Bernard Parmegiani

About

Bernard Parmegiani (born in Paris, France, 27 October 1927; died 22 November 2013) was a composer best known for his electronic or acousmatic music. He started off as a sound engineer for French television (ORTF, later known as RTF). Originally an actor during the four years studies at Lecoq & Decroux school, he joined the "Groupe de recherches musicales" (GRM) in 1959 for a two years master class. His first major work (Violostries) was composed in 1962 for a choregraphy performed for Théâtre Contemporain d’Amiens directed by Jacques-Albert Cartier. Pierre Schaeffer gave him the direction of the Musique-Image departement at ORTF. During that period he composed for numerous film directors, such as R. Lapoujade, P. Foldès, P. Kamler, V. Borowczyck, P. Kast, J. Baratier or P. Kassovitz. He furthermore extended his musical researches into the field of video-art after a journey through the U.S.A. He directed three musical videos when he returned: L’Œil écoute (1973), Jeux d’artifices (1979) for the research departement of ORTF, and L’Écran transparent (1973) in Köln (Germany) during his residency at West Deutscher Rundfunk (WDR). His interests also expanded to live performance: in the seventies he interacted with jazz artists for improv sessions with french jazz fellows J.-L. Chautemps, B. Vitet or M. Portal, and went to London to perform live with The Third Ear Band. He created numerous jingles & soundbites for public radio stations (France-Culture or France-Musique), public television service (Antenne 2) and the Aéroport de Roissy. During his entire career he also composed music for stage (dance & theater), screen and other media (radio & television alike). But he remains focused on electroacoustic music (or acousmatic music as defined by GRM long-time director François Bayle) conceived to be played back for the best rendition on the acousmonium broadcasting system developed by the "Groupe de recherches musicales" (GRM).