French conductor, composer Pierre Boulez dies at 90. [View all]
Pierre Boulez, the former principal conductor of the New York Philharmonic who moved between conducting, composition and teaching over a long career that made him one of the leading figures in modern classical music, has died at age 90.
A spokesman for the Paris Philharmonic, Hamid Si Amer, confirmed that Boulez had died in Baden-Baden, Germany.
Born in Montbrison, France, Boulez initially studied mathematics as a youth before switching to music. He studied harmony at the Paris Conservatory with composer Olivier Messiaen and had lessons from Rene Leibowitz in the dissonant 20th-century style known as twelve-tone composition.
Boulez led the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1971 to 1975, and the New York Philharmonic from 1971 to 1977. In addition, he was the Music Director at the Ojai Music Festival on eight different occasions from 1967 to 2003. He then served as Principal Guest Conductor for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and stayed on as Conductor Emeritus until his passing. Boulez also worked with the Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, and the London Symphony Orchestra. His recordings won more than 25 Grammys.
Even conducting extravagantly romantic music such as Wagner or Mahler, Boulez was a cool and contained presence on the podium, preferring a gray business suit and tie to tuxedo and tails, his gestures communicating logic over frenzy. His conducting covered an enormous range, from his own compositions and those of other moderns such as Stravinsky and Stockhausen to older favorites such as Mahler, Beethoven and Bach.
As recently as 2009, already in his mid-80s, he joined Argentine-born conductor Daniel Barenboim in directing the complete symphonies of Gustav Mahler at Carnegie Hall.
"Pierre Boulez made French music shine throughout the world. As a composer and conductor, he always wanted to reflect on the ages," French President François Hollande said in a statement.
At: http://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/french-conductor-composer-pierre-boulez-dies-at-90/ar-AAgqni7?ocid=ansmsnent11
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