Johannes Maria Staud (*1974)

Born in Innsbruck in 1974, the composer repeatedly draws inspiration for his music from other arts such as literature, film and visual art. Philosophical questions, social processes and political events provide inspiration for his compositional work as well. His artfully constructed works, which range from solo pieces to full-length music theater compositions, always follow a consistent dramaturgy.

Just one year after graduating, Staud received the Erste Bank Composition Prize in 2002, the International Rostrum of Composers Prize in 2003, the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation Prize in 2004, the Paul Hindemith Prize of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival in 2009, the Music Prize of the City of Vienna in 2012 and the Austrian Art Prize in 2022.

Staud has been commissioned to write works for the Vienna State Opera, the Salzburg Festival, the Lucerne Festival, the Aldeburgh Festival, the Cité de la Musique, IRCAM/Centre Pompidou, the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics, the Cleveland Orchestra, the BR Symphony Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Intercontemporain and Klangforum Wien, among others.

He has worked with soloists such as Midori, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Martin Fröst, Martin Grubinger, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Heinrich Schiff, Christoph Sietzen, Tamara Stefanovich, Katrien Baerts and Sarah Aristidou as well as with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach, Mariss Jansons, Susanna Mälkki, Emilio Pomàrico, Simon Rattle, Franz Welser-Möst, François-Xavier Roth and Matthias Pintscher.

Staud was a visiting professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in 2015/2016 and has been a professor of composition at the Mozarteum Salzburg since 2018. He is co-initiator of the Arco Composition Summer Academy.

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Writings by Johannes Maria Staud

Die Musik in Wunden legen. Der Tiroler Komponist Johannes Maria Staud wurde gestern Donnerstag mit dem Preis für künstlerisches Schaffen der Stadt Innsbruck geehrt. Ein Gespräch über Musik, Demokratie und Kritik in bewegten Zeiten (mit Ivona Jelcic), in: Trioler Tageszeitung vom 22. November 2016