Olivier Vivares, clarinet

Born in France, Olivier Vivarès studied clarinet with Claude Crousier in Marseille, with Jacques Di Donato in Lyon and with Chen Halevi in Trossingen. In particular, he specialised in playing bass clarinet, studying with Armand Angster and Jean-Marc Foltz in Strasbourg. In 2005, he was awarded the 2nd prize at the International Carl Nielsen Competition in Denmark, the prize for best interpretation for Caprice by A. Koppel, as well as the orchestra prize of the Odense Symphony Orchestra. At the centre of his work stands the interpretation and communication of contemporary music. He performs regularly with Ensemble MusikFabrik and the Ascolta Ensemble. Olivier Vivarès joined Klangforum Wien in 2007. He regularly appears at festivals such as Ars Musica Brussels, the Salzburg and the Lucerne Festival, the Venice Biennale, Klangspuren, Märzmusik Berlin, the Berlin Festival, the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik, the Donaueschinger Musiktage, the Aldeburgh Festival, Wien Modern, and the Wiener Festwochen, both as a soloist and as an ensemble player. Olivier Vivarès is in continuous collaboration with composers such as Georges Aperghis, Beat Furrer, Bernhard Gander, Bernhard Lang and Alberto Posadas. He teaches clarinet at the University of Music, Graz (KUG) as a part of the study course Practice and Performance in Contemporary Music and at the University of Music Vienna (mdw) as a part of its focus on New Music – Instrumental Techniques and Artistic Practice. He is also a lecturer at ISA, the International Summer Academy of the mdw.