Betsy Jolas

b. 1926

French/American

Summary

Betsy Jolas, born in Paris in 1926, settled in the USA. in 1940, where she studied composition with Paul Boepple, piano with Helen Schnabel and organ with Carl Weinrich. After graduating from Bennington College, she returned to Paris in 1946 to continue her studies with Darius Milhaud, Simone Plé-Caussade and Olivier Messiaen at the Paris Conservatory. She has won many awards, including those of the Copley Foundation of Chicago, the American Academy of Arts and the Koussevitsky Foundation, becoming a member of the American Institute of Arts and Letters in 1983. Jolas was appointed to the faculty of the Paris Conservatory in 1975, and has also taught at several American universities including Yale, Berkeley, USC, San Diego and Mills College. Her works, written for a great variety of combinations, have been premiered notably by the Domaine Musical, at the festivals of Tanglewood and Royan and have been widely performed throughout the world by such artistes as Mady Mesplé, Claude Helfer, Elisabeth Chojnacka, Pierre-Yves Artaud, and by leading ensembles (Ensemble Intercontemporain, Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, London Sinfonietta, Boston Symphony Chamber Players, etc.). Her works have been recorded by EMI, Erato, CRI, Adès among others and have received various important awards.

Critical Acclaim

I’m simply thrilled to have discovered a wonderful composer that I didn’t know about. When you start talking to her she talks about when Varèse came to dinner, and when she sung the Verdi Requiem conducted by Toscanini, and it’s like a walking encyclopaedia, but the music is simply wonderful. I’m thrilled in the middle of Poulenc, Ravel and Rameau to introduce a really astonishing lady.— Sir Simon Rattle, lso.co.uk

News

Performances

5th December 2024

Letters from Bachville

PERFORMERS: Minnesota Orchestra

CONDUCTOR: Jordan de Souza

LOCATION: Orchestra, Minneapolis, MN, United States of America

6th December 2024

Letters from Bachville

PERFORMERS: Minnesota Orchestra

CONDUCTOR: Jordan de Souza

LOCATION: Orchestra, Minneapolis, MN, United States of America

22nd March 2025

Quatuor III

PERFORMERS: Brooklyn Rider String Quartet

LOCATION: Konserthuset , Stockholm, Sweden

22nd May 2025

Ces belles années…Country Premiere

SOLOISTS: Fleur Barron

PERFORMERS: Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

CONDUCTOR: Daniel Harding

LOCATION: Berwaldhallen, Stockholm, Sweden

23rd May 2025

Ces belles années…

SOLOISTS: Fleur Barron

PERFORMERS: Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

CONDUCTOR: Daniel Harding

LOCATION: Berwaldhallen, Stockholm, Sweden

Features

- Celebrating Women Composers
- Join Wise Music Group in celebrating the works of our female composers with this new brochure for 2024
- New works for soloist and orchestra
- Read through this selection of dazzling new works written for some of the world’s top soloists by Wise Music Classical’s composers.
- Recent Orchestral Highlights
- Discover our selection of new and recent orchestral work now available from the Wise Music Group.
- Socially Distanced Onstage Works
- With times of uncertainty ahead for the classical music community, we have compiled a selection of repertoire for small orchestra and chamber ensembles that allows for onstage social distancing.
- A Collection of Chamber Operas
- Add some drama to your programs with our collection of captivating chamber operas.