Hans Thomalla, assistant professor of composition, has been awarded a fellowship by the Heinrich Strobel Foundation in Freiburg, Germany. The fellowship includes a four-week residency at the Foundation’s Experimental Studio and a research stipend. While in residence, Thomalla will explore live performer and computer interaction and work on a commission for the 2011 Donaueschingen Festival (Germany), the oldest festival for contemporary music in the world and among the most prestigious.
The Heinrich Strobel Foundation promotes uniting art and technology. Toward this end, it awards fellowships of up to four weeks that enable composers to spend time in the Foundation’s Experimental Studio, either expanding their artistic and technological horizons or working on specific compositions. Fellows receive full technical support while in residence, access to studio facilities, and a stipend toward expenses. The Studio also assists with the preparation and presentation of public performances. Germany’s leading music technology center, the Experimental Studio is also an international leader in this field.
Hans Thomalla is a native of Bonn, Germany. He studied composition at the Frankfurt Musikhochschule and received a DMA in composition from Stanford University. During his studies, he was a fellow of the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD), the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, and the Stanford Humanities Center. He has also been the recipient of the renowned Kranichsteiner Musikpreis (2204) and the Christoph-Delz-Prize (2006).
Thomalla’s music has been performed at many major festivals, including Donaueschingen, Wien Modern, Witten, Ultraschall Berlin, ECLAT-Festival, Takefu, and Steirischer Herbst. The Festival d’Automne á Paris in 2006 presented a two-concert portrait of his music, featuring the Ensemble Recherche. In summer 2008, a CD of his chamber music, performed by the Ensemble Recherche and Lucas Fels, was released on the Wergo label. Thomalla has also served as First Assistant Dramaturge, Dramaturge, and Artistic Advisor to the Director for the Stuttgart Opera, where he worked on the new productions of Lachenmann’s Maedchen mit den Schwefelhoelzern and Schreker’sGezeichnete among others. This past summer he served on a panel at the Salzburg Festival, discussing the future of contemporary opera. Current projects include a commission from the Stuttgart Opera for a new opera that will be premiered in 2011.