BIOGRAPHY
Dr (PhD) Juan Manuel Abras (Stockholm, Sweden) is a composer, conductor, musicologist and historian who has won a dozen international awards and scholarships (Theodor-Körner-Preis in Vienna, TRINAC-ISCM-UNESCO, 2nd place Wiener Filmmusik Preis in Vienna, etc.). Abras' commissioned works have been premiered at leading international festivals (Warsaw Autumn, Gaudeamus Music Week, Festival MANCA, etc.) and venues (Stiftung Mozarteum Salzburg, Bimhuis-Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Teatro Colón, etc.), and are included on 10 CDs. Abras has been university professor (UNLa and CSMCBA), researcher (UCA) and member of Österreichischer Komponistenbund, SEdeM, SADAIC, etc.
A disciple of Krzysztof Penderecki and Kurt Schwertsik, Abras also studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen, Helmut Lachenmann, Wolfgang Rihm, etc. Abras pursued postgraduate and graduate studies (University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello di Venezia, Academy of Music in Kraków, etc.) and is Doctor (PhD) in Music-Composition (UCA), Doctor (PhD) in Musicology (UCM and UVa), Master in Hispanic Music (USAL and UVa), Licentiate and Bachelor in History (USAL), etc.
Cosmopolitan and multifaceted, Abras' music is "at the same time visceral and of metaphysical flight" (Alejandro Drago, USA), and of "breathless intensity" (Genuin Classics, Germany). It can contain "references to literature, religion, archaeology, etc." (Makis Solomos, France), create a "dancing whirlwind somewhat trance-like, full of sunny joy and amusement" (Beata Boleslawska, Poland), and take the listener to a "world of rhythmically pulsating fantasy, similar to a haunted castle" (Wilhelm Kvist, Finland).
View more
MUSIC
WORKS (SELECTION)
A 'Letter' for Mich | 2011 | for clarinet
Ania jest... | 2015 | for clarinet
Astor in Astorga | 2017 | for violin and accordion
Blutgletscherstück | 2013 | for chamber ensemble
Bossa nova scriabinosa | 2016 | for viola
Chacarera beatboxera | 2008 | for beatboxer, clarinet, percussion, piano and violin
Chacarera endebussyada | 2010 | for piano
Chacarera Meets the Puna | 2005 | for violin
Conceptio, gestatio et partus | 2005 | for orchestra
Cueca wagneroide | 2015 | for viola
De coelesti hierarchia | 2002 | for male choir, vibraphone, organ, violoncello and tape
Dialoghi fra Mosè, Demostene, Virgilio e Turing | 2004 | for flute, clarinet, violin and violoncello
Dialogos between Moses, Demosthenes, Virgil and Turing | 2004 | for string quartet
Diálogos franciscano(n)s | 2012 | for flute and tape
Discursos argentinos | 2011 | for oboe
Drunken Fugue | 1999 | for saxophone trio
Estelango | 2002 | for piano
Estelango | 2002, arr. 2004 | for piano 4 hands
Estelango | 2002, arr. 2008 | for percussion ensemble
Flumen Dei, Ager Arkanus | 2003-2004 | for chamber orchestra
Harmonie - Alpha et Omega | 2001 | for soprano and piano
Huayno Meets the Milonga | 2009 | for vibraphone and marimba
In purgatorium (De profundis) | 2008 | for mixed choir, strings and percussion
Kinderlachen | 2015 | for soprano or tenor recorder
Kleriodapsis (A Butterfly’s Life). Doppelkonzert | 2002 | for for violin, violoncello and chamber orchestra
La chacayalera | 1999 | for children’s choir
La fuga de Valentino. Grosse Fugal a 6 | 1999 | for piano 6 hands
La fuga de Valentino. Grosse Fugal a 6 | 1999, arr. 1999 | for symphony orchestra
¿Libertas? 47 | 1999 | for instrument(s) and/or voice(s)
Milonga Meets Malambo | 2011 | for violoncello and piano
Milonga Meets Malambo | 2011, arr. 2014 | for violin and piano
Missa | 2000 | for solo voices, choir and symphony orchestra
Moment musical sur un thème de P. et M. Hill | 2012 | for soprano and chamber ensemble
Muchos rostros, una Madre | 2006 | for solo voices, choir and chamber orchestra
Munda me (Miserere) | 2008 | for mixed choir
