Márton Illés
*1975, Budapest
"Márton Illés composes music in which exact calculation and risk are held in a precise balance. The expression of emotion in his music is always contained within the bounds of a structural whole; the rationality is confronted with a powerful and incisive sound-world and explosive energy. This has lead Illés in recent years to an authoritative mode of expression that is able to make its own statement without relying on compositional trends or fashions."
Wolfgang RihmMárton Illés was born in Budapest in 1975. After his foundational musical training in Hungary, he studied composition with Detlev Müller-Siemens and piano with László Gyimesi at the Music Academy Basel, followed by composition with Wolfgang Rihm (2001–2005) and music theory with Michael Reudenbach at the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe.
His output encompasses works for symphony and string orchestra, compositions for solo instruments, chamber music, string quartets, vocal works, ensemble pieces, and electroacoustic compositions. Key milestones include the piano concerto Rajzok II (world premiere at the Kölner Philharmonie with the Bamberger Symphoniker, 2011), the clarinet concerto Re-Akvarell written for Sabine Meyer (commissioned by the Lucerne Festival and NDR Hamburg), the orchestral piece Ez-tér (Prize of the SWR Symphony Orchestra, Donaueschinger Musiktage 2017), the violin concerto written for Patricia Kopatchinskaja (WDR Cologne, 2020), the cello concerto Sírt-tér for Nicolas Altstaedt, and the orchestral work Lég-szín-tér commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic (world premiere under Kirill Petrenko, 2023).
Márton Illés taught music theory and composition at various state music academies in Germany for 14 years.
Hindemith Prize of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival
Schneider-Schott Music Prize of the City of Mainz
Prize of the Christoph-und-Stephan-Kaske-Stiftung, Munich
Fellowship of the Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo
Fellowship of the Villa Concordia, Bamberg
Fellowship of the Cité des Arts, Paris
Fellowship of the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, New York