Ezko Kikoutchi: La porte Trio SÆITENWIND, Gilles Grimaître, Orchestra della Svizzera italiana & Pablo González

• Ezko Kikoutchi (b. 1968):
• 1 ONIBI 19:01
• 2 L'aile suspendue entre le ciel et l'eau 08:42
• 3 MIRAÏ 13:36
• Total Runtime 41:19

Info for Ezko Kikoutchi: La porte

A temporality created by the clear transition from one highly defined and refined musical situation to another, polished and sophisticated instrumentation, accomplished lyricism, and a delicate, subtle rhythmic flow – these are some of the defining features of the richly textured musical universe inhabited by the Swiss-Japanese composer Ezko Kikoutchi. From the opening notes of this recording, it is apparent that Kikoutchi belongs to a generation of artists whose work manages to seamlessly and harmoniously fuse many different sources of contemporary music from the latter half of the 20th century. What emerges is a soundscape that is as beautiful as it is unique.

Gilles Grimaître, piano
Trio SÆITENWIND
Orchestra della Svizzera italiana
Pablo González, conductor

Gilles Grimaître
born in Geneva in 1988, began to study piano at the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze in 1998. He also studied improvisation and took an avid interest in composition and contemporary music. He entered the Hochschule der Künste Bern where he continued his musical training with Prof. Pierre Sublet. He also studied the organ with Pascale Van Coppenolle and composition with Xavier Dayer. In 2013 he received his Master Performance diploma with distinction. He attented lessons from notorious pianists such as Michel Dalberto, Florence Millet, Ueli Wiget, Hermann Kretzschmar and Hidéki Nagano. Very active in the contemporary music field, Gilles Grimaître collaborated with composers such as Stefano Gervasoni, Franck Bedrossian, Gérard Zinsstag, Klaus Huber, Philippe Manoury, Pierre Jodlowski. He has premiered several works and encourages composers to write for him. As soloist and chamber musician, Gilles Grimaître performs regularly in Europe. He often plays with Ensemble Contrechamps, Collegium Novum Zürich, Ensemble Proton and Ensemble Modern, under the baton of conductors including Heinz Holliger, François-Xavier Roth, Peter Rundel, Michael Wendeberg, Facundo Agudin and Pablo Heras-Casado.In 2012 he took part in the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, playing amongst others the piano solo part in Charles Ives’ Symphony no 4 conducted by Peter Eövtös. He specializes in the accompaniment with vocalists, working often as an opera accompanist. He is also an active improviser and plays in the experimental band [bleu].He is a founding member of the contemporary music ensemble Ensemble Lemniscate in Basel.Gilles Grimaître won the first prize at the 2013 Nicati competition for contemporary music and received scholarships from the Marescotti Foundation, the Irène Dénéréaz Foundation and the Gabriele De Agostini Foundation. He was scholarship holder at the International Ensemble Modern Academy in Frankfurt/Main for the academic year 2013-2014.

Trio SÆITENWIND
Always fresh and intoxicating, Trio SÆTENWIND consistently delights audiences with its stirring performances. Comprising a unique combination of instruments, the ensemble embraces a wide range of musical styles, performing its own arrangements of repertoire works as well as contemporary music and innovative, experimental projects. Close collaborations with composers (such as Mike Svoboda, Ezko Kikoutchi, Artur Akshelyan, Tobias E. Schick, Andreas E. Frank, Paul Clift and Junghae Lee, among others) culminating in the world premieres of their works is a key part of the group’s identity.

The trio is regularly invited to participate in prestigious concert series and festivals at home and abroad, such as the International Music Festival of Moscow, Unerhörte Musik Berlin, musica nova Reutlingen, Musicpodium Zurich, Forum Neue Musik Hamburg, Musikfestival Bern and Swiss Chamber Music Festival Adelboden, and its performances are regularly broadcast on the radio (SRF Culture, Espace 2, Orpheus Moscow, RBB Berlin).

Three musicians, from Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland, founded the ensemble in 2013 during their studies in contemporary music in Basel. In that year, the trio was awarded a scholarship from the Schierse Foundation (Berlin), and was awarded a second prize in the Concours Nicati, the most prestigious competition for contemporary performance music in Switzerland. In 2015, the ensemble won the second prize in the ORPHEUS Swiss Chamber Music Competition, as well as other prizes from the Marianne & Curt Dienemann Foundation, Lucerne, and the Tina Anguissola Scotti award from Val Tidone.

Pablo González
Hailed as one of the most versatile and passionate conductors of his generation, Pablo González is an inspirational musician to orchestras and audiences throughout the world, “attentive to every silence and every cue for the entire symphony orchestra, weaving and managing this tonal revolution” (Opera World).

Pablo first captured international attention with his victories at the Donatella Flick and Cadaqués International Conducting competitions. Between 2010 - 2015, he was Music Director of the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona I Nacional de Catalunya. He has previously held the positions of Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra of the City of Granada.

Pablo’s forthcoming guest conducting highlights include appearances with The Hallé, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern, Helsinki Philharmonic, Lahti Symphony, Residentie Orkest, Orchestre National de Lille, Slovak Philharmonic, Poznań Philharmonic, Bilbao Symphony and Galicia Symphony orchestras, and Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana.

Additional highlights of recent seasons include leading the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Warsaw Philharmonic and Orchestre Philharmonique de Liége; Spanish National, Radio and Television and Kyoto symphony orchestras.

Pablo has successfully collaborated with soloists including Maxim Vengerov, Nikolai Lugansky, Javier Perianes, Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Isabelle Faust, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Arcadi Volodos, Viktoria Mullova, Johannes Moser, Truls Mork and Viviane Hagner.

His recent opera highlights include conducting Don Giovanni and L’elisir d’amore for two successful Glyndebourne tours; Carmen in San Sebastian; a double-bill of Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine and Montsalvatge’s Una Voce in Off, as well as Die Zauberflöte, Strauss’ Daphne and Wagner’s Rienzi (in concert) at Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona, and Don Giovanni and Madama Butterfly for Opera de Oviedo.

Pablo is very active in the recording studio and recently released for Naxos 3 volumes of orchestral works by Enrique Granados with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra. Their next album featuring Bizet’s Carmen and L'Arlesienne suites will be released in autumn 2017. Further releases include Prokofiev’s The Prodigal Son with SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg. Pablo enjoys a regular collaboration with Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern; their Schumann CD with Lena Neudauer was awarded the prestigious International Classical Music Award.

Born in Oviedo, Pablo studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He currently lives in Oviedo.

Booklet for Ezko Kikoutchi: La porte