Graz in 1998.
CREATIVE WORK
Works in progress:
2013 “Preparations for Immortality” (inspired by Peter Handke) Experimental Music Theatre. State Opera Wuppertal (Germany)
2012 “Limits & Renewals” for 6 singers and large orchestra. Commissioned by SouthWest German Radio (SWR)
2011 Untitled concert theatre work. Commissioned by Ensemble Transmission Montreal
2010 Untitled comprovisation work. Commissioned by Ensemble Supermusique Montreal
2010 “Nexus” for 5 wirelessly interconnected wandering musicians. Commissioned by Concordia University Montreal for the Canadian Congress of the Humanities 2010.
Completed works (selection):
2009 “Fuga Nancarrowiana” for keyboard instruments. Not yet performed
2009 “Song for Zoë” for soprano, oboe and gong. First performance [FP], Redpath Hall Montréal, 14.11.2009
2009 “Souvenir de Wien” for string quartet. FP Temple Lutry (Switzerland) 01.08.2009 Beethoven Quartett
2009 “Stele III for String Orchestra” Commissioned by Turku Music Academy. FP Turku Music Academy (Finland) 28.04.2009 Turku Academy Chambe Orchestra, cond.by Sandeep Bhagwati
2009 “Wald-Forest” live-electronic interactive sound environment for an interactive light architecture by Chris Ziegler. FP Montréal, hexagram Black Box, March 5, 2009
2009 “Stele I Ectoplasm” for prepared piano, jazz trumpet, 4 percussionists and 8 channel live-electronics. FP Montréal (Oscar Peterson Hall) 29.01.2009 Linda Brady (piano), Charles Ellison (trumpet), Sandeep Bhagwati, Isak Goldschneider, Krista Martynes, Julie Loranger (claves) Navid Navab (live electronics)
2008 “Racines Ephemeres (64 variations on a theme by Claude Vivier)“ for 8 wandering musicians, obbligato conductor and live-electronics. Commissioned by Sammlung Essl Foundation for Wien Modern Festival. FP Essl Foundation, Klosterneuburg/Vienna (Austria) 15.11.2008 Nouvel Ensemble Modern Montreal, Lorraine Vaillancourt.
2008 “Transience“ for Koto and Recorder. Commissioned by Makiko Goto. FP Aug 24, 2008 Nürnberg (Germany) Jeremias Schwarzer and Makiko Goto
2004-2008 “Prinzessin Süssüsan” opera for 10 soloists, choir and orchestra. Commissioned by the State Opera Bonn, Germany. FP Bonn State Opera 22.02.2008 -15.4.2008 (16 performances)
2007 “ Vineland Stelae” for trombone solo, 8 master soloists from different ethnic traditions, 8 orchestral groups and 8 channel live-electronics. Commissioned and funded by the California Institute of the Arts, the Multi-Arts Production Fund and Meet the Composer. FP R.E.D.C.A.T. Theatre Los Angeles, 1.-4. November 2007, Miks Svoboda Trombone, Ashish Khan, Alfred Ladzekpo, Vinny Golia, David Johnson, I Nyoman Wenten, Swapan Chaudhuri, Daniel Rosenboom, Vicky Ray, New Century Players , Calfornia EAR Unit, CalArts Ensemble
2007 „Scardanelli Sonata“ for keyboard instruments. FP as piano piece in a movie called “One Minute More”, Pianist: Guy Livingston, Filmmaker: Nelleke Koop.
