Steven Prengels
Steven Prengels
Steven Prengels studied at the Conservatory of Amsterdam where he obtained the degree Master in Composition in Wim Henderickx’s class, graduating Maxima Cum Laude in 2009. Before that he also studied at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp, the University of Leuven and the Lemmens Institute. His work covers a wide range of artistic fields, including works for large orchestra, music theatre, dance, chamber music, short film and soundscapes and has been performed by Brussels Philharmonic, deFilharmonie, the Chamber Orchestra of Belgium, Oxalys Ensemble, Spectra Ensemble and the Nieuw Ensemble Amsterdam.
Steven Prengels created soundscapes and additional music for C(H)OEURS, Alain Platel’s large-scaled dance production, which was premiered in the Teatro Real in Madrid in march 2012. At the request of Frank Van Laecke and Alain Platel he also designed the musical concept for Gardenia (Les Ballets C de la B), nominated in April 2012 for the prestigious Olivier Award in London as Best New Dance Production. In 2004, he received the award “Most Original Composition by a Young Belgian Composer” at the Flanders International Film Festival.
A major turning point in his artistic output is the multi-layered theatre composition ‘EXHIBITION, Sept Tableaus de/sur/pour ‘La Mariée mise à nu par ses Célibataires, même’ de Marcel Duchamp’, premiered in Amsterdam in 2009. In this elaborate composition (written for a woman, nine men, bass trombone and tape) the clear boundaries between sound, language and action seem to disappear. A key element in some of his more recent work is stripping existing sound-, text-, or even visual material of its original context or content, thus creating new works of art bearing new meanings and layers. This working method characterizes his musical output as well as in his occasional visual work.
Currently Steven Prengels is preparing Sisyphe, for bariton, mezzo soprano and orchestra, commissioned by the Symphony Orchestra of Flanders and Wagner in Bayreuth, a new piece commissioned by the Oxalys Ensemble, which will be premiered in December 2012 by Dietrich Henschel and Oxalys.
