Márton Illés

‘Márton Illés writes music in which calculation and risk are precisely balanced. Emotionality is always embedded in a binding structural whole; rationality is confronted with sharpened tonal power and outburst energy. In this way he succeeds at a young age in achieving a binding statement that is able to work calmly on its own without having to conform to any fashion of the day.’ (Wolfgang Rihm)

Born in Budapest, Márton Illés is one of the most internationally sought-after composers of his generation. After his basic musical training in Hungary, he studied composition, piano and music theory in Basel and Karlsruhe. His composition teachers were Detlev Müller-Siemens and Wolfgang Rihm.

His oeuvre to date includes compositions for solo instruments and various chamber music ensembles, string quartets, vocal works, ensemble compositions, electro-acoustic compositions, works for music theatre, string orchestra and symphony orchestra, which are regularly performed at international festivals and concert halls worldwide.

Márton Illés regularly collaborates with the most important ensembles of the contemporary music scene, such as Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Recherche, Trio Catch, Ensemble Musikfabrik and Ensemble Intercontemporain. He has written instrumental concertos for Sabine Meyer, Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Nicolas Altstaedt. He received the SWR Symphony Orchestra Prize at the Donaueschingen Music Festival in 2017 for his orchestral piece ‘Ez-tér’ and his work ‘Lég-szín-tér’ was premiered by the Berliner Philharmoniker under Kirill Petrenko in 2023.

Between 2005 and 2019, he taught music theory and composition at the Music Academies in Karlsruhe, Mannheim and Würzburg. Illés has received numerous prizes and awards, including a scholarship from the German Academy Villa Massimo in Rome, the Villa Concordia Bamberg and the Civitella Ranieri Foundation New York, the Christoph and Stephan Kaske Foundation Prize in Munich, the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation Prize, the Schneider Schott Music Prize of the City of Mainz and the Paul Hindemith Prize of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.