Maxime Mantovani

Maxime Mantovani (France, born 1984) is a composer of mixed and electroacoustic music. He holds a Masters degree in composition from the Lyon Conservatory of Music and Dance under the direction of François Roux, as well as an engineering degree in electronics and computer science. These academic trainings combined with his experiences are the bases on which he develops his practice, split between musical composition, creation and computer music.
   The place of instrumental and electronic interpretation is central in his work. He uses particular instrumental gestures and playing modes, synthetic sounds, as well as unusual sound recordings, strongly tied to the nature of materials, allowing him to discover what the ear is not able to perceive naturally. Mechanisms of oppositions and unions between sounds and timbres of different natures are used in order to close the gap between electronics and acoustics worlds. The deepening of his musical writing methods is strongly inspired by technology and computer music. He also places great importance on instrumental writing techniques. Each new composition is an opportunity to have an exchange with the instrumentalists and a deeper understanding of instrumental kinesthesia. The challenge is to find simple, fair and strong forms of sound notation.
   He designs custom electroacoustic instruments, hardware and software. These hardware and software devices allow him to control and develop sonic gestures to retrieve the elasticity and plasticity of analog studio manipulations. As an improviser, he adapts his interfaces especially to be played in dialogue with instrumental musicians. He sees the place of electronics in contemporary music as an instrument in its own right, by developing electronic instrumental gestures, or quite simply a gesture linked to sound.
   In 2018, he obtained a grant from la Société Générale helping him building his interfaces. In 2019 he obtained a grant from the SACEM supporting him during his year in the composition and computer music course at IRCAM. He has also created two music collectives where improvisation holds a central place.