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Patrick Defossez

 
CountryBelgium
OccupationComposer, Performer, Teacher
CategoriesContemporary, Jazz, Experimental Music, Electroacoustic Music

Patrick Defossez (born 7 August 1959 at Valenciennes, France) is a Belgian composer, pianist and improviser of contemporary classical music. A Belgian citizen, he has lived in France for many years and divides his time between Belgium, Reims and the foothills of the Mont Ventoux in France.
He is also the musical director of the 2d’Lyres not-for-profit organization and the Autres Voix de piano collective : http://www.2dlyres.net/carnet/
For more information : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Defossez
Studies :
A classically trained musician, Patrick Defossez cut his teeth first at the Académie de Musique, then at Mons Conservatory, Belgium, where he wrote his first orchestral work in 1977. He then left for the United States in order to work on jazz and improvisation. He perfected his musical techniques at Berklee College, Boston. On his return to Europe, he began working with electroacoustic music and mixed music, especially at the IRCAM music research institute. Under the guidance of Claude Ballif, he rounded his music composition studies off with the unanimous award of the prize for composition.
Work :
Patrick Defossez began his musical career in 1985, moving to France at a time when Belgian jazz was going through a very challenging period. Over the years, he put his creative talents as a pianist to work in the contemporary music scene, composing and improvising; played with several jazz bands (trios, quintets) and directed an ensemble featuring a wide range of different instruments which was part of the jazz fusion movement.
Style :
Patrick Defossez describes himself as a ‘pluriesthetic’ musician who attaches great importance both to the ‘art’ element of (so-called) contemporary classical music and to the influences derived from improvised music, from jazz and electroacoustic music. The stage environment and the physical lay-out of the venue are important parts of his work and some of his compositions (e.g. Sculpture de Muses in 2012) have been designed for specific locations. His experience as a jazz musician has led him to develop a technique of ‘improvised composition’ in which the written work is subjected to changes in real-time during the course of a concert, allowing for greater spontaneity of performance. This may be driven by purely aural considerations but also by a concern for how the playing of the piano as a visual performance is perceived.
Patrick DEFOSSEZ composition, piano acoustique, laptop
Polyphoniaque? Assurément !
Patrick DEFOSSEZ est compositeur, pianiste improvisateur, humanoïde belgo-wallon soumis à de nombreuses tensions contradictoires ... patient dans son immobile vitesse et fulgurances nécessaires, il pratique l’ouverture consentie à l’épaisseur du cercle du temps.
De formation classique complète (Académie et Conservatoire en France et en Belgique, obtention des D.E. & C.A. Ministère de la Culture, 1er Prix de composition à l'unanimité dans la classe de Claude Ballif, ...) augmentée d’un parcours jazz/musiques improvisées (Berklee School de Boston USA, ...) et de nombreux stages spécialisés (IRCAM, ...), il est d’une part, un compositeur pluriesthétique inscrit dans la vie de la création sonore contemporaine (Ensemble Intercontemporain, commandes publiques d’écriture, ...) et d’autre part, un interprète actif de la scène de la création improvisée (NEOS Music, Leo Records, Naxos, ...), investi dans les démarches improvisationnelles transversales incorporant peu ou prou les moyens musicaux numériques actuels.
Il enseigne la composition musicale multidimensionnelle : classique contemporaine, les musiques mixtes (nouvelles technologies musicales) ainsi que l’improvisation sous toutes ses formes dans un Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional en France.
En tant que compositeur, il promeut la Musique confluente osmose entre les langages structurés de la musique “savante” contemporaine écrite, de la musique électroacoustique, de la musique mixte (l'instrument acoustique associé à la lutherie électronique) à celle beaucoup plus “volatile” de l’improvisation.

Patrick Defossez