Música para un soldadito de plomo | 2000-2010 | for string orchestra
Musik für 'In 3 Tagen Bist Du Tot 2' (Filmsequenz) | 2010 |
Noches para olvidar | 2002 | Chamber Opera in 1 Act
Only One Note | 2014 | for piano
Österreichische Reden | 2011 | for oboe
Pentecostés (Veni Sancte Spiritus) | 2007 | for choir and tape
Perpetuum tanguile | 2013 | for violin
Pésame (Actus contritionis) | 2006 | for narrator, choir, chamber ensemble and tape
Ploratus acerbos infantem edere | 2013 | for clarinet in Bb
Pomeranian Rhapsody | 2017 | for oboe d'amore and harpsichord
Przemówienia polskie | 2011 | for oboe
Quatuor pour un petit soldat du plomb | 1999 | for string quartet
Quatuor pour un petit soldat du plomb | 1999 | for string orchestra
Recuerdos de un 11-M | 2006-2007 | for piano
Ricercare | 1999 | for flute, clarinet, violin and violoncello
Sedekte. Quinteto dodecatánguico | 2000-2001 | for bandoneon and string quartet
Sedekte. Concierto dodecatánguico | 2000-2001 | for bandoneon and string orchestra
Seriallemande | 1997 | for piano 4 hands
Sitwa Raymi (Oración primera al Hacedor) | 2014 | for mixed choir and tape
Sonata 'Medina' | 1997 | for piano solo
Sueño y chacarera | 2001 | for flute and clarinet
Suite argentina | 2001 | for chamber orchestra
Suite argentina | 2001 | for symphony orchestra
Telesiadas. Concert Variations on a Theme by Chazarreta | 2009 | for piano and symphony orchestra
The Dante Sketches | 2006-2007 | for narrator, mixed choir and symphony orchestra
The Hermit | 2015 | for violin and dancer
The Hermit | 2015, rev. 2016 | for violin and dancer
The Song of Anna O. | 2005 | for soprano and chamber ensemble
Un réquiem lorquiano (Balada de la placeta) | 2009 | for tape
Yubarta Yakarta | 2015 | for violoncello
DISCOGRAPHY
NEWS (SELECTION)
06 May 2015 - Chacarera endebussyada - Natalia González Figueroa, piano - Conservatorio Profesional de Música 'Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco', Albacete, Spain
20 May 2015 - Chacarera endebussyada - Natalia González Figueroa, piano - St James's Church Piccadilly, London, United Kingdom
14 June 2015 - Sitwa Raymi (Oración primera al Hacedor) - Miguel Ángel Pesce, musical direction / Ensamble Cámara XXI - Basílica María Auxiliadora y San Carlos, Buenos Aires, Argentina
24 June 2015 - Discursos argentinos - Marcelo Baus, oboe - Circolo Italiano, Buenos Aires, Argentina
23 August 2015 - Sitwa Raymi (Oración primera al Hacedor) - Miguel Ángel Pesce, musical direction / Ensamble Cámara XXI - Iglesia de San Pedro Telmo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
13 September 2015 - Sitwa Raymi (Oración primera al Hacedor) - Miguel Ángel Pesce, musical direction / Ensamble Cámara XXI - Iglesia de San Ignacio, Buenos Aires, Argentina
17 October 2015 - Sitwa Raymi (Oración primera al Hacedor) - Miguel Ángel Pesce, musical direction / Ensamble Cámara XXI - Parroquia Nuestra Señora del Carmelo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
09 March 2016 - The Hermit - Édua Zádory, violin / Beatrix Simkó, dance - Nádasdy Ferenc Múzeum, Sárvár, Hungary
15 March 2016 - Perpetuum tanguile - José Fernandes Pereira Neto, violin - Teatro Municipal Julio Quintanilla, Mendoza, Argentina
03 April 2016 - Sitwa Raymi (Oración primera al Hacedor) - Miguel Ángel Pesce, musical direction / Ensamble Cámara XXI - Basílica del Santísimo Sacramento, Buenos Aires, Argentina
22 June 2016 - Przemówienia polskie - Andrés Spiller, oboe - Circolo Italiano, Buenos Aires, Argentina
06 August 2016 - The Hermit - Édua Zádory, violin / Beatrix Simkó, dance - Ördögkatlan Fesztivál, Nagyharsány, Hungary
14 September 2016 - The Hermit - Édua Zádory, violin / Beatrix Simkó, dance - Haas&Haas Porta Dextra, Vienna, Austria
18 September 2016 - Kinderlachen - Sylvia Hinz, recorder - Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
