On the 1st of October 2010, the Austrian composer Thomas Wally was honored with a very special award. The Austrian Minister of Culture, Claudia Schmied, presented Thomas Wally with the “Outstanding Artist Award”, a coveted prize of 8000 €, awarded by the Federal Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture. The award ceremony was part of the event “Outstanding 10”, which took place in the Viennese Radiokulturhaus. Also elsewhere, the aspiring composer is the centre of the attention. As part of Wien Modern 2010, the Festival of Contemporary Music in Vienna, a musical focus is dedicated to Thomas Wally.
The Outstanding Artist Awards are given to artists of the younger generation, who are able call attention to themselves with outstanding achievements and projects. The bestowal of the awards is meant to honor and portray the immense diversity of contemporary art from Austria. The prizes are awarded in the categories of art photography, fine art, caricatures and comics, video and media art, literature, children’s literature, music, performing arts, fashion, interdisciplinarity, avant-garde film, documentary and women’s culture. This year’s condition for the category of music was the submission of an “instrumental composition with a full orchestra”. The choice of the qualified jury was the work of the young Austrian composer Thomas Wally.
Born in 1981 in Vienna, ThomasWally studied composition in Vienna with Erich Urbanner and Chaya Czernowin and simultaneously studied violin concerto with Josef Hell and musicology. In 2008 he graduated with honors from both studies. As a musician, Thomas Wally worked with renowned orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic and the Klangforum, the Ensemble Collage and the Ensemble Reconsil. Despite his young age, Thomas Wally has received numerous music and composition awards, as well as various scholarships for his studies. His compositions have been performed by ensemble LUX, Ensemble Wiener Collage, Ensemble Kontrapunkte, the Webern Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Plus, ensemble members of the London Contemporary Opera Academy and the Symphony Orchestra in Hongkong.
The festival Wien Modern, beginning at the end of October, is dedicated to the composer with a several-day focus.
On the 6th of November, Thomas Wally will be performing with the ensemble LUX as a violinist and will be playing a repertoire from György Ligeti to Johannes Kern.
Two days later, the audience will be able to experience Thomas Wally performing his own compositions. He will be playing “Transfigurations for Piano and String Quartet”, “4 Bagatelles for String Quartet” and “Caprice for String Trio”.
On the following evening, the composer Thomas Wally will again be the centre of attention. The Ensemble Reconsil will perform three of his works („meer, teich, schwefelquelle“,”melencodia III for Oboe and Ensemble” and “impressions … en relief II”) and place them in the context of a composition from his Finnish teacher and role model Sampo Haapamäki.
Performance dates:
06.11.2010 I 17.00 I ensemble LUX
08.11.2010 I 19.30 I ensemble LUX
09.11.2010 I 19.30 I ensemble reconsil / Freisitzer
http://www.wienmodern.at
https://db.musicaustria.at/en/node/82500