Composer and conductor
Biography:
Composer and conductor William Blank was born in Montreux, Switzerland, in 1957. His works are performed throughout Europe, Japan and the United States (in venues such as Victoria Hall in Geneva, KKL Lucerne, Tonhalle Zurich, Stadtcasino Basel, Philharmonie de Paris, Koningin Elisabethzaal in Antwerp, Wigmore Hall in London, Jacqueline du Pré Music Building in Oxford, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Wiener Musikverein, Festspielhaus in Salzburg, Kulturpalast Dresden, Mariinsky Concert Hall in St. Petersburg, Avery Fisher Hall in New York, Philharmonie in Shanghai and Suntory Hall in Tokyo) – by conductors such as Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Dennis Russell Davies, Jean Deroyer, Heinz Holliger, Armin Jordan, Fabio Luisi, Bruno Mantovani, Kent Nagano, Zsolt Nagy, Pascal Rophé, Pinchas Steinberg and Antony Wit.
As a conductor and composer, he works with numerous ensembles and performers, including: Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Basel Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Bern, MDR Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble intercontemporain, Ensemble Contrechamps, Collegium Novum Zurich, Swiss Chambers Soloists, pre-art soloists, Quatuor Sine Nomine, Amar Quartet, Boris Previšić, Matthias Arter, Daniel Ottensamer, Alison Balsom, David Lively, Sergej Tchirkov, Luigi Attademo, Mira Wang, Geneviève Strosser, Jan Vogler, Martina Schucan, Rosemary Hardy, Natalia Zagorinskaja, Hélène Fauchère and Barbara Zanichelli.
In 2001, William Blank received the Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Prize for his life's work. During a residency with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, he wrote Exodes, a work dedicated to Kofi Annan, which premiered in New York in October 2003 on United Nations Day. In 2005, he received a scholarship from the Fondation Leenards. He has given numerous masterclasses in Zurich, Bern, Paris, Lyon, Berlin, St Petersburg, Tokyo, Shanghai, São Paulo, as well as at the Juilliard School of Music in New York and Stony Brook University. As musical and artistic director of the Lemanic Modern Ensemble since 2007, he has premiered numerous works by composers such as Dayer, Gervasoni, Fedele, Kyburz, Mantovani, Murail, Naon, Solbiati and many young composers. Since 2001, he has taught composition and analysis at the Lausanne Conservatory of Music (HEMU), where he directs the Ensemble Contemporain, which he founded in 2003.
Flow ∙ OPHRYS ∙ Refrain II ∙ (a)round:
