Professor Hans Tutschku
Composer & Fanny P. Mason Professor of Music at the Harvard University Department of Music
Hans Tutschku was born in Weimar in 1966. Some of his first experiences with electronic music came with the “Ensemble for Intuitive Music Weimar” of which he has been a member since 1982. He studied electronic music composition at the Dresden College of Music and, starting in 1989, participated in several of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s concert cycles to learn the art of sound direction. He continued his studies in sonology and electroacoustic composition at the Royal Conservatoire in the Hague (1991/92), followed by a year’s study at IRCAM in Paris (1994). In 1996 he participated in composition workshops with Klaus Huber and Brian Ferneyhough.
Hans Tutschku has taught electroacoustic composition as a guest professor in Weimar (1995/96); electroacoustic composition at IRCAM in Paris (1997–2001); and at the conservatory of Montbéliard (2001–2004). In May 2003 he completed a doctorate (PhD) with Professor Jonty Harrison at the University of Birmingham, and during the spring term of 2003 was the “Edgard Varèse Guest Professor” at the Technical University of Berlin. Since 2004, he is the Fanny P. Mason Professor of Music at Harvard University, where he teaches composition and works as director of the electroacoustic studios.
Besides his regular courses at the university, he is regularly teaching international workshops for musicians and non-musicians on aspects of art appreciation, listening, creativity, composition, improvisation, live-electronics and sound spatialization.
Hans Tutschku is the winner of many international composition competitions, including: Bourges, CIMESP Sao Paulo, Hanns Eisler Prize, Prix Ars Electronica, Prix Noroit, and Prix Musica Nova. In 2005 he received the culture prize of the city of Weimar. He held a Fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study for 2013, and a stipend from the Japan–U.S. Friendship Commission for 2014. In 2015 he received a commission from the Fromm Music Foundation. In 2017, his composition Remembering Japan won the first prize at the composition competition Klang!, as well as the first prize at the CIME ICEM competition; and he was awarded the ZKM Giga-Hertz production prize for ‘pressure-divided’.