Klaus Huber: Biography 

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Born in Bern on the 30th November 1924

Grammar school in Basel, teachers training course in Küsnacht/Zürich

1947-49 studied music at the conservatory in Zürich; degree in violin with Stefi Geyer and in school music; 1947-1955, also here, studies in theory and composition with his godfather Willy Burkhard

1950-60 teacher for violin at the conservatory in Zürich, 1955/56 studied at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Berlin with Boris Blacher

1955 first performance of "Drei kleine Vokalisen" at the International Gaudeamus music week in Bilthoven, Netherlands

1959 international breakthrough as a composer: first performance of the chamber cantata "Des Engels Anredung an die Seele" at the World Music Days of the IGNM in Rome; the work is awarded with the first prize for chamber music in the composition competition of the Italian ISCM section (amongst the jury were Luigi Dallapiccola and Wladimir Vogel)

1960-63 worked as a teacher for musical history at the conservatory in Lucerne

1961 first performance of "Noctes" for oboe and hapsichord at the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, Darmstadt

1961-72 taught at the Academy of Music in Basel: from 1964 director of the composition and instrumentation classes, from 1968 director of the master class in composition

1965/69/87 member of the international jury of the ISCM World Music Days

1966/68/72 director of the analysis courses and seminars at the international composition competitions of the Gaudeamus foundation in Bilthoven/Netherlands

1968 in the spring, first journey to the Soviet Union (Moscow, Leningrad, Kiew) on invitation of the Soviet Composers Association, together with Constantin Regamey

1969 Huber founds the international composers’ seminar in the Künstlerhaus Boswil (Switzerland) on which he has a decisive influence till 1980

1970 Beethovenpreis of the city of Bonn (for "Tenebrae")

1973 scholarship from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) in Berlin; Huber becomes successor to Wolfgang Fortner at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg (director of the composers’ class and of the Institute for contemporary music)

1975 Composers’ Prize of the Swiss Composers’ Association

1978 Artprize of the city of Basel

1979-82 president of the Swiss Composers’ Association

1983 first journey to Nicaragua; meeting with Ernesto Cardenal; lectures in La Habana, Cuba; first performance of the complete version of "Erniedrigt-Geknechtet-Verlassen-Verachtet..." (with texts by Cardenal amongst others) at the Donaueschinger Musiktage

1984 lecturer at the "Cursos latinoamericanos por la musica contemporanea" in Tatui, Brasilia; second Nicaragua journey with lectures at the Escuela Nacional de Musica, Managua; guest professor at the McGill University in Montreal, Canada

1985 guest professor at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena; Reinhold-Schneider-Prize of the city of Freiburg i.Br.

1986 lectures at the universities of Tokyo, Nagoya and Hiroshima; Premio Italia for "Cantiones de Circulo Gyrante"

1986/88/90/93 guest professor at the IRCAM, Paris

1987/89/92 guest professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique, Paris

1987 7th summer seminar for young composers at Radziejowice (Poland)

1989 composition seminars and lectures at the conservatories in Malmö and Stockholm

1990 Huber resigns from teaching at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg; along with composing he continues teaching in a free fashion; guest professor at the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki

1991 guest professor at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and at the Conservatoire de Musique, Genève

1992 Composer in Residence at the academy of Music in Basel, at the festival "Musica" in Strasbourg, at the Huddersfield Festival; guest professor at the Brandenburgisches Kolloquium Neue Musik, Berlin

1992/93 guest professor at the Scuola Civica di Musica, Milano

1993 Composer in Residence and master class at the Centre Acanthes, Villeneuve lez Avignon; guest composer at Toronto, New Music Concerts

1994 Composer in Residence at the Internationale Musikfestwochen, Luzern; master class at Luzern/Boswil; composition seminar at Schloss Schielleiten (Graz)

1995 Composer in Residence and Visiting Professor at Winterthur, Viitasari and the Akiyoshidai Festival in Japan

1996 Visiting Professor at the Lyon Conservatoire; Aristoxenos-Masterclass in Aigion (Greece)

1997 Master classes at the Hochschule für Künste in Bremen; Visiting Professor at the Sarajevo Conservatoire; Composer in Residence in Caracas.

1998 Composer in Residence at the Bergen Festival; Visiting Professor at the Grieg Academy in Bergen and at the University of Alcalà (Spain); founds the concert series "Musica insieme Panicale" in Umbria

1999 Work on the stage work "Schwarzerde", based on Ossip Mandelstam (commissioned by the Basle Theatre for 2001); publication of "Umgepflügte Zeit" (Complete Writings) by MusikTexte, Cologne.
  

Klaus Huber is member of the "Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste", of the "Akademie der Künste Berlin" and of the "Freie Akademie der Künste Mannheim", honorary member of the ISCM as well as honorary doctor of the University of Strasbourg. He lives in Bremen and Panicale (Perugia/Italy).
Since 1975 his works have been published by Ricordi Editions, Munich. The autographs are available in the Paul Sacher Foundation, Basle. 
His complete writings titled "Umgepflügte Zeit" are published by MusikTexte Verlag, Cologne.

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