Student of the Liszt Academy won composition competition

4 March 2021

Aurés Moussong won the composition competition at the Festival Expresiones Contemporáneas (FEC) in Mexico with his piece Magma written for solo contrabassoon.

The student, who is of Mexican origin, but also has Hungarian ancestry and citizenship through his grandfather, is a first-year student in the Liszt Academy's composition master's degree program, studying with Professor Gyula Fekete, Vice-President and Head of the Composition Department.

Held for the third time in 2021, the festival is a 21st century forum for contemporary concert music, sound art, and related interdisciplinary fields, and it is organized by Contemporary Expressions Collective (CEC). The members of CEC are composers and performers from various music institutions in Mexico. The competition, which aimed to enrich contemporary music for bassoon and counterbassoon, received a great number of entries from both local and international composers. The winning compositions will be performed at the end of March at an online concert by Venezuelan bassoonist Cristian Coliver.

 

Aurés Moussong

 

Aurés Moussong said the following about Magma: It evokes the contrabassoon solo of Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, from which it draws musical material and ideas, and then develops to become complete on its own. The piece is a tribute to the French master and his work, as this solo is linked to one of the best-known contrabassoon solos in music literature.

The talented young musician studied in Mexico City under the direction of José Luis Castillo, a Spanish composer and conductor, and later chose Hungary as the location for his further studies partly because he wanted to get closer to his Hungarian roots and return to his grandfather's homeland, where many of his relatives live. On the other hand, during his previous visits, he liked the Hungarian musical scene, the variety of composers and musical ideas, as well as the novel and diverse approach different from dominant contemporary music. These experiences inspired him, so he wanted to study at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music.

A video and audio recording of Cristian Coliver’s performance will be available on the Festival Expresiones Contemporáneas Transmisiones Youtube channel or on the FEC Facebook page from the end of March.