Thomas Adès (GB) - president
Thomas Adès was born in London in 1971. Studied piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and read music at King’s College, Cambridge.
His orchestral compositions include three operas, a violin and a piano concerto and he has a long list of chamber works. As a pianist he often writes solo piano pieces.
From 1999 to 2008 he was Artistic Director of the Aldeburgh Festival. As a conductor he appears regularly with, among others, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw, Melbourne and Sydney Symphonies. He is also well-known as an opera conductor, he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York conducting The Tempest.
He coaches Piano and Chamber Music annually at the International Musicians Seminar, Prussia Cove.
Adès has won numerous awards, including the prestigious Grawemeyer Award, the Royal Philharmonic Society large-scale composition awards , the Ernst von Siemens Composers' prize, the British Composer Award and the Best Opera Grammy and Diapason d'or de l'année in Paris.