Biography
Composer Sophie Lacaze was born in Lourdes (France) in 1963. After her musical studies at the Conservatoire National de Region de Toulouse, she went on to further studies at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris, where she received the Composition Prize. Afterwards, she studied with Allain Gaussin, Antoine Tisne and Philippe Manoury in France, and with Franco Donatoni and Ennio Morricone at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana di Siena (Italy). She also engaged in music theatre with Georges Aperghis at the Centre Acanthes and attended Pierre Boulez's courses in College de France. In 2002, she was invited for a residency at the Electronic Music Unit of the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide (Australia).
After having travelled in several countries, especially in Australia, she came back in France in 2006. Her compositions, which range from works for solo instruments to chamber and orchestral music, with also three operas and works with tape, are regularly performed in more than 20 countries.
Sophie Lacaze was the 1st woman to receive the Grand Prix Lyceen des Compositeurs (2009) and the Claude Arrieu Prize of the SACEM (2010). In 2012, she is laureate of the association Beaumarchais - SACD. In 2023, she is laureate of "100 Femmes de Culture".
Her music is performed in leading festivals and venues in
France (for example RadioFrance Occitanie Festival, les Chantiers de la Creation Musicale de l'Orchestre National de Lyon, 38e Rugissants, Aujourd'hui Musiques Festival in Perpignan, Convention Internationale de la Flute in Levallois-Perret, Electr()cution in Brest, Expériences du Son by Motus in Paris, Festival d'Autan, Festival de danse et des arts multiples in Marseille, MANCA Festival in Nice, Journées nationales de l'électroacoustique in Amiens, Klang! Festival in Montpellier, Le Son MiRé Festival in Fabrezan, MIA, Printemps Musical and Sons d'Automne festivals in Annecy, Musicora, Musique et Architecture in Angers, Musique Française en Provence, Musique Sacrée à la Cathédrale de Nantes, Piano in Mayenne, Rencontres Musicales ProQuartet in Fontainebleau, les Rencontres Contemporaines de Saint Privat d'Allier, Rencontres Internationales de Composition Musicale de Cergy-Pontoise, la Semaine Cathédrale in Albi, International Week of Electroacoustic Music SIME in Lille, les Vendredis baroques de Dardilly, Vibrez Classique de Saint-Avé, World Saxophone Congress and Festival SaxOpen in Strasbourg, and many others),
Australia (Melbourne International Arts Festival, Australian Flute Festival, Barossa Music Festival, Adelaide Fringe Festival, Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney),
Austria (Styriarte LunchKonzerte, Graz),
Belgium (Happy New Ears Festival in Kortrijk, 2de Belgisch Fluitfestival and Courants d'air Festival in Brussels, Philharmonie in Namur, Philharmonie in Liège, Les printemps de Saint Laurent),
Brazil (Musica Nova Festival),
Chile (Festival musical Chiloe),
China (Oriental Art Center and Concert Hall in Shanghai),
Czech Republic (Festival Forfest, Kromeríž)
Germany (Brandenburger Theatre, French Institute and Nordische Botschaften in Berlin),
Japan (Festival de Musique Francaise in Tokyo, Hamamatsu International Wind Instruments Academy and Festival), Lithuania (Contemporary Music Festival "Is Arti"),
Luxembourg (Philharmonie in Luxembourg, Rainy Days Festival),
Monaco (Printemps des Arts Festival in Monte-Carlo),
Poland (Festival de musique franco-polonaise de Cracovie, "Laboratorium Muzyki Wspólczesnej" International Festival and "Ogrody Muzyczne" Festival in Varsovie),
Portugal (Musical Bounce Back in Braga),
Romania (New Music International Week in Bucharest, Contemporary Music Festival in Bacau, Iasi Philharmonie),
Serbia (Alternative film & video festival, Belgrade),
South Africa (New Music Indaba Festival in Bloemfontein, Baxter Concert Hall in Cape Town),
Spain
(LOOP Video Art Festival in Barcelone, Barcelona Modern Festival, Bernaola Festival in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Il Encuentro Internacional de Compositores CSM Manuel Castillo in Sevilla,
ME_MMIX in Palma de Mallorca),
Sweden (Grünewaldsale, Stockholm; Malmö Live, Malmö),
Switzerland (Schubertiade de Sion, les Aubes Musicales de Geneve, Schubertiade Espace 2 in Monthey, La Cote Flute Festival in Gland),
UK (Barbican Hall and Maida Vale Studio 1, London; Festival Fresco, Manchester),
Ukraine (Festival 2D2N),
USA (American Flute convention, New Orleans; Barnes/Stokowski Festival, Philadelphia; Arts Now Series, Raleigh; Collective:Unconscious, New York; Spark Festival, Minneapolis; CSUF New Music Festival, Fresno),
and also in Armenia, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, North Macedonia, South Korea, Taiwan.
