Richard Beaudoin
Richard Beaudoin (b. 1975) has received commissions and performances from some of the finest musicians in Europe and America, including the soprano Annette Dasch, the Konzerthaus-Dortmund, the Staatstheater-Kassel, the Chiara and Lydian String Quartets, organists Clive Driskill-Smith and Christian Wilson, pianists Marilyn Nonken and Constantine Finehouse, and tenor Joseph Kaiser. Mr. Beaudoin studied composition in London at the Royal Academy of Music, and in the United States at Brandeis University and Amherst College. He has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire, and has worked at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France. Mr. Beaudoin currently holds the post of Lecturer on Music at Harvard University.
In Development
Étude d'un prélude—Microtiming & the Chopin Bicentennial
In summer 2009, Mr. Beaudoin will begin composing a series of works referencing the work of Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) commemorating the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth. This series includes works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, string quartet, piano duo and piano solo.
The working title for the series is Étude d'un prélude [Study of a prelude]. These works pioneer a new compositional process involving microtiming; they are the product of an ongoing collaboration with Dr. Olivier Senn of the Lucerne University of Applied Science and Arts in Switzerland.
Featured Performances
Nach-Fragen—Annette Dasch in Vienna, Amsterdam and Dortmund
The renowned German soprano Annette Dasch (The Countess at the Met 2009, Elsa at Bayreuth 2010) and the Konzerthaus-Dortmund commissioned Mr. Beaudoin to compose a large song-cycle for voice and piano based on texts by the eminent East German author Christa Wolf. The resulting work, entitled Nach-Fragen, was premiered by Annette Dasch and pianist Wolfram Rieger at the Wiener Konzerthaus, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and the Konzerthaus-Dortmund in March 2009.
Mr. Beaudoin’s song cycle, titled Nach-Fragen (which loosely translates as “The Inquiries”), is a setting of prose passages adapted by the composer from Wolf’s 1968 novel Nachdenken über Christa T. The 17-song cycle is organized into three sections, and is punctuated by three settings of the epigraph of Wolf’s novel: “Was ist das: Dieses Zu-sich-selber-Kommen des Menschen?” (What is it: this coming-to-oneself?). Both the text and the music deal directly with unanswered questions – regarding time, identity and society.
Nach-Fragen is dedicated to Annette Dasch, and the fabric of the work is woven with musical versions of her name. The work received glowing reviews during its première performances.
