Benoît Moreau works in the fields of improvised music and composition. Using the piano, the clarinet, electronic instruments or writing, he also confronts music to film, performance and theater. He is a co-founder of the Rue du Nord association dedicated to improvised music.
He graduated in composition from the Conservatory of Geneva, Switzerland. He has studied instrumental and electroacoustic composition with Michael Jarrell, Eric Gaudibert, Luiz Naon and Eric Daubresse.
He has composed for various ensembles, acoustic or with electroacoustic, (commissions from Ensemble Contrechamps, Ensemble Vortex, Compagnie CH.AU, Festival Usine Sonore, Fondation Nicati, Boulouris 5, Ensemble Cercles…) and continues with his many activities in improvised music at the same time.
He has been a leader or member of the following groups : Ortolan, Collectif Rue du Nord, Jeudi duo, Ensemble Silence, KlangKabarett, Giallo Oscuro, Homeson 24, Des Cendres, duo with Thomas Lehn, with which he toured in Switzerland, France, Germany, Belgium and several countries in eastern Europe with the Swiss-Balkan Creative Music project.
He has also composed original music for films (primed at the festival for silent movies in Aoste, Italy, in 2003) with Ensemble Silence.
He took advantage of the following residencies:
- GRIM (Marseille, France) in 2007 to write the composition Audiogrammes
- VICC (Visby International Centre for Composers, Sweden) in 2011 to work on the project with Thomas Lehn
- Casa Pantrova (Switzerland) in 2011 also to work on the project with Thomas Lehn
Co-founder and president of the Swiss based Rue du Nord association, he organizes each year the Rue du Nord Festival dedicated to improvised music since 2004.
Work list
Apartés (2006)
Instrumentation: for clarinet, percussion, piano and cello
Manuscript
Audiogrammes (2008)
Instrumentation: for recorders, flute, clarinet, saxophone, trombone, 2 percussion, piano, violin, viola, violoncello, double bass and electronics
Audiogrammes is a composition whose title refers to calligrammes or graphic poems from 1913 by Guillaume Apollinaire. There are two versions:
Audiogrammes I: version for four soloists: recorders, saxophones, percussion, electronics
Audiogrammes I: version for four soloists and four esembles:
- recorder solo + flute, violin, double bass
- saxophone solo + clarinets, trombone, violoncello
- percussion solo + viola, percussion
- electronics solo + piano
Manuscript
Rien (2009)
Instrumentation: for 20 12-years-old kids (non musicians)
Manuscript
Tout (2009)
Instrumentation: for 17 12-years-old kids (non musicians)
Instrumentation: per orchestra (1,1,1, clar b, 1 - 1,1,1,1 - perc(2) piano - cordi)
La materia sonora, in movimento perpetuo ed in constante trasformazione, è il concetto all'origine della realizzazione di questa composizione. Interamente generata da un motivo corto che si diffonde attraverso gli strumenti dell'orchestra (ritmicamente variato e melodicamente quasi aleatorio), Banderuola prende quasi la forma di uno studio di orchestrazione. La trasformazione di questa materia sonora attraversa inizialmente il timbro, poi la dinamica e la densità.