by distinguished orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Luxembourg Philharmonic, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Orchestre National d'Auvergne, the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, the Orchestre de Perpignan - Mediterranee, I Solisti Veneti, "Mihail Jora" Philharmonic
Orchestra, the Roumanian National Radio Orchestra, l'Orquesta de Cámara PUCV, the Nouvel Orchestre de Chambre de Rouen, the Orchestre de Flutes Francais, Paris Mozart Orchestra, Les Petites Mains Symphoniques, conducted by Pierre-André Valade, Sakari Oramo, Gerry Cornelius, Baldur Brönnimann, Bruno Mantovani, Aziz Shokhakimov, Daniel Tosi, Claudio Scimone, Ovidiu Balan, Horia Andreescu, Pablo Alvadaro Gutiérrez, Joachim Leroux, Marc Hajjar, Paul Méfano, Pierre-Alain Biget, Claire Gibault, Eric du Faÿ,
choirs and vocal ensembles: Mora Vocis ensemble (artistic director Els Janssens), Calliope Choir (conductor Regine Theodoresco), Appoggiature vocal ensemble (conductor Eliette Roche), the Madrigal de Lille (conductor Madeleine Saur), Egeria Ensemble,
ensembles and large ensembles :
Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain (conductor Bruno Mantovani), ensemble K (conductor Simone Menezes), Arcadie flute quartet, Adastra string quartet, Aujourd'hui Musiques, Trio a Cordes de Paris, Trio 3D, Accroche Note, Durufle, Helios, Piano&Co, Pleiade, TM+, PTYX and XASAX ensembles (France), Hinemoa Flute Ensemble and Eliseos Flute Quartet (Belgium), Kommandaria Sax Quartet (Cyprus), Zagrebacki Ansambl Flauta - ZAF (Croatia), Amarone String Quartet and Odelya trio (Germany), Quartetto Image (Italy), Aperto Trio and Pro Contemporania Ensemble (Romania), (A)muse ensemble (Sweden), Tetraflutes Ensemble (Switzerland), SoundLAB and Present Music Ensemble (USA), Canberra New Music Ensemble, NOW Flute Ensemble, Griffyn Ensemble, Settembrini trio (Australia), Antara Ensemble (Chile),
and soloists:
Pierre-Yves Artaud,
Serge Bertocchi, Hélène Boulègue, Mathilde Caldérini, Jennifer Clippert, Natalie Dessay, François Dumont, Jean-Yves Fourmeau, Jean-Claude Gerard, Baudoin Giaux, Fabrice Jünger, Daniel
Kientzy, Marie Kobayashi, Wilhem Latchoumia, Giuseppe Laterza, Karine Lethiec, Aino Lund, Axia Marinescu, Thierry Miroglio, Yumi Nara, Nathalie Negro, Kiyoko Okada, Fabrice Pierre, Nadia Ratsimandresy, Christel Rayneau, Emma Resmini, Gabriella
Smart, Stephane Sordet, Elena Stojceska, Liesl Stoltz, Chiharu Tachibana, Fuminori Tanada, Francoise Vanhecke, Marie Vermeulin, Stephen Whittington and many other distinguished musicians and singers.
Sophie also works with reciters, actors and directors such as Alain Carré, Christian Giriat, Marcelle Rosnay, Pierre-Moïse Pivin, dancers and choreographers including Sabine Novel (France), Laura Shapiro (USA), Raluca Ianegic (Romania).
Her works are published by Alphonse Leduc, Artchipel, Babel scores, Billaudot, Delatour, RadioFrance Editions (France) and Svitzer Editions (Denmark).
They have been the subject of articles, conferences, a short documentary film:
- documentary film « Portrait de Sophie Lacaze, compositeur » (co-production MEZZO TV / Fonds d'action SACEM), 2012,
- interview « Sophie Lacaze » for a performance of her work "Vers les étoiles" at Musiques démesurées festival (Musiques démesurées, november 2021),
- « La musique pour flûte de Sophie Lacaze » (Sophie Lacaze's Flute music) published in Traversières, the official magazine of the French Flute Association (Traversières n°104), 2012,
- « La música de los cuatro elementos » by Geneviève Mathon, translated by Alberto Leongómez H., in “(Pensiamento), (palabra)… Y oBra”, Revista de la Facultad de la Universidad Pedagogica Nacional, Bogotà, Colombia, 2014,
- « Aborigines - impressionen » by Dr. Hanns-Peter Mederer, Amusio.com, Germany, April 2016,
- « Composer profile: Sophie Lacaze » by F.D. Leone, Musica Kaleidoskopea, July 2014,
- Several lectures about her music in France, Germany, Russia, by Jean-Louis Tallon (November 2022), Irina Koryakina (November 2010), Patrick Quillier (2005),
as well as a book edited by Editions Delatour (May 2018): « Sophie Lacaze, portrait d'une compositrice » (Sophie Lacaze, portrait of a composer), by Geneviève Mathon. The English version has been published in 2021.
Sophie is regularly invited to give master-classes or conferences (Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Barossa Music Festival -
Australia; CNSMDP in Paris, CNSM in Lyon, CNR in Versailles, CRR in Nancy, Rouen, Montpellier, Perpignan, CRD in Tourcoing, IUFM in Tarbes - France; Conservatoire Royal in Brussels, Conservatoire Royal in Liege, Conservatoire Royal in Mons - Belgium). She taught composition and history of music at Paul Valéry University in Montpellier for twelve years, and was the artistic director of several classical and contemporary music festivals, including the Printemps Musical d'Annecy, the Festival Turbulences Sonores in Montpellier and the Festival Musiques Démesurées in Clermont-Ferrand.
Unsubdued but attentive to musical trends and schools, Sophie Lacaze has developed an original aesthetics that seeks to give back to music its first vocations, such as ritual, incantation, dance, and its links with nature, and in which the sound is essential.
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