Sébastien Gaxie
Composer, pianist, and writer born in 1977, he grew up studying piano and singing in a choir. As a teenager, he discovered jazz before later joining the Paris Conservatory to study composition under Emmanuel Nunes. He then worked for many years at IRCAM. His catalog spans a wide range of works, from opera to solo pieces. His music, performed worldwide, has earned him numerous awards, including the Prix Italia, the Eugène Ionesco Prize, and the Swiss Life Prize "à 4 mains." His artistic universe revolves around pulsation and the precise synchronization of music with other time-based art forms, such as dance and cinema (notably mickey-mousing).
Notable Works:
- 2023 – Auctus Animalis (Winner of the Swiss Life Prize "à 4 mains") – Book, sound exhibition, performance / composer & writer
- 2022 – Cosmic Dance – For children's choir, choir, large orchestra, organ, and Indian percussionist (Radio France)
- 2019 – Korvai Sainté – Multimedia performance (Saint-Étienne Design Biennale)
- 2016 – Je suis un homme ridicule – Opera based on Fyodor Dostoevsky (Athénée)
- 2014 – Céleste, ma planète – Children's opera (Salle Pleyel)
- 2013 – A Feast for the Ears – A Sonic Approach to Gastronomy (Winner of the Prix Italia)
- 2010 – Le Bonheur – Music for Alexandre Medvedkine’s film (Louvre Museum)
- 2005 – Lunfardo – Tango-inspired album (Chief Inspector label)
Photo: Sébastien Gaxie © Laurent Poiget
2024.25 Artistic Research Residency
Inside the Rainforest
Journey through five years of tropical rainforest recordings in French Guiana
Research theme: Using immersive rainforest recordings and AI-driven sound analysis to compose a symphonic dialogue between nature and orchestra
In collaboration with the IRCAM-STMS Sound Analysis-Synthesis team and the Muséum national d’Histoire Naturelle
Listening to and Analyzing Five Years of Amazon Rainforest Sounds. This project explores continuous recordings collected over five years in the tropical forest of French Guiana, where automated devices capture one minute of sound every 15 minutes. Using artificial intelligence techniques, we will analyze this vast database to identify sound patterns and uncover unexpected soundscapes of biophony.
The goal is to establish models of seasonality and periodicity for the identified species and create a sound composition that translates this rich sonic diversity into a musical and human time frame. Conducted by the Analysis-Synthesis team (Nicolas Obin, Rémi Mignot) with contributions from the MNHN ecoacoustics laboratory (Jérôme Sueur), this project may also involve other Ircam teams to explore AI applications and the musical transcription of selected biophonic patterns.
This research serves as a prelude to a composition for orchestra and tape, fostering a dialogue between human music and the sounds of the living world.