2007 “Exactly the same only a little better” Sound installation /Exhibition /Multiples. First exhibited: Donald Browne Gallery Montreal
2006 “Stele III for James Tenney” for string quartet. FP Montreal, Belgo Building 21.04.2007, Bozzini Quartet
2006 „Atish-e-Zaban“ Fires of the Tongue“ for 6 voices a capella (SMATBarB), Commissioned by the World New Music Festival 2006. FP 26.7.2006, Neue Vocalsolisten, Theaterhaus Stuttgart
2006 „illusies van harder en zacht“ chamber music for chinese and western instruments, several versions (translations), Comissioned by Asian Culture Link Vienna FP 21.4.2006, ensemble on-line vienna, Haus der Kulturen der Welt Berlin
2005 „cantus ad ventum 2005“ (see also: Installations 1993) for soli (SATB), mixed choir, organ and orchestra, commissioned by the „Der Süden lebt!“ festival, Klagenfurt, Austria FP by the H2O2-quartet, Wulfenia Concert Choir, Klagenfurt Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Sandeep Bhagwati 7.10.2005 St.Theresia Church, Klagenfurt/Austria
2005 „inside a native land“ concert text installation for trombone and eight orchestral groups with 8 channel live electronics. Commissioned for Mike Svoboda by the State of Baden Württemberg FP by Mike Svoboda and the Ensemble Mosaik Berlin 12.3.2005 Heiligkreuzkirche Berlin
2004 „MORA“ for trombone, bassclarinet, cello and obbligato conductor. Commissioned by Webern Einklang Composer’s Forum Mittersill FP by Ensemble „die reihe“ Vienna FP 18.9.2004 Town Hall Mittersill, Austria
2004 „Petits Traités I-IV“for two electric guitars, Commissioned by the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts, FP 25.6.2004 by Duo „shraeng“
2004 „Cliff!“ Audio Art work after a poem by Ulrike Draesner,.Commissioned by the National German Radio (Deutschlandradio Berlin). Produced in my own studio, final mix in the Deutschlandradio studios. First broadcast 5.11.2004 by Deutschlandradio Berlin
2003 „Rasas“ Multiple Composition for Ensemble. Commissioned by the Millennium Programme of the City of Frankfurt and by the Ensemble Modern. FP by the Ensemble Modern conducted by Kasper de Roo
PATH 1 7.5. 2003 Alte Oper Frankfurt PATH 1.1 3.11.2003 Haus der Kulturen der Welt Berlin
AVATAR 1 „Illusionen aus Stille und Lärm“ 12.1.2005 State Opera Karlsruhe
LARGE SCALE INSTALLATIONS, PERFORMANCES
2002„Die Musik der Ghat Biwa“ pseudo-ethnological exhibition in the Royal Tropical Museum Amsterdam with audio environment
2002 >>forward I 20.02.2002 I rewind << palindromatic long night at the Music University Karlsruhe with Gérard Buquet, Ulay, Wolfgang Rihm, Joachim Krebs, Javier Hagen and many student ensembles as well as performers from the HfG School of Design
2000″neither here nor there” large scale site-specific multi media musik/video/dance performance for the House of World Cultures Berlin with Roman Bunka, Suguru Goto, Jagdish Mistry, Gauri Tripathi, Rupert & Doris Huber and Grace Yoon
2000″making music” Stadthaus Ulm 7 site-specific multi-media performances and space installations with Anja Flessa, Denis Lakey, Jürgen Grözinger and the European Music Project conducted by Johannes Rieger
PUBLICATIONS AND LECTURES 2003-2008
2009 PAPER “Gesturing in a realm of shadows. On theatre about displacement” presented at the conference “Remembering War and Genocide”, Montreal, Nov 5-8, 2009
2009 LECTURE SERIES “Inter-traditional Composition - Creative Dissonances and Illusionary Consonances” or Series of 8 Lectures and Workshop at the Karl Jaspers Centre for Transcultural Studies at Heidelberg University Germany, June/July 2009
2009 STATEMENT “Orchestres au-dela du iPod” for Guide des Tendances 2009, Editions Isabelle Quentin, Montreal
2008 PAPER “Towards Interactive Onscreen Notations for Comprovisation in Large Ensembles” at International Symposium on Systems Research in the Arts and Humanities ‘On Interaction/ Interactivity in Music, Design, Visual and Performative Arts’ Baden Baden (Germany) July 2008 (published in Proceedings)
2008 PAPER “Composing through the Realm of Shadows: Conceptual Layers in Inside A Native Land and Vineland Stelae” at Faire Oeuvre, Transparence Et Opacité“ Conference at Université de Laval, Quebec City, May 2008 (in print (Proceedings))
