Sebastian Rivas

Sebastian Rivas
Period: 2013-2014
Profession: Composer Sebastian Rivas, of Franco-Argentine origin, was born in 1975. He first devoted himself to jazz, rock and improvisation before plunging into composition. In 1997, he emigrated to his native France to study with Sergio Ortega and Ivan Fedele. He took part in a number of workshops and master classes at Ircam, Centre Acanthes, Ensemble Ictus and Fondation Royaumont, with Klaus Huber, Brian Ferneyhough, Jonathan Harvey, Michael Jarrell and François Paris, among others. In 2004, he took part in Ircam’s Cursus de composition et d’informatique musicale, with Philippe Leroux as associate composer. His works have been performed by ensembles and soloists such as Ensemble Intercontemporain, Percussions de Strasbourg, Ensemble 2e2m, Christophe Desjardins, Pierre Strauch, Court-Circuit and Multilatérale. Laureate of the Société internationale de musique contemporaine in 2004, Tremplin de l’Ensemble intercontemporain in 2008 and Prix Italia 2012 for his radio opera
La Nuit Hallucinée . During his stay at Villa Medici, Sebastian Rivas will be working on a project about invisible cities in the present and in the memory of the inhabitants of Rome, based on the study of its different architectural and urbanistic, sociological and historical strata. Rome combines the stillness and silence of its architectural heritage with the noise and speed of its traffic; the history of civilization eroding over time with the ephemeral immediacy of advertising icons. All these contradictions can overwhelm us in a flow of nonsense, without the stories of these inhabitants, their memory and their present. The cohabitation of people who embody Rome creates a highly complex mesh of subjectivities.