22 September 2016 - Ania jest... - Michał Górczyński, clarinet - International Festival of Contemporary Music 'Warsaw Autumn', Warsaw, Poland
13 November 2016 - Sitwa Raymi (Oración primera al Hacedor) - Miguel Pesce, musical direction / Ensamble Cámara XXI - Parroquia del Patrocinio de San José, Buenos Aires, Argentina
08 December 2016 - The Hermit - Édua Zádory, violin / Beatrix Simkó, dance - Summa Plaza, Istanbul, Turkey
02 February 2017 - Drunken Fugue - Carolina Cervetto / Sabrina Egea Sobral / Diana Magalí Carballo, saxophone trio - FM Nacional Clásica, Buenos Aires, Argentina
18 May 2017 - Astor in Astorga - Itsaso Mungia, accordion / Irati Sanz, violin - Conservatorio Superior de Música de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
19 May 2017 - Ricercare - Son Youn Hwa, flute / Víctor Estarelles, clarinet / Samuli Tuomikoski, violin - FM Nacional Clásica, Buenos Aires, Argentina
21 May 2017 - Chacarera endebussyada - Natalia González Figueroa, piano - Piano City Milano, Milano, Italy
26 June 2017 - The Hermit (Revised 2016 version) - Édua Zádory, violin - Altes Rathaus, Vienna, Austria
06 July 2017 - The Hermit (Revised 2016 version) - Édua Zádory, violin - Balassi Institute, Brussels, Belgium
27 September 2017 - Suite argentina - Ensamble Seventh Ritual Lamb - FM Nacional Clásica, Buenos Aires, Argentina
14 October 2017 - Pomeranian Rhapsody - Katarzyna Pilipiuk, oboe d'amore / Anna Huszczo, harpsichord - Pałac Biskupa Erazma Ciołka, Krakow, Poland
05 November 2017 - Pomeranian Rhapsody - Katarzyna Pilipiuk, oboe d'amore / Anna Huszczo, harpsichord - Dom Kawalera, Zabrze, Poland
16 November 2017 - Przemówienia polskie - José Luis Urquieta, oboe - CCK, Buenos Aires, Argentina
23 November 2017 - Astor in Astorga - Itsaso Mungia, accordion / Irati Sanz, violin - Conservatorio Superior de Música de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
02 February 2018 - Chacarera meets the Puna - Alejandro Drago, violin - FM Nacional Clásica, Buenos Aires, Argentina
16 March 2018 - Pomeranian Rhapsody - Katarzyna Pilipiuk, oboe d'amore / Anna Huszczo, harpsichord - Festival 23. Dni Bachowskie, Kraków, Poland
02 April 2018 - Un réquiem lorquiano - Juan Manuel Abras, tape - AfterFM, Denver & Boulder, USA
04 April 2018 - Chacarera Endebussyada - Christelle Abinasr, piano - Auditorium de Lutherie André Sakellarides, Marseille, France
05 April 2018 - Chacarera Endebussyada - Christelle Abinasr, piano - Auditorium de Lutherie André Sakellarides, Marseille, France
19 April 2018 - Sueño y chacarera - Laura Astutti, flute / Laura Carter, clarinet - FM Nacional Clásica, Buenos Aires, Argentina
12 May 2018 - Astor in Astorga - Irati Sanz, violin / Itsaso Mungia, accordion - Museo Jorge Oteiza, Alzuza, Spain
13 May 2018 | Astor in Astorga | Irati Sanz, violin / Itsaso Mungia, accordion | Museo Gustavo de Maeztu, Estella, Spain
View more
PRESS
"The breathless intensity of Juan Manuel Abras"
— Genuin Classics (Germany)
"The music of Abras is at the same time visceral and of metaphysical flight"
— Alejandro Drago (USA)
"In your works, Abras, there are, apart from the psychoanalysis... references to literature, religion, archaeology, etc. Variety is also found in your musical language... Do you enjoy this constant changing of style or is there in fact a unity, by nature inaudible, which is realised each time through the different styles?"
— Makis Solomos (France)
"I want to mention a pair of examples of interesting dramatic products. The fifth title was created by… Abras, whose work ‘The song of Anna O.’ took the listener to a world of rhythmically latent fantasy, similar to a haunted castle"
— Wilhelm Kvist (Finland)
"In ‘Chacarera beatboxera’ Abras has united in a whole elements taken from ethnic music, ancient popular melodies and New Music, creating a dancing whirlwind somewhat 'trance', full of solar joy and amusement"
— Beata Bolesławska (Poland)
View more
PHOTOS
