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Harald Weiss

Harald Weiss

Country of origin: Germany
Birthday: May 26, 1949

About Harald Weiss

Harald Weiss was born on 26 May 1949 in Salzgitter, Germany. A very young student, he first studied violin and piano playing, composition and aural training at the Niedersachsen Music School in Braunschweig. From 1968 to 1972 he studied musical education, conducting and composition at the State Institute of Music and Theatre in Hanover. Additionally, he completed a course of studies in drums and percussion playing at the Hamburg Institute of Music.

From 1973 to 1976, after numerous engagements as a conductor and interpreter, he worked as a composer for the Städtische Bühnen in Bielefeld. There, he composed, arranged and conducted music scores for plays. Weiss was holding a professorship in the subjects rhythm and arrangement at the Hanover State Institute of Music and Theatre from 1973 to 1983. During this time he also worked as a freelance artist, a screen-writer, a composer and a director. Jazz and Rock music are an important source of inspiration for Weiss’s compositions. Also, his numerous trips (in the context of theatre workshops or tours) to Africa, Asia, Europe and South America have a significant influence on his music. In his works Weiss tries out alternative musical forms and sounds, which do not need electronic devices.

These experiments with the possibilities of natural sound production made him develop exceptional techniques for vocals and percussion. After having created mostly experimental works like instrumental plays, scenic sound projects, "happenings" and "performances", Weiss dedicated himself to the opera in the nineties: 1992, Amandas Traum, an opera about the opera business, had its premiere in the Alte Oper in Frankfurt. Das Gespenst Musiktheater für Kinder und Erwachsene, which he finished in 1997, was as successful as his first opera. Weiss’s conception of both works includes lighting, music, words and stage direction, and it aims at addressing all the senses of the audience. 

Night, darkness and eclipse are central issues of Weiss' "Darkness Projekt", with which he dealt over 15 years. Throughout the cycle, he also came across the theme of light. Reise in die Nacht. Eine Performance zu Wasser und zu Lande in sieben Stationen is a tape composition which was realized in the context of the EXPO 2000 in Hannover and forms the beginning of the series. The instrumentation of the varied cycle ranges from chamber music, as the string quartet Stille Mauern (2003), to large-scale works for orchestra and choir, as is Ode an die Nacht (2014). The piece for soloists, mixed choir and instruments was commissioned by the EuropaChorAkademie and concluded the "Darkness Projekt".

For his compositions Weiss received many prizes and recognition, for example the Niedersachsen Kulturpreis in 1982, the Kulturpreis of Bielefeld in 1984, from 1985 to 1986 a fellowship from the Villa Massimo in Rome, the Isadora Prize 2010 and the Praetorius Music Award of the State of Lower Saxony. His films, too, earned him a number of awards.

Weiss, the freelance artist, composer, director and screen writer, lives in Mallorca since 1984.

Worklist

Chronology

1949
Born in Salzgitter on 26 May.
1964-68
First studies at the Braunschweig Conservatoire with violin as his main subject
1968
Abitur (school-leaving examination)
1968-72
Studies school music, composition, percussion and conducting at the Hanover Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Theater.
1972-73
Studies percussion (soloists' class) at the Hamburg Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Theater.
1970-74
Conductor of the Ensemble für Neue Musik at the Hanover Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Theater, musician in various ensembles (Ensemble Musica Negativa, NDR Studio Orchestra, Orchestra of the Hamburg State Opera)
1973-84
Teaches arrangement/ensemble and percussion at the Hanover Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Theater.
1973
Birth of his daughter Anna Katharina
1973-88
Various study visits to India and Africa in connection with the Goethe Institute, concert tours and workshops
1975
Wins Composition Award of the WDR Cologne.
1976
Wins International Composition Award of the City of Hamm.
1977
Wins International Composition Award of the Braunschweig State Theatre for the chamber opera "Gestörte Frequenzen".
1977
Wins the Award of the Norddeutsches Theatertreffen in Hamburg for the incidental music of the production of Brecht's "Die Ausnahme und die Regel".
1978
Birth of his son Maximilian
from 1978
Begins to perform frequently as solo percussion performer of his own works "Trommelgeflüster","Tänze ums hölzerne Pferd" and "Ausser Abonnement – Geheime Sitzung". During more than twenty years of concert tours, Weiss has visited almost all countries of the world with these pro- grammes.
1980
Artist's scholarship of Lower Saxony (in the category "Music")
1982
The ARD broadcasting stations choose the radio play "Endstation" (production of Saarländischer Rundfunk) as Germany's contribution to the "Prix future" (International Radio Play Competition).
1983
Scholarshop of the Ministry of Science and Arts of Lower Saxony
1983/84
Study visit to the Künstlerhof Schreyahn
1984
Bielefeld Arts Award (for his complete oeuvre)
1984
Moves to Spain (Mallorca)
1985
Work-study scholarship of the city of Berlin
1985/86
Villa Massimo scholarshop, Prix de Rome, study visit
1988/89
Visit to India
1989
Birth of his son David
1990/91
Visit to India
1991
Wins "Silver Amadeus" at the First National Competition "Musik kreativ".
1991/92
Visit to China
1992
Wins Golden and Silver Pyramid for the video clip "MarkenArt" at the photokina in Cologne.
1993
Wins Award of the TV station PREMIERE, Berlin Video Festival.
1993
Artist's scholarship of Lower Saxony (in the category "Film")
1993
Prix spécial de jury, Mondial de la Video, Brussels
1993
Music Theatre Piece of the Year "Ade-até...", Bahia Aplaude, Salvador/Ba- hia, Brazil
1999-2005
Settles permanently in Salvador/Bahia, Brazil.
2002
Birth of his daughter Amanda
2005
Returns to Spain.
2009
Nominated for the Deutscher Musikautorenpreis
2010
Isadora Prize Munich for Contemporary Dance
2012
Praetorius Music Award of the State of Lower Saxony
2014
"Weiße Nacht" for bariton solo,children choir, mixed choir, two violoncelli, k, string bass, organ and percussion
2016
"Der ewige Atem" a musical theater project
2017
"Ode an die Nacht" premiere in Berlin
2019
Pro Musica Viva Media Award, Hamburg

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