Franco-Chilean composer born in Santiago (Chile).

Nurtured with Chilean folk music, Marco-Antonio Pérez-Ramirez studied the classical guitar with Alberto Ponce and composition with Sergio Ortega while following higher studies in mathematics in France. A laureate of the Khachaturian and Boucourechliev foundations as well as of Unesco, he also followed the composition and computer music course of Ircam (1996-1997).

His itinerary has unfolded around the duration theories of Henri Bergson; the notions of time, real duration, of instinct and intuition as constructing a special practice of composition. It’s a way of approaching composition, without any originel structure or theory prior to composition, through a genuine act “which does not pre-exist in any way, not even in the form of the purely possible, its realisation” (Bergson). Some powerful artistic encounters have consolidated his research, those with Pierre Soulages, for example, and Luca Franscesconi, who said of him that “His musical material is full of life, burning with great intensity. His particular perception of sound seeks poetry in very matter itself; he hears what I could call the expressivity of matter”.

Pérez-Ramirez’ repertory, performed essentially in Europe and America, includes works for soloist, voice, ensemble and large orchestra. Among them are Du corps for large orchestra, co-commissioned and first performed by the Orchestre National de Montpellier and the festival Présences (2002); Atacama, concerto for violin in Memoriam Iannis Xenakis, commissioned by the French State, first performed by Silvia Marcovici and the Orchestre National de Montpellier conducted by Enrique Mazzola (2005); Shouting silences, concerto for cello, commissioned and first performed by the Ensemble Intercontemporain with Pierre Strauch (2007); Rimbaud la parole libérée, multidisciplinary chamber opera commissioned and first performed by the Opéra National de Montpellier (2007); Feedback for six percussionists and two DJs, first performed by Les Percussions de Strasbourg (2008); Primitive dream for string quartet, first performed by the Parisii Quartet (2009); Nubes for orchestra, first performed by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France conducted by Ernest Martinez-Izquierdo (2012); Edades Ciegas for orchestra, commissioned by the Philharmonie de Paris where the work was premiered by the Orchestre National d’Île-de-France conducted by Fabien Gabel (2015); Respiro, clarinet concerto, commissioned and first performed by Pablo Barragán and the Orchestre Musique des Lumières (2018); Bang Bang! Clarinet bass concerto commissioned and performed by Orchestre Symphonique Bienne Soleure conducted by Elena Schwarz, with Azra Ramić clarinet.