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Michael
Galasso Music
composer film music theater
music dance music
violin virtuoso concerts performances
contact :
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Composer,
violinist and musical director Michael Galasso was born in Hammond,
Louisiana in 1949, to a concert violinist father and an oboist
mother. He began studying the violin at the age of 3 and had
his solo debut performing Vivaldi’s Concerto in A minor
with the New Orleans Philharmonic at age 11. Galasso continued
his studies at Oberlin and Dartmouth Colleges.
A musician of classical formation influenced by his encounter with
John Cage at the age of 18, born in the land of jazz, rock and
rhythm n’blues, author for theater, cinema, dance and sound
installations, this violin virtuoso has been experimenting for
30 years on a melodical and rhythmical synthesis in which his affinities
with Baroque music are entwined with his American heritage as well
as with Iranian and central Asia traditions.
Michael Galasso began his career composing music for Robert Wilson's "Ouverture"(1972), "The
Life and Times of Joseph Stalin" (1973), "A Letter for
Queen Victoria" (1974-5), and "The $ Value of Man" (1975).
Also with Wilson, he has written the score for Ibsen's "Lady
from the Sea" (1998), Strindberg's "A Dreamplay" (1998),
voted the best foreign theater production for the 1999-2000 season
by the French Theater and Music Critics Society after a performance
in Paris in March 2000 at the Theatre National de Chaillot, Chekhov’s "Three
Sisters" (2001), and for the theatrical version of Mayer,
Janowitz and Wiene's silent film, "The Cabinet of Doktor Caligari" (2002).
In 2004, Wilson and Galasso collaborated on “Les Fables de
La Fontaine” for the Comédie-Française, which
premiered January 30, 2004 in Paris and has been an enormous critical
and public success. Other recent Wilson scores include “Peer
Gynt” in Oslo and Bergen, Norway, “2 Lips and Dancers
in Space” with the Nederlands Dans Theater in Luxembourg,
and “Quartett” starring Isabelle Huppert, which premiered
in Paris and toured to Berlin, Geneva, Milan, Athens, and soon
New York.
Galasso’s film scores include Wong Kar-Wai’s “Chunking
Express” and “In the Mood for Love,” Martin Provost’s “Seraphine,” Babak
Payami’s Iranian film “Secret Ballot” , American
director Ido Mizrahy's "Things that Hang from Trees",
Tajikistan’s Djemsjed Osmonov’s “Angel on my
Right Shoulder,” Sam Gabarski’s “The Tango Rashevski, "Brodeuses" by
Eleonore Faucher, ” Darvish Zaim’s Turkish film, “Çamur” (Mud),
Mariana Otero’s documentary “Histoire d’un Secret,” and “Ella
Es El Matador” by Spanish directors Gemma Cubero and Celeste
Carrasco.
Galasso also made numerous sound/music installations, including
the Giorgio Armani Retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New
York in 2000 - the first sound installation in the New York Guggenheim's
history - and the Guggenheim Bilbao in 2001. Subsequently the exhibition
has traveled to the Neue National Galerie in Berlin, followed by
London’s Royal Academy of Arts, and Rome at the Terme Diocleziano.
Other sound installations include the Swiss EXPO 2002, and the
Basilique de Saint-Denis in Paris. Michael Galasso has also written
and performed music for choreographers Karole Armitage, Andy DeGroat,
and Lucinda Childs. Michael Galasso’s second album for ECM
Records, “High Lines”, was released in March 2005,
and in 2008 Galasso performed a solo concert at the Teatro Romano
in Spoleto Italy, described by New York Times critic Daniel Wakin
as a “a tour de force of stamina and harmonic invention.”
On February 27, 2009, the Cesar for best original score was awarded
in Paris to an American composer, Michael Galasso, for the film
Seraphine.
On September 9th, 2009 Michael Galasso passed away in his home
in Paris, France.
His music will stay alive and available for film directors, theater
directors, choreographers, visual artists, etc.
The complete archive of his recordings is well guarded and contains
numerous projects and compositions that have never been published
before.
Contact for any further informations or requests will be :
For information on upcoming performances, concerts, and film scores,
visit :
http://michaelgalasso.blogspot.com/
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Compositeur, violoniste et chef
d’orchestre, Michael Galasso est né à Hammond,
en Louisiane, en 1949, d’un père violoniste et chef
d’orchestre et d’une mère experte du haut-bois. Il
commença à jouer du violon à l’âge
de trois ans, et débuta en soliste à l’âge
de onze ans, avec le Concerto de Vivaldi en Do mineur, avec la
New Orleans Philarmonic. Il poursuivit sa formation à Oberlin
et à Dartmouth College.
