Farangis Nurulla-Khoja facts for kids

Farangis Nurulla-Khoja (born in 1972) is a talented composer from Tajikistan who now lives in Canada. She writes many different kinds of music, including pieces for orchestras, smaller groups of instruments, singers, and electronic sounds. She is known for exploring different sounds and textures in her music. In 2018, she received a special award called a Guggenheim Fellowship for her amazing work in composition.

About Farangis Nurulla-Khoja

Farangis Nurulla-Khoja lives in Montréal, Quebec, Canada. She was born in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. She is related to a famous Tajik composer named Ziyodullo Shahidi.

She studied music for many years. From 1979 to 1990, she learned piano at the Ziyodullo Shahidi Special Music School. She earned a Ph.D. (a very high university degree) in Composition in 2004 from the University of Göteborg in Sweden. She also studied at the University of California in San Diego and at IRCAM in Paris, France.

Farangis also spent time researching music history. From 1992 to 1993, she studied traditional music from Tajikistan and China at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, England.

Her Musical Journey

Farangis Nurulla-Khoja has learned from many famous composers from around the world. Some of her teachers include Ole Lützow-Holm, Roger Reynolds, Brian Ferneyhough, and Philippe Leroux.

She has also been a "composer in residence" at several important places. This means she was invited to live and work there, focusing on her music. These places include:

• Fondation Royaumont (2005–06) in France, where she worked on a project called Maqam et Créations.
• The Bellagio Center of the Rockefeller Foundation (2010) in Italy.
• The Experimental Studio (2010–11) in Freiburg, Germany.

Her Music Style

Farangis Nurulla-Khoja's music has been performed all over the world. She combines ideas from both Asian and European music. Her compositions include pieces for:

• Large orchestras (symphonic music)
• Smaller groups of instruments (chamber music)
• Movies (film music)
• Singers (vocal music)
• Electronic sounds (electro-acoustic music)

She uses special musical techniques in her works. These include:

• Microtonal music: Using notes that are "in between" the regular notes on a piano.
• Tone clusters: Playing several notes very close together at the same time, often sounding like a big, dense chord.
• Sharp melodic elements: Clear and distinct tunes or musical ideas.

Dance and poetry are also important parts of how she creates her music.

Who Performs Her Music?

Many well-known music groups have performed Farangis Nurulla-Khoja's compositions. Some of these include:

• ICTUS (Belgium)
• Avanti! (Finland)
• Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart (Germany)
• Ziggurat (Holland)
• New Juilliard Chamber Ensemble (USA)
• Turning Point Ensemble (Canada)
• Gothenburg Symphony (Sweden)
• Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (China)
• Montpellier Symphony Orchestra (France)
• Oslo Sinfonietta (Norway)
• Oviedo National Orchestra (Spain)
• Bienne Solar Symphony Orchestra (Switzerland)
• Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (Canada)
• Rubinstein Symphony Orchestra (Poland)
• Ensemble Transmission (Canada)
• Continuum ensemble (USA)

Important Musical Works

Here are some of Farangis Nurulla-Khoja's notable compositions:

"Daidu"

This piece is a concerto for violin, string orchestra, and three percussion instruments. A concerto is a musical piece where one solo instrument plays with an orchestra.

• It won 2nd Prize at the Grazyna Bacewicz International Composer Competition in Poland in 2015.
• It lasts about 18 minutes and 46 seconds.
• "Daidu" was written in the 21st century. It uses "polytonal" sounds, meaning it has parts that sound like they are in more than one key at the same time.
• You can hear clear musical ideas that are repeated between the solo violin and the orchestra.
• The music has strong, sudden rhythms and fast, rising "chromatic scales" (playing every note, black and white, on a piano as you go up). These sounds mix with long, held "dissonant" notes, which can sound a bit clashing but are used on purpose.
• The percussion instruments create a special mood, especially when they play with the solo violin.
• You can listen to "Daidu" here: [1]

"Gusto"

This piece is written for a large group of chamber musicians (a smaller orchestra).

• It was asked for and first performed by Kammarensemblen at the Stockholm New Music Festival.
• It was composed in 2012.
• It lasts about 9 minutes and 32 seconds.
• "Gusto" is also a 21st-century "polytonal" work.
• It features sliding "chromatic scales" that go up and down, getting louder and softer.
• The piece requires instruments to play at the very highest and lowest notes they can make.
• Even with all the sliding scales, you can still hear short, clear melodies, especially played by the violins.
• You can watch and listen to "Gusto" here: [2]

Awards and Honors

Farangis Nurulla-Khoja has received many awards for her compositions:

• 2000: Grand Prize for her piece "Replica" from the Abu Gazali Foundation in Austria.
• 2008: Best Mid-Career Composer from the Canada Arts Council's Joseph S. Stauffer Prize for the Arts.
• 2010: Composition Prize for "Parparon" at the Third Magistralia Competition for Composers in Spain.
• 2012: STIM-Stipendium Award.
• 2014: 3rd Prize for "Ravishi Nur" (a concerto for saxophone and orchestra) at the Andrey Petrov Composers Competition in Russia.
• 2015: 2nd Prize for "Daidu" (a concerto for violin, string orchestra, and three percussion instruments) at the Grazyna Bacewicz International Composer Competition in Poland.
• 2016: Composition Prize for "L'infini de l'instant" in the Andrey Petrov Composers Competition in Russia.
• 2016: Prize of Recognition from the Longueuil Art Council.
• 2017: Gold Medal "Best of Show" for "Incandescence" at the Global Music Awards.
• 2018: Guggenheim Fellowship Award in Composition from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. This is a very prestigious award given to people who have shown outstanding ability in their field.