Roland Freisitzer (Austria - exploring Brazil)
Roland Freisitzer was born on 16th of August 1973 in Vienna. After first musical experiences in Warsaw and Cape Town he began his musical studies in 1987 at the Vienna Conservatoire.
In 1989 he moved to Moscow to start composition studies , first privately with Alfred Schnittke and then at the Moscow State Conservatoire in the class of Prof. Edison Denisov, studies which he interrupted in 1993 due to conducting .
Since 1991 performances of his music, as well as first concerts as conductor, with most major Russian orchestras and many orchestras in Europe . In 1992 he founded and led the first international festival for contemporary music “Moscow Modern” as artistic director. In 1994, with the help of Russian sponsors and the Mayor of the City of Moscow, Mr. Y.Lujkov, he founded “The Moscow Orchestra”, which he led as music director and principal conductor until 1999. Between 1992 and 1997 he was “First Guest Conductor” of the Armenian Philharmonic and Azerbaijan Philharmonic Orchestras.
In 1991 he attended master-classes with Krzysztof Penderecki, Marco Stroppa and Magnus Lindberg. From 1992 - 1994 he also studied privately with Avet Terterjan. In 1996 he continued his composition studies at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory in the class of Prof. A.Mnzkanjan, studies which he finished at the Baku State Music Academy in the class of Prof. Faradj Karaev in 1999.
His music has been performed by ensembles , conductors and soloists such as Christine Whittlesey (soprano), Maria Fedotova (flute), Michelle Lee (flute), Robert Aitken (flute), Alexander Wagendristel (flute), Paul Kaiser (oboe), Klaus Lienbacher (oboe) , Staffan Martensson (clarinet), Evgenia Epshtein (violin), Julia Purgina (viola), Henrik Frendin (viola), Maria Frodl (violoncello), conductors Peter Keuschnig, Igor Dronov, Gottfried Rabl, Michael Finnissy and Christoph Campestrini, Ensemble Kontrapunkte (Vienna), Ensemble “Die Reihe” (Vienna), GAGEEGO ! ensemble (Gothenburg), KammarensembleN (Stockholm), Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble 88 (Netherlands), Trio Obscura (Stockholm), “studio new music moscow”, IXION ensemble (London), Niederoestereichisches Tonkuenstlerorchester, ALEA ensemble (Skopie-Macedonia) and Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa.
In 2002, together with Alexander Wagendristel and Thomas Heinisch, he (re)founded “ensemble reconsil vienna” (www.reconsil.com) with which he has since given more than 30 world premieres in Vienna and on tours.
Together with Thomas Heinisch he was responsible for the programming of the last “Lange Nacht der Neuen Klänge” in 2002.
His works have been performed at Festivals like Wien Modern and the Dresdner Tage für zeitgemäße Musik. The famous Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna commissioned him a work for a concert in honor of the 80th birthday of Friedrich Cerha.
In January 2007, ORF (Austrian radio) released a portrait CD dedicated to the music of Roland Freisitzer.
In May 2008 he was one of the featured composers (with Johannes Maria Staud, Olga Neuwirth and Kurt Schwertsik) at “Musik unserer Zeit” in Münster.
In 2009, Roland Freisitzer was granted the Austrian State Stipendium for composers and won the “Outstanding 2009” award of the Republic of Austria for composers.
Upcoming commissions include a work for Ensemble Modern of Frankfurt for premiere in March 2012, a saxophone concerto for Gerald Preinfalk and Ensemble “die Reihe” (premiere 02.11.2011), a work for 2 actors and ensemble for Ensemble Kontrapunkte (premiere 05.12.2011), a work for cello sextet for “Les Piques” and 2 works for “ensemble reconsil”.
Roland Freisitzer is published exclusively by Apoll Edition Wien (www.apoll-edition.com).