Musicien de formation classique influencé par sa rencontre
avec John Cage à l’âge de dix-huit ans, né dans
la terre du jazz, du rock et rythm’n blues, composant pour
le théâtre, le cinéma, la danse et les installations
sonores, ce virtuose du violon expérimente depuis trente
ans une synthèse mélodique et rythmique où ses
affinités avec la musique baroque se mêlent à son
héritage américain tout comme aux traditions sonores
d’Iran et d’Asie centrale.
Michael Galasso a commencé sa carrière en composant
pour la musique de Ouverture (1972), The Life and Times of
Joseph Stalin (1973), A Letter for Queen Victoria (1974-75),
et The $ Value of Man (1975). C’est encore pour des mises
en scènes de Wilson qu’il a écrit la musique
de Lady from the Sea de Ibsen (1998), de Le Songe de Strindberg
(1998) - qui, présenté à Paris, au Théâtre
National de Chaillot, en mars 2000, a été récompensé comme
meilleure production théâtrale étrangère
pour la saison 1999-2000 par l’Association Française
des Critiques de Théâtre et de Musique – de
Trois Sœurs de Tchékhov (2001), ainsi que pour
la version théâtrale du film muet de Carl Mayer,
Hans Janovitz et Robert Wiene, Le Cabinet de Doktor Caligari
(2002). En 2004, Wilson et Galasso ont à nouveau travaillé ensemble
pour Les Fables de La Fontaine, à la Comédie-Française,
créé à Paris le 30 janvier 2004, un
très grand succès auprès de la critique
et du public, entré depuis au répertoire du Français.
En novembre 2004, Galasso est aux côtés de Wilson pour
la création au Luxembourg de "2 Lips and Dancers
in Space", avec le Nederlands Dans Theater. Michael Galasso
a également composé la musique de Peer
Gynt, œuvre de Ibsen mise en scène par Robert
Wilson, dont la première a eu lieu à Oslo
en février 2005.
Pour le cinéma, parmi les B.O. composées récemment
par Michael Galasso, on trouve et de Wong Kar-Wai, le film iranien
de Babak Payami, Le Tango des Rashevski du cinéaste belge
Sam Gabarski, Camur du cinéaste turc Darvish Zaïm,
le documentaire Histoire d’un secret de la française
Mariana Otero, ainsi que le film de Eléonore Faucher,
Brodeuses, sorti sur les écrans français en mai
2004.
Michael Galasso est aussi l’auteur d’un
gran nombre d’installations sonores et musicales, dont
la première jamais réalisée au Musée
Guggenheim de New York, pour la rétrospective Giorgio
Armani, en 2000, ainsi que, pour la même exposition, la
première installation musicale créée au
Guggenheim de Bilbao, en 2001. La rétrospective Giorgio
Armani a par la suite été présentée à la
Neue National Galerie à Berlin en mai 2003, puis à la
Royal Academy of Arts à Londres en octobre 2003, ainsi
qu’à Rome, aux Terme di Diocleziano, en mai 2004.,
et à Tokyo en avril 2005. Il a également conçu,
entre autres, une installation pour l’Expo 2002 en Suisse,
et pour la Basilique de Saint-Denis à Paris, en 2000.
Michael Galasso a aussi écrit et joué pour les
chorégraphes, Andy DeGroat et Lucinda Childs.
Le second album de Michael Galasso, High Lines, est sorti en
France en juin 2005, avec ECM Records.
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Spoleto,
Italy: A Lone Violinist at the Teatro Romano
It was a tour de force of stamina and
harmonic invention. For an hour, the violinist Michael Galasso
stood alone on stage at the Teatro Romano, back-lit with a spotlight
that ran the palette from rose to purple, and poured out arpeggios
on his amplified instrument Tuesday night. He barely stopped.
Born in Louisiana, Mr. Galasso now lives in Paris. He collaborates
frequently with directors and choreographers. At times, he sounded
like a demented player of Bach partitas gone all Philip Glass,
with occasional hints of bluegrass and Eastern flavors. Some stretches
of material sounded classical, like the up and down chords of a
Beethoven violin concerto cadenza.
The repeated figures seemed to have between 12 and 18 notes each,
and frequently changed color subtly, like a slowly turning kaleidoscope.
Sometimes they were as fast as 32nd-notes, or slow as 8th-notes,
with a metronome beat of, say, 60. His beat was rock steady and
intonation solid.
There was something hypnotic about it, like listening to Sufi music
in a Western cast.
-- Daniel J. Wakin, The New York
Times
In the Mood for Love
“… The musical score is
a waltz, whirling without ever letting the melody get close
to a logical ending, just as the couple does (…) in the
Mood for Love is precisely, thoroughly inscribed in the time
of the world.”
-- Thomas Sotinel, Le Monde
“… With sublime production design, In the Mood for Love is a dream
(…). Also helping is the melancholy, insinuating music by Michael Galasso
and Umebayashi Shigeru…”
-- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles
Times
“… these scenes often play without dialogue (…) accompanied
by the lush, repetitive score by Michael Galasso (…)
-- Jeremiah Kipp, filmcritic.com
“… accompanied by Michael Galasso’s stringent, wistful score,
allow for the enraptured contemplation of Cheung’s moving form (….)
