Yan Maresz

Yan Maresz began his musical training as a pianist and percussionist before devoting himself to the study of jazz guitar, which he accomplished on his own until he met John McLaughlin. He subsequently became McLaughlin’s only pupil, as well as his principal orchestrator and arranger. Maresz continued his studies in jazz at the Berklee College of Music in Boston (1983-86), progressively moving more into the realm of composition and the tutelage of David Diamond at the Juilliard School (1987-92). His participation in IRCAM’s 1994-95 Cursus de Composition resulted in the composition of Metallics, a work selected in 1997 by UNESCO’s International Rostrum of Composers. He has received various prizes, including awards from the Princess Grace foundation, the Concours de la ville de Trieste, the Prix Rossini from the Académie des Beaux-Arts, and SACEM’s prix Hervé Dugardin. From 1995 to 1997, he was a resident at the Académie de France in Rome, better known as the Villa Médicis.
Maresz’s many works include commissions from the French state, the Orchestre de Paris, IRCAM, the Ensemble Intercontemporain, Radio France, and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and are regularly performed at major international festivals as well as by a number of prominent ensembles including the Hilvesum Radiokammer Orkest, the Orchestre de Bretagne, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Orchestre d’Auvergne, the Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ictus, Icarus, Alter Ego, Court-circuit, the Stravinsky ensemble, and the London Sinfonietta. He has also collaborated with the Monte Carlo ballet for two works: Entrelacs (an assemblage of pieces choreographed by Jean-Christophe Maillot), and more recently, D’une rive à l’autre, also with Maillot. Introductory portraits of his music have been given at the Radio France’s Présence festival, IRCAM’s Agora festival, Muskmonat (Basle), and Monte Carlo’s Printemps des Arts. Maresz’s music is published by Durand.