(b. 1981, Wissembourg – d. 17 September 2010, Strasbourg).
French composer of primarily chamber works that have been performed in Europe and elsewhere; he was also active as a pianist.
Mr. Bertrand studied piano with Laurent Cabasso and Michèle Renoul at the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Strasbourg, where he then studied with Armand Angster and earned gold medals in chamber music and piano. There he also studied composition with Ivan Fedele from 1996–2000 and earned his diploma. In addition, he participated in the Cursus Annuel de Composition et Informatique Musicale at IRCAM in Paris in 2000–01 and studied piano with Nicolas Hodges at the Ferienkurse in Darmstadt in 2002.
Among his honours were the Prix de la Musique from the Académie des Marches de l'Est (2001), an honourable mention in the competition of the Internationale Gaudeamus Muziekweek in Amsterdam (2001, for Treis) and First Prize in the Earplay Donald Aird Memorial Competition (2002, for Treis). He later earned the Prix Hervé Dugardin from SACEM (2007), the Prix André Caplet from the Académie des Beaux-Arts (2007) and a residency at the Villa Medici in Rome (2008–09). The ensemble Accroche Note, the Beethovenfest in Bonn, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Ensemble Intercontemporain, the Festival international d'art lyrique d'Aix-en-Provence, the Festival Musica in Strasbourg, the Fondation André Boucourechliev, the government of France, the Lucerne Festival, the Musée du Louvre, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Les Percussions de Strasbourg, the festival RVMN in Forbach, and the bank Société générale commissioned works from him. His music has been performed in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the UK, and the USA, including at the Internationale Gaudeamus Muziekweek (2000), the Ferienkurse in Darmstadt (2002), the festival Ultraschall Berlin (2004, 2013), and the Lucerne Festival (2005).
As a pianist, he primarily performed contemporary music. He collaborated with Mark Andre, Gualtiero Dazzi, Pascal Dusapin, Ivan Fedele, Michael Jarrell, and Ramon Lazkano. He played with the ensemble Accroche Note and with Ensemble In Extremis, which he co-founded with flutist Olivier Class and clarinettist Thomas Monod in 2001 and of which he later served as artistic director.
His publisher is Edizioni Suvini Zerboni.
COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS
ORCHESTRAL:
Yet, small orchestra (20 players), 2002
Mana, large orchestra (75 players), 2004–05
Vertigo, 2 pianos, large orchestra (83 players), 2006–07
Scales, small orchestra (26 players), 2008–09
Ayas, small orchestra (12 brass, 2 percussion), 2010
Okhtor, large orchestra (82 players), 2010
CHAMBER MUSIC:
Skiaï, flute, clarinet (+ bass clarinet), violin, cello, piano (+ tam-tam), 1998
La Chute du rouge, clarinet, cello, piano, vibraphone, 2000
Treis, violin, cello, piano, 2000
Dikha, clarinet (+ bass clarinet), fixed media, 2000–01
Ektra, flute, 2001
Aus, clarinet (+ bass clarinet), soprano saxophone, viola, piano, 2003
Virya, flute (+ piccolo), clarinet (+ bass clarinet), piano, vibraphone (+ glockenspiel, 3 woodblocks), 2003–04
Sanh, bass clarinet, cello, piano, 2005
Quatuor I, string quartet, 2005–06
Hendeka, violin, viola, cello, piano, 2007
Arashi, viola, 2008
Dall'Inferno, flute, harp, viola, 2008
Satka, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, 2008
Quatuor II, string quartet, 2010
CHORAL:
Full, 8 mixed voices, piano, 4 vibraphones (any 2 + glockenspiel, any 2 + bass drum), 2002
Iôa, 8 female voices, 2003
Kamenaia, 12 mixed voices, 2008
VOCAL:
Strofa II, mezzo-soprano, violin, piano, 2000 (also version as Strofa IIB, mezzo-soprano, alto flute [+ flute], piano, 1998–2000)
Madrigal (texts by Italo Calvino, Roland Barthes, François Rabelais), soprano, flute, clarinet (+ bass clarinet), violin, cello, percussion, 2004–05
Diadème, soprano, clarinet, piano, 2008
Arka (text by Yannick Haenel), soprano, French horn, violin, piano, 2010
PIANO:
Haos, 2003
Haïku, 2008