-- J.Hoberman, The Village Voice
“ Repetitive use of slow motion and Michael Galasso’s lovely string
compositions (…) give a richly sensual feeling to the film…”
-- David Rooney, Variety
Giorgio Armani Exhibition (Guggenheim
Museum)
" ...A collage of religious and
exotic sounds, created by Michael Galasso, amplifies the Eastern
mood. Chanter? (...) Plan to be there when Mr. Galasso's soundtrack
segues into sitar music. You do not need spiritual austerities
to enter into a contemplative state: here every possible organic
and geometric shape seems to rise up from a cosmic soup, then
dissolve back into it."
-- Herbert Muschamp, The New York
Times
A Dreamplay
" And Indra's Daughter (....) descends
as if down a banister into a world of chill blue-grey light,
and the fragile echoes of period instruments. Michael Galasso's
score, played on viol de gamba, baroque cello, theorbo, marimba,
beguilingly recreates in its neo-baroque minimalism, the repetitions,
the ostinati, the themes and variations of the play and of
the production."
-- Hilary Finch, The Times
Lady from the Sea
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" ...(...) Nothing else is there.
Except, though, the only real winner of this prestigious international
match involving four players: the marvelous musical score by
Michael Galasso."
-- Franco Cordelli, Il Corriere
della Sera
Chamber Music Concert (Florence)
" ...His music is a flood of suave calculation, where baroque and minimalism,
ethnic and pop sudden starts combine in great harmony, where you can hear Paganini's
diabolic brio and Gershwin's a sinuosity, where an electronic violin multiplies
its own sound, creating a counterpoint from a Bach to be."
-- Fulvio Paloscia, La Repubblica
Michael Galasso Sogna
" Emotion? Rigour? Well, these two notions are not contradictory but closely
related. (...) Michael Galasso is neither classical nor post-modern, neither
baroque nor avant-garde, neither American nor European, neither oriental nor
occidental. (...) Galasso sincerely hates lyrical effusion. (...) He is refusing
any temptation of fusion and confusion. Pergolese, Vivaldi, Steve Reich, an ancient
Persan or Indian master, a minimalist or electronic enchanter, belong to his
inheritance or to his memory. But his music is above all an absolute dream of
music, a sort of musical manifesto of a constantly questioned musical memory.
(...) Michael Galasso's music is overwhelming because it is inexhaustible."
-- Gilles Anquetil, Figura di
Parola
Albert Einstein: how I see the world
" Kroehling and Nathanson recover Einstein's time and - with Michael Galasso's
unforgettable minimalist music score - enter Einstein's mind with great personal
style."
-- Robert Koehler - Los Angeles
Times
Chamber Music Concert (Paris)
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" Virtuoso violinist and conductor
Michael Galasso's "Scene VI" joyously brings together
pizzicato, bowed noted notes, inflexions and strange glissandi
- like a fantastic dream evoking an imaginary Orient."
-- Daniel Caux - Théâtre
de la Ville, Paris
" After Cage/Cunningham, it is undoubtedly Robert Wilson with Michael Galasso
and Alan Lloyd who introduced a new non-promiscuous relationship between sound
and image. The music is integrated with the entire theatrical work without losing
its autonomy and at the same time continuously commenting on the scenic and choreographic
elements. If we admit that this violin virtuoso is marked by a commitment to
react against the modernist experience of the fifties, we also find in his music
the influence of the ethnic movement of the sixties toward oriental harmonies."
-- Patrick Bossatti - Pour la
Danse, Paris
Chained Melody
" Michael Galasso's overlapping waves of ancient bugle calls manages an
eerie grandiosity"
-- William Wilson - Los Angeles
Times
Scan Lines
" Michael Galasso's score is riveting - austere, dense with overtones, suddenly
blossoming out into street noise or growls or little jazz riffs."
-- Michael Feingold - The Village
Voice
Quarantine
" Michael Galasso performs diabolical music. The grating harmonies and raging
pantings of Paganini, insistent groaning, feverish sarcasm, poignant monotony,
Michael Galasso is on the edge, the Satan who conducts the ball of the year 2000
for the cybernetic children we will become."
-- Jacques Franck - La Libre Belgique,
Bruxelles
Suite Persane
" Mr. Galasso's lyrical compositional style results in an experience that
is unusually evocative."
-- Robert Palmer - New York Times
"The $ Value of Man"
" Who would have thought that music (by Michael Galasso) could be Vivaldi-chaste
and raga-hypnotic? That 30 seconds could turn a tear into a snarl into a bellylaugh?"
-- Robert Jones - New York Daily
News
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listen to excerpts
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Michael Galasso on CD
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