2007 LECTURE “Composing Home – Strategies for the Identity Challenged” Lecture in the “Defiant Imagination” Series (Concordia University/Montreal Museum of Modern Art)
2006 LECTURE “Sein Zuhause Komponieren – Musik erfinden für entfremdetes Hören” (Composing One’s Home – Inventing Music for De-Alienated Listeners”) Distinguished “Kammergespräch” Lecture at the University of Arts Berlin
2006 LECTURE “neues verlangen, anderes verzehren, gewohntes verführen” Komponieren im globalen Zusammenhang (”new desires, different obsessions, the usual seduction” – composing within a global context) Keynote Lecture at the 2006 Biennale for Contemporary Music Heidelberg
2006 ARTICLE „Asien – Musik der Zukunft“ („Asia - Music of the Future“) Essay on the current situation of music in Asia and its impact on Europe. Published in the catalogue of the Asia department of the Übersee-Museum Bremen („Overseas Museum“)
2005 INTERVIEW „Utopie Chorklang“ (Choir Sound as Utopia) Radio Interview by Doreothea Bossert on my personal view on composing for professional choirs. Published in the annual programme book 2005/2006 of the „SWR Vocal Ensemble Stuttgart“ and broadcast on South West German Radio, Dec 8, 2005
2005 ARTICLE „Träumende Gärten“ (Dreaming Gardens) Report on my Outreach-Project with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and 3 Berlin Primary Schools on works by Toru Takemitsu. Published in the bi-monthly magazine of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, March/April 2005
2005 STATEMENT „Maschinen zur Erzeugung von Stille“ (Machines for the Production of Silence) Response to a question sent to 7 prominent German composers by the architectural magazine „bauwelt“: „How should new halls for contemporary music and multimedia art be designed ?“Published in „bauwelt“ 2/2005
2004 ARTICLE „untrennbar, jedes für sich…“ Über die neue Anmut zwischen Text und Musik („indivisible, each by itself…“ On the new state of grace between text and music) Published in the Programme Book of the New Music Festival „MaerzMusik 2005“ (a division of the Berlin Festival)
2004 ARTICLE „Wenn der Schuh drückt – Erinnerungen an die Zukunft des Exils, der Heimat und des Komponierens“ (When the shoe pinches – Memories of the Future of Exile, Home and Composing) Published in the Programme Book of the New Music Festival „MaerzMusik 2004“ (a division of the Berlin Festival)
2004 ARTICLE „Musik - eine Weltsprache ?“ (Is music really an universal language ?) Published in „Zeitschrift für Kulturaustausch“, the official publication of the „German Institute for International Relations“(IFA) 2/2004
2004 ARTICLE „Meistern,Warten,Vergessen,Finden-12 Bedingungen für interkulturellen Musikdialog“ (Mastery,Waiting,Forgetting, Finding – 12 conditions for any intercultural musical dialogue) Published by the Foundation for Culture and Development, Switzerland in the book „Kathak, Soukous, Bachata“ (French and German editions)
2003 ARTICLE in „The World of Music“ Magazine 2/2003 „Stepping on the Cracks – How I compose with different musics in mind“(also in German and slightly rewritten as „Die Neuerfindung des Raga“ (The Re- Invention of Raga) in „Neue Zeitschrift for Musik 2/2003“)
2003 KEYNOTE LECTURE SERIES „Komponieren im Niemandsland“ (Composing in No Man’s Land) 52nd Spring Session of the Darmstadt „Institute for New Music and Music Pedagogy“(3 2h-lectures) 1 Klangästhetik als musikalische Grammatik (Sound Aesthetics as a Musical Grammar) 2 Indische Musik als alternatives Musiksystem (Indian Music as an Alternative Music System) 3 Babel Revisited; subsequently published in the proceedings (Book(ed. Rudolf Frisius) „world@music“, Schott 2004)
2003 ARTICLE„Ihr habt das Geld, wir die Musik“(You have the money, we have the music) Full page newspaper article about the situation of Western Classical Music in Contemporary India In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 26.10.2003
2003 LECTURE „Imagine Music/Image ‘n Music/ Image in Music“ , in: Lecture Series surrounding the Exhibition „Iconoclash“ ZKM Karlsruhe
