Justification of the jury in awarding the Encouragement Prize to Aureliano Cattaneo:
A composer full of obstinacy, versatility and imagination of sound
The awarding of the prize to Aureliano Cattaneo was agreed on by the jury stating, "Aureliano Cattaneo is a composer full of obstinacy, versatility and imagination of sound. He has proved his talent with works in various genres, ranging from string quartets to the great orchestral form to opera, and is one of the most promising representatives of his generation. The 38-year-old Italian studied composition and piano in Piacenza and Milan, and attended masterclasses with Gerard Grisey and Mauricio Sotelo, among others. He lives and works in Madrid."
Cattaneo: internationally successful composer
Aureliano Cattaneo was born in Codogno (Italy) in 1974. He studied piano with Vincenzo Balzani in Piacenza and composition with Alessandro Landini, Pippo Molino und Sonia Bo at the conservatory of Milan. He attended composition master classes with Gerard Grisey, Toshio Hosokawa, Cristóbal Halffter and Mauricio Sotelo. A winner of composition prizes, he was selected for the 14th International Composition Seminar of Boswil (Switzerland) in 2001 and was a finalist of the 'Gaudeamus music week' (Amsterdam) in 2004.
In 2003 he won the 'Comité de Lecture de l'IRCAM/Ensemble InterContemporain' and in 2005 he was selected as Fellow by the Berlin Academy of the Arts.
During the 2006/07 season he was 'composer in residence' of ensemble 2e2m.
His works have been performed at important festivals and venues: Biennale Munich, Music Days Donaueschingen, Wittener Days for New Chamber Music, Wien Modern, Festival Musica Strasbourg, European Month of Music (Basel), Gaudeamus (Amsterdam), Festival de Alicante, Konzerthaus Vienna, Konzerthaus Berlin, Centre Pompidou (Paris), Museo Guggenheim (Bilbao), Gasteig (Munich), Auditorio Nacional (Madrid), New York, London, Barcelona, Rome, Milan, Turin, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Saarbrücken, Dublin, Helsinki, and Boston.
Cattaneo's works have been played by leading ensembles and orchestras such as SWR Sinfonie Orchester, Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, Klangforum Wien, Quatuor Diotima, Ensemble InterContemporain, Ensemble 2e2m, Nieuw Ensemble, Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, Ensemble TrioLog, Ensemble Alter Ego, KNM Berlin, Ensemble Mosaik, Ensemble Espai Sonor, Trio Arbos conducted by Emilio Pomarico, Sylvain Cambreling, Lothar Zagrosek, Susanna Mälkki, Beat Furrer, Jean Deroyer, Lucas Vis, Johannes Kalitzke, Pierre Roullier, Voro Garcia.
In June 2008, his first orchestral piece, 'Violin Concert', was premiered at Konzerthaus Berlin by Viviane Hagner, violin, and the Konzerthaus Orchestra conducted by Lothar Zagrosek. Cattaneo's new piece for orchestra, 'Self portrait with orchestra', was premiered by SWR Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Emilio Pomarico at the Festival Musica Strasbourg in 2010.
His chamber opera 'la philosophie dans le labyrinthe', which he co-wrote with the poet Edoardo Sanguineti, was premiered at the 10th Munich Biennale in 2006.
In June 2011, the label Stradivarius released a CD dedicated to his works, performed by Petra Hoffmann, soprano, Carlos Gil, trombone, and Ensemble Espai Sonor, conducted by Voro Garcia.
He received commissions from Klangforum Vienna, Ensemble InterContemporain, Ensemble musikFabrik, Ensemble Contrechamps, Munich Biennale, Berlin Konzerthaus, Saarland Radio, Southwest Broadcasting (SWR), the Academy of Arts Berlin, Bavarian State Opera, Auditorio Nacional Madrid, CDMC of Madrid, Festival Musica Strasbourg, Märzmusik Berlin, Music in Wattens, Alois Lageder, Sligo New Music Festival and Rte Lyric fm, Festival Klangspuren Plus of Munich, Spanish Ministry of Culture, and French Ministry of Culture, among others.
Since 2010, he has been teaching analysis and composition at ESMUC (Escuela Superior de Musica de Catalunya), Barcelona.
His works have been published by Edizioni Suvini Zerboni, Milan. He lives and works in Madrid.
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