René Wohlhauser


René Wohlhauser is a Swiss composer, pianist, singer, improviser, conductor and music teacher.

Life

From 1975 to 1979 Wohlhauser studied counterpoint, harmony, music analysis, score reading, orchestration and composition with Thomas Kessler, Robert Suter, Jacques Wildberger and Jürg Wyttenbach at the Basle Music Academy, earning a diploma in music theory. He went on to study composition with Kazimierz Serocki, Mauricio Kagel, Herbert Brün and Heinz Holliger, and for several years studied with Klaus Huber and Brian Ferneyhough. The latter had a decisive influence on Wohlhauser’s work.
Wohlhauser currently teaches composition, improvisation and music theory at the Basle Music Academy. As a performer of contemporary music, he is heard all over Europe, recently mostly with his ensemble «Ensemble Polysono», as well as with soprano Christine Simolka. Wohlhauser has published several writings on music.

Music

Wohlhauser’s prolific output covers many musical genres. His compositions include solo, chamber, orchestral, organ and stage works. In his early works, Wohlhauser also made use of electro-acoustic techniques. In his works, extra-musical impulses are often the starting point for a composition. References to philosophical, linguistic and scientific themes are particularly prominent. Wohlhauser is a composer who is tirelessly looking for new compositional strategies and puts established compositional systems into question. The consistent way in which he works out his compositional concepts often results in a dense and complex musical language that challenges performers as well as audiences.

Compositions