François Sarhan

Biography

Born in Rouen, Sarhan studied composition with Guy Reibel, Philippe Manoury, Brian Ferneyhough in Paris, Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique, from 1996 to 2000. Sarhan is known for his mixed and ambiguous works, which cross the accepted artforms, often confronting stop-motion animation, performance, text that he realizes himself. He has achieved international recognition over recent years, thanks to his collaboration with William Kentridge, and his solo shows like Lâchez Tout!. His works have performed and broadcast in more than 20 countries and he has received commissions from, among others, Percussions de Strasbourg, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Recherche, Donaueschinger Musiktage, Ensemble Intercontemporain, and The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France.

His output ranges from instrumental music, which typically employs the voice of the performer and electronic elements, to video installations, movies and shows, like The Last Lighthouse Keepers (2013). Other works of particular note include l'Nfer (2005–2006), written a narrator and 8 musicians, based on an autobiographic narrative written by Sarhan; the Encyclopaedia (2008–2014), a multimedia and long-term project which aims to build an alternative scientific description of the world, via collages, stop motion animation, music and books.

He was the resident composer at Arsenal concert hall, Metz, (2005–2006), in Orléans (2008–2011).

Since 2014 he has taught composition at the UDK, Berlin. He currently lives in Berlin.

Awards and honours

Sarhan refuses all awards and honours, because "music and art has nothing to do with this monkey business"

Compositions

Installations

Discography