Karol Beffa, born in 1973, had a general education along with music studies after having been a child actor between the ages of seven and 12, appearing in more than 15 films (in particular, he performed with the Piccolo Teatro di Milano under the direction of Giorgio Strehler and portrayed the 8-year-old Mozart in a television film by Marcel Bluwal). Top of his class at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, he read history (Bachelor’s degree), English (Master’s), philosophy (Master’s at Cambridge University) and mathematics, graduating from ENSAE (Graduate School of Economics, Statistics and Finance). Enrolling at the Paris Conservatoire in 1988, he obtained eight premiers prix (harmony, counterpoint, fugue, 20th-century music, orchestration, analysis, vocal accompaniment, piano improvisation). Coming first in the Agrégation d’éducation musicale, a highly competitive examination for teachers, he taught at the Sorbonne (1998-2003) then at the Ecole Polytechnique (2003-08). In 2003, he earned his doctorate in musicology with a thesis on György Ligeti’s Piano Etudes. Since 2004, he is an Associate Professor at the Ecole Normale Supérieure.
Pianist and improviser, Karol Beffa is a composer whose works have been performed in France (Salle Pleyel, Théâtre du Châtelet, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Auditorium Olivier Messiaen…), Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Russia, the United States and Japan by such well-known ensembles as A Sei Voci, Maîtrise de Radio France, Cambridge Voices, and the leading orchestras (Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National de l’Opéra de Lyon, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra…).
In 2000, the Turin International Biennale of Young Artists (BIG Torino 2000) selected him to represent France, and in 2002, he was the youngest French composer programmed at the Présences festival. Since then, he has been guest composer at numerous festivals: Musique en Tréfilerie, Juventus, Bel-Air (2004, 2005), Périgord Noir Festival (2005, 2006), Suona francese, Auvers-sur-Oise, Pianissimes (2008), Young Talents, Les Vacances de Monsieur Haydn (2009), Voix du Printemps at the Sorbonne and ’Annecy Classic’ (2010).
In July 2005, his oratorio-ballet on the life of Mary Magdalene was performed on three occasions in Provence. March 2006 witnessed the first performance of a piece by the Orchestra of Pau, conducted by Fayçal Karoui: this was the first time in France that a public subscription was launched to commission a musical composition. As composer-in-residence of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse (2006-09), Karol Beffa wrote Paradis artificiels (2007), a Violin Concerto, premiered by Renaud Capuçon (2008), and a Piano Concerto, first performed by Boris Berezovsky (2009). In September 2008, his Trio for Flute, Viola and Harp was premiered at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, a joint commission by Marie-Pierre Langlamet and the Berlin Philharmonic Foundation. In April 2009, his String Quartet was given its first performance by the Capuçon Quartet in Madrid. In addition, he has composed two incidental scores as well as the music for 12 films.
Karol Beffa is a fellow of the Institut de France in composition and won fellowships from the Lili and Nadia Boulanger Foundation (2001), the Music Academy of Villecroze, Natexis Foundation (2002) and Les Muses fellowship (2004). Finalist of the Prades International Composition Competition (2005, 2007), he has won the Charles Oulmont Prize (2005), the SACEM Young Composer Competition and the Chartier Prize of the Académie des Beaux-Arts (2008). In 2009 and 2010 he was one of the three nominees for the Victoires de la musique award in the Best Composer category. Finally, he was named a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres and is Chair of Artistic Creation at the College de France.

-----------------------------------2015

> Premieres

14/02/15
OCTOPUS, for saxophone ensemble
Ensemble Oct’opus
Contres - France

14/06/15
FIVE O’CLOCK, for wind quintet
Klarthe Quintet
Eglise d’Auvers-sur-Oise - Auvers-sur-Oise - France

> News

- CD release: Concerto for trumpet and strings, by the Orchestre d’Auvergne and Romain Leleu (trumpet), under the direction of Roberto Forés Veses, for the label Aparté (AP103).

- CD recording: Concerto for violin and orchestra, and Concerto for piano and orchestra, by the Bratislava Radio Orchestra, with Geneviève Laurenceau (violin), Boris Berezovsky (piano), under the direction of Johan Farjot.

- CD release: Concerto for trumpet and strings, by the Orchestre à cordes de la Garde Républicaine and Eric Aubier (trumpet), under the direction of Sébastien Billard, for the label Indésens (INDE071).

-----------------------------------2016

> Premieres

22/04/16
MARMOR, for cello and piano
Concours International de Musique de Chambre de Lyon
Lyon – France

02/07/16
IT RINGS A BELL..., for string trio and piano
Quatuor Abegg
Festival Musiques Vivantes - Vichy - France

> News

- CD release: Five O’clock for wind quintet, by Klarthe Quintet, for the label Klarthe (K004).

