Manuel Martínez Burgos is the most awarded composer of his generation in Spain. He has obtained 20 international composition prizes, including the Jean Sibelius, the Isang Yun, the Osgood Memorial from Oxford University or the BBVA Foundation prize, just to cite a few. The jury members at these competitions, composers such as Helmut Lachenmann, Kaija Saariaho, Tristan Murail or Unsuk Chin have all praised his compositions as being universes of sound, full of expressive power, coherence and imagination. Manuel’s music has been performed worldwide by ensembles like the Oxford Philharmonic, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Spain, the Radio Television Orchestra of Spain, and many others. Martínez Burgos holds two DPhils, one from the University of Oxford (2020) and another from the Autonomous University of Madrid (2004). He is chairman in composition at the Higher Conservatory of the Principality of Asturias (Spain) and tutor in composition for St Anne’s College (University of Oxford)
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Manuel Martínez Burgos (Madrid, 1970) followed his primary and secondary studies at the British institution Kensington School and his music studies in his hometown at the Royal Conservatory of Music. He obtained five degrees in Composition, Orchestra Conducting, Guitar, Pedagogy and Musicology as well as the Graduation Prize Jacinto Guerrero Foundation (1996). He later broaden his training in Germany at the International Courses of New Music (Darmstadt) with K. Stockhausen, W. Rihm and K. Huber, in New York, with Milton Babbitt and in Paris, where he attended the IRCAM courses – Centre Pompidou.
He holds a Ph.D. in History and Music from the Autonomous University of Madrid (2004), where he obtained the Extraordinary Doctorate Award for his thesis on the composition technique of Isaac Albéniz. Martinez Burgos also published the first revised edition of the Catalan composer posthumous work, Azulejos, edited in 2005. He was awarded a second doctorate at the University of Oxford (2020) for his research into the usage of prosody as a resource in music composition.
Having obtained 20 national and international distinctions, Martínez Burgos is the most awarded Spanish composer of his generation. He has been awarded the following first prizes in international composition contests:
Likewise, the next distinctions also deserve special mention:
Jury members at these competitions, composers such as Helmut Lachenmann, Tristan Murail, Unsuk Chin, Edith Canat de Chizy, Gilbert Amy, Kaija Saariaho or Harrison Birtwistle, have all praised Martinez Burgos compositions as being sound universes full of expressive power, coherence and imagination.
His works have been performed by prestigious ensembles, such as the Oxford Philharmonic, National Orchestra of Spain, the Radio Spanish Television Orchestra, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (Korea), the Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic (Poland), the Kymi Sinfonietta (Finland), the LIM and Enigma groups, the soloists of the Madrid Symphony Orchestra, or the Studio for New Music of Moscow. His compositions have been recorded by the RTVE label and the BBVA Foundation label.
Martinez Burgos’ interest in the study of different languages and, in particular, in classical languages, leads him to study Philology at the National Distance University (UNED). Prosody and communication are thus recurring themes in his aesthetic universe.
From a very young age he has combined his compositional activities with his teaching and research work. In 2001 he was selected in Spain as number one of the competition for conservatory teachers in the specialty of Composition Fundamentals. From 2001 to 2016 he has been professor at the Royal Higher Conservatory of Madrid, an institution where has also been assistant director for three years. In 2017 he obtains the position of chairman in composition at the Higher Conservatory of Music of the Principality of Asturias (Spain). He has given lectures in prestigious musical institutions such as the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, the Chopin University in Warsaw, or the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. He has also been Erasmus professor at the National Higher Conservatory of Paris (CNSMD), visiting scholar at the University of Cambridge and is currently tutor in composition at the University of Oxford (St Anne’s College).
One of the greatest successes of Martínez Burgos in the UK was the orchestral composition commissioned by the Oxford Philharmonia to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci.
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Frontside Chamber Music Association has existed since 2019 and is largely driven by volunteer efforts, but we are highly dependent on additional financial sponsors and fundings. All contributions are used to engage fantastic musicians, rents of venues and all other things that make the festival a magical experience.
If you are interested in chamber music that goes beyond the ordinary, you should become a member! As a member, you are invited to the association’s annual meeting and participate in electing the board. You can also suggest activities for the association, thereby influencing future festivals and other events we organize. You also have the opportunity to volunteer during the festival, allowing you to enjoy wonderful chamber music without paying an entrance fee.
How do I become a member and support Frontside? Submit your information in the form below and pay the membership fee, and we will register you as a member immediately. Please also indicate which chamber music you love the most. Together with your personal information, this helps us better understand who our members are. How we handle your information can be read under the GDPR section.
You renew your membership every fall term – we’ll remind you! Alternatively, you can purchase a lifetime membership and thus become a permanent member with a one-time fee.
If you join as a new member in the spring, your payment also covers the following year’s membership.
How do I do it and what does it cost? You can pay the membership fee to Bankgiro 5318-7969 or via Swish 123 356 63 95. Always include your name and, if paying via bankgiro, your mobile number.
Welcome as a member!
For requests, feedback, and additional information, fill in your message in the form at the bottom or send an email to info@frontside-festival.se
The General Data Protection Regulation, GDPR, came into force within the EU on May 25, 2018.
How does Frontside handle its membership register? In our membership register, we store your name, address details, email address, phone number, and birth year. If you leave the association, we will retain your information for a maximum of seven (7) years before deleting it.
Who has access to my information? We register your details digitally in our membership register. Only you (first party) and individuals with trusted roles in the association (second party) have access to your information. No information is shared with third parties.
You can request to see what information we have collected about you at any time.
Validity? By becoming a member of the association, you enter into an agreement regarding which information about you can be stored with us and who has access to this information, as described above. This agreement is valid indefinitely, as long as you are a member of the Frontside Chamber Music Association.
Do I have the right to have my information deleted? According to GDPR, you have the right to have your information deleted, but you will also lose your membership in the association. To request this, send an email to info@frontside-festival.se and ask for your stored information to be deleted.
