Michael Seltenreich

Michael Seltenreich (born 1988 in Tel Aviv) is an Israeli composer of contemporary classical music who resides in New York City. He is the sole Israeli composer to win the Toru Takemitsu Composition Award[1] and a recipient of the Israel Prime Minister Award in Composition.[2] His work Sparks & Flares was the submission of the American chapter of the International Society for Contemporary Music and was chosen for performance at the World Music Days / Beijing Modern Music Festival 2018.[3]

Michael Seltenreich
Seltenreich, 2016
Background information
Born (1988-06-05) June 5, 1988
Tel Aviv, Israel
Genres
Occupation(s)Composer
Years active2008–present
Websitewww.michaelseltenreich.com

Biography

Seltenreich was born in Tel Aviv. He graduated from Thelma Yellin High School for The Arts in 2006. By 2011 he received a bachelor's degree in music composition from Buchmann-Mehta School of Music of Tel Aviv University, where he primarily studied with composer Gil Shohat. In 2014 he relocated to New York to pursue a master's degree from The Juilliard School. During his time at Juilliard, he studied primarily with German composer and conductor Matthias Pintscher. Currently he is a MacCracken Doctoral Fellow at New York University.[4]

Seltenreich is internationally active as a composer, and in 2016 he was commissioned by Messiaen au pays de la Meije.[5] Subsequently, he was commissioned by Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival,[6] and participated in IRCAM's Manifeste in 2018.[7] Seltenreich held residencies in Atlantic Center for the Arts where he acted as an Associate Composer in Residence with Austrian composer Georg Friedrich Haas, and at the Yaddo artist community.[8]

Critical reception

During the ISCM Award Ceremony in Beijing (2018), the jury described their motivations for selecting Seltenreich as the award winner and referred to his music as "engaging, effervescent, energetic, and assured" and that it "demonstrates detailed control of the materials and a sophistication that makes us eager to hear more".[9]

Japanese composer, Toshi Ichiyanagi explained that Seltenreich's "sophisticated orchestration technique" and his music's "refinement in the way the nuances are brought out" along with its "richness of expression" were his motivations for selecting Seltenreich as a finalist for the Toru Takemitsu Composition Award.[10] Finally, when he chose Seltenreich's piece, "ARCHETYPE", as the receipt of the 1st prize, Ichyanagi explained that it "was a very rare piece in that it was very precisely and densely written" presenting a "very modern motif that resulted in creating a very deep, thick musical texture"[11]

Selected works[12]

Orchestral
  • Psalm Symphony (2017) for narrator, choir, orchestra, and children's choir
  • Élégie (2016) for solo piano, and string orchestra
  • ARCHETYPE (2015) for symphony orchestra
  • Comments regarding the aforementioned poem (2014) for string orchestra and narrator

Ensemble
  • ICD-10 Chapter V: Mental and behavioral disorders (2018) for flute, oboe, clarinet, percussion, piano, 2 violins, viola, and cello
  • Sparks & Flares (2010) for flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, and cello

Chamber
  • Stalgamite & Stalactite (2018) for string quartet
  • Schnaïm (2016) for two pianos
  • Onot (2015) for string quartet

Solo
  • Lumière Lent (2015) for cello
  • Fantasy of a Broken Bridge (2010) for piano

Choral
  • Notes From The Wailing Wall (2013) for 17 voices
  • Ligeia (2011) for women's choir and harp
  • Water War (2008) for mixed choir, children's choir, and two percussionists

Selected awards

References
  1. "Toru Takemitsu Composition Award [Results]".
  2. "הרפתקאה מוזיקלית בין יצירותיהם של המלחינים זוכי פרס ראש הממשלה" [Musical adventures within the pieces of the winners of The Prime Minister's Award in Composition] (in Hebrew).
  3. "Beijing Modern Music Festival – Selected Works".
  4. "Biography – Michael Seltenreich Composer".
  5. "Festival Messiaen au Pays de la Meije – Le Programme de l'édition 2016" [Messiaen Festival in Pays de la Meije – The program of the 2016 edition] (PDF) (in French).
  6. "Commissioned Works – Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival".
  7. "Composition – Manifeste".
  8. "Yadoo – Artist Guests: Composers".
  9. "Michael Seltenreich Wins the 2018 ISCM Young Composer Award".
  10. "4 Finalists selected for Toru Takemitsu Composition Award 2016".
  11. "Results of Toru Takemitsu Composition Award 2016 [Judge: Toshi Ichiyanagi]".
  12. "Works – Michael Seltenreich Composer".
  13. "2018 ISCM Young Composer Award".
  14. "הזוכים בפרס אקו"ם לספרות ומוסיקה קונצרטית" [The Winners of ACUM Prize for Literature and Concert Music] (in Hebrew).
  15. "Martirano Awardees".
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