- Monographic CD release: Concerto for trumpet and strings, by the Orchestre à cordes de la Garde Républicaine, with Eric Aubier (trumpet), under the direction of Sébastien Billard, Eloge de l’ombre for harp, Blow up for piano and wind quartet, Paysages d’ombres for flute, viola and harp, Subway for trumpet and piano, and Fireworks for saxophone quartet, for the label Indésens (INDE082).

-----------------------------------2017

> Premieres

16/03/17
LE BATEAU IVRE, for orchestra
Orchestre national de France - Cond.: Alain Altinoglu
Radio France - Paris - France

25/03/17
PARADISE LOST, for cello and orchestra
MDR Sinfonieorchester - Cello: Gautier Capuçon
Cond.: Kristjan Järvi
Centre des Congrès - Suhl - Allemagne

> News

- CD release: Concerto for trumpet and strings, by Guy Touvron (trumpet), for the label Ligia Digital - LIDI0105316.

-----------------------------------2018

> Premieres

10/02/18
TALISMAN, for quintet
Musicians of the Orchestre national de France
Festival Présences - Radio France - Paris - France

> News

- CD-book release: Le Roi qui n’aimait pas la musique, text of Mathieu Laine, by Renaud Capuçon (violin), Edgar Moreau (cello), Paul Meyer (clarinet) and Karol Beffa (piano), by Gallimard jeunesse.

- Grand Prix Sacem of symphonic music 2017.

- Victoires de la Musique Classique 2018: Winner Composer.
^{Le bateau ivre, for orchestra
Orchestre national de France - Cond.: Alain Altinoglu
16/03/2017: Radio France - Paris - France.}

-----------------------------------2019

> Premieres

13/02/19
BLOW OUT, for piano and strings
Orchestre national d’Île-de-France - Pno: Karol Beffa
Cond.: Julien Leroy
Les Victoires de la Musique, La Seine Musicale - Boulogne-Billancourt - France

22/08/19
ON THE DUST I LOVE, cantata for mezzo-soprano and orchestra
Text by Lord Byron
Orchestre national de Metz - Ms: Albane Carrère
Cond.: David Reiland
Festival Berlioz - La Côte-Saint-André - France

10/11/19
DEUX POEMES DE GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE, for voice and piano
Concours de Chant de Mâcon
Le Théâtre, Scène nationale - Mâcon - France

> News

- Monographic CD release: Douze études for piano, by Tristan Pfaff, for the label Ad Vitam - AV 180915.

MONOGRAPHIC RECORDINGS

2008 : Éloge de l’ombre, pour harpe, par Anneleen Lenaerts. « Anneleen Lenaerts », Egan Records

2013 : Erbarme dich (transcription par Karol Beffa), par Alena Cherny. « For You », Sony Classical

2018 : Fireworks pour quatuor de saxophones, par the Whoop Group. « Crime », Sarton Records

2018 : Buenos Aires pour quintette de cuivres, par le quintette Or Notes Brass. « Couleurs d'Amérique », Klarthe

2018 : Feux d’artifice, par le Quatuor de clarinettes Vendôme. « Créations », Klarthe

2019 : Obsession, par Nicolas Prost (saxophone). « A Kind of Wind », Indesens

2020 : Blow in, pour quatuor de saxophones et piano, par Saxo Voce et Karol Beffa. « Tohu Bohu », Indesens

2020 : Soleil noir, pour harpe, violon et violoncelle, par le Trio Jenlis. « Musique française pour harpe, violon et violoncelle », La Ferme ! Records

2021 : Les Ombres errantes, par Julien Chabod (clarinette), Pierre Rémondière (cor) et Julien Gernay (piano). « Call of Beauty. Clarinette, cor et piano », Klarthe

2021 : Music for Four Musicians, pour deux pianos et deux percussions, par le quatuor Essor. « Music for Four Musicians”, LANDR

2022 : Un Français à Rio, pour violon et piano, par Grégoire Girard et César Birschner. « Un Français à Rio », Chronos Productions

2022 : De Profundis, Deux Poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire, Media Vita, par Karol Beffa (piano), Jeanne Gérard (soprano), Arnaud Thorette (alto), Chœur Media Vita, dir. Lionel Sow. « Media Vita », Klarthe

2023 : Tabula rasa, pour violon et piano, par Elsa de Lacerda et Pierre Solot. « Change », Cypres