Sidney Corbett

Sidney Corbett was born in 1960 in Chicago and studied music and philosophy at the University of California, San Diego, Yale University, where he earned a doctorate in 1989, and from 1985 to 1988 at the Hamburg Music Academy with György Ligeti. Since 1985, Corbett is mainly active in Europe where his works have included the orchestral, instrumental, solo, stage works and vocal literature. His compositions have received numerous awards at home and abroad and are performed throughout the world. Since 2006, Corbett has been a professor of composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Mannheim and is also director of its "Forum für Neue Musik".

A particular focus of his recent work is in the field of musical theater, and his operas include NOACH, to a libretto by Christoph Hein (Bremen 2001), UBU: Eine Groteske after Alfred Jarry with libretto by Simone de Mello; an opera based on the novel, The Big Issue, based on the novel by by Agota Kristof; and Die Andere, with a libretto by Christoph Hein, which premiered in March 2016 at the Theater Magdeburg. His most recent opera, Sao Paulo, premiered in April 2018 at Theater Osnabrück and was awarded the 2018 "Pfalzpreis für Musik".

Another focus of his work is the Lied genre and vocal music. He has written cycles to texts by Christine Lavant, Barbara Köhler, Roland Barthes, Paul Klee and others, and there are also literary references in his instrumental music, such as the work Yael for violin and orchestra, which was inspired by texts of Edmond Jabès, and his Symphony No. 3, Breathing the Water, for soprano, trumpet, bass and string orchestra, premiered by the Staatskapelle Berlin, with juxtaposed texts of Denise Levertov and Amal Al-Jubouri.

Corbett is also active as a guitarist in various improvising formations, among others in the group last dernière.

Sidney Corbett's works are published by Edition Peters.

https://sidneycorbett.com