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Born in 1963, he studied music at the Conservatories in
Liege and Brussels. He also graduated in Roman philology at the
Universities of Li…ge and Louvain-la-Neuve. In 1986-92 he played the
cello in the OGroup Maximalist!1. In 1988 he founded the OQuadro1 quartet,
which during the seven years of its existence gave premieres of over
thirty new compositions. Jean-Paul Dessy himself premiered many pieces
written specially for him by such composers as D. Boss, V. Kissin,
M. Fourgon, W. Hus, Cl. Ledoux, J-M Rens, and F. Rzewski. He was the
initiator of the first Belgian performances of works by Messiaen,
Radulescu, Scelsi, Schnittke and Eric Tanguy.
He also writes incidental music for the theatre. As a conductor, he has
recorded the complete works for string orchestra by Scelsi, winning rave
reviews from OLe Monde de la Musique1. He has also recorded pieces by
Witold Lutos1awski and many other contemporary composers.
Since 1996 he has been the director of the OEnsemble Musiques Nouvelles1.
In 1999, in partnership with OArt Zoyd1, he founded a centre for musical
creation and production which is partly financed from eu funds.
Jean-Paul Dessy1s honours included the OPrix Gilson de la Communaute des
Radios Publiques de Langue Francoise1 in Montreal (1997) and the OPrix
Fuga1 from the Belgian Composers1 Union (1999).
Selected recent works: Les liens du silence for viola,
cello, double-bass and guitar (1999), Subsonic for two cellos (1999),
Oree-Oraison-Hors-Raison for string quartet (2000), The Present1s presents
for nine string players and solo cello (2002)
Fable Ineffable
According to Homeric tradition, sirens, the deities of the sea, lured
unwary sailors on to rocks with their heavenly singing. When one listens
to the cantilena of whales or the chorus of dolphins, one cannot help but
imagine that it was these bewitching voices that our ancients fantasized
about. Similarly, wolves stimulate our aural imagination. Their howling
paralyses us. This is proof that these voices were once our own.
In Fable Ineffable wolves, dolphins and whales take the role of soloists
that accompany a human orchestra. This is a kind of tribute paid to our
close relatives: despite the fact that we have led them to a state of
near-extinction, they offer us the music that comes close to our most
intimate emotions.
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ensemble musiques nouvelles
was set up in 1996 by the composer, cellist and conductor, Jean-Paul Dessy,
its present director. Based in Mons since 1998, it is dedicated to new
music. The group blends tradition with experimentation, with a view to
creating a vision of what tomorrow1s music might be like. Attached to the
cultural centre OLe Manege1 in Mons, Musiques Nouvelles supports a wide
range of initiatives in the field of music and new media. The Centre
organizes concerts, finances commissions from composers and grants for
composers-in-residence and serves as a platform for cooperation between
composers and artists in other fields within the framework of eu
programmes and in partnership with Art Zoyd Studio.
It also gives financial support to publications on new music, recordings
and projects covering new technologies and multimedia.
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