Max Richter stands as one of the most prodigious figures on the contemporary music scene, with ground-breaking work as a composer, pianist, producer, and collaborator.
From synthesizers and computers to a full symphony orchestra, Richter’s innovative work encompasses solo albums, ballets, concert hall performances, film and television series, video art installations and theatre works. He is Classically trained, studying at Edinburgh University, the Royal Academy of Music, London, and completing his studies with composer Luciano Berio in Florence,
Memoryhouse, Richter’s 2002 debut, has been described by The Independent, and Pitchfork Magazine as a “landmark”, while his 2004 album The Blue Notebooks was chosen by The Guardian as one of the best Classical works of the century. SLEEP, his eight-and-a-half-hour concert work, has been broadcast and performed worldwide, including at the Sydney Opera House, Berlin’s Kraftwerk, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Philharmonie de Paris, and at the Barbican, London. In 2012 Richter “Recomposed” the infamous Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, winning him the prestigious ECHO Classic Award, and an established place in the classical charts.
In recent years Richter’s music has become a mainstay for many of the world’s leading ballet companies, including The Mariinski Ballet, La Scala Milan, The Joffrey Ballet, New York City Ballet, The Paris Opera Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Semper Oper, and NDT, while his collaborations with Wayne McGregor for The Royal Ballet have been widely acclaimed.
Richter has written prolifically for film and television, with recent projects including Hostiles, Black Mirror, Taboo – which gained him an Emmy nomination, HBO series The Leftovers and My Brilliant Friend and most recently White Boy Rick, Mary Queen of Scots and the sci-fi drama Ad Astra starring Brad Pitt. His music is also featured in Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island, Ari Folman’s Waltz With Bashir and in the Oscar-winning Arrival by Denis Villeneuve.
Richter’s most recent commissions are from the city of Bonn to mark the Beethoven 250th year anniversary, and a further collaboration between Richter, Margaret Attwood and Wayne McGregor, based on Atwood’s Maddaddam trilogy of novels, premiering in Toronto in September 2022.
His latest recorded project, The New Four Seasons, was released in 2022 marking ten years of his Vivaldi Recomposed project, re-recording the piece with period instruments.
Photo credit William Waterworth