Gisèle Barreau facts for kids

Gisèle Barreau was born on February 28, 1948, in Couëron, a town in France. She is a talented French composer who creates many different kinds of music.

Gisèle Barreau, a French composer.

Early Life and Education

Gisèle Barreau grew up in Couëron, which is near the city of Nantes in Brittany, France. She loved music and decided to study it at a high level.

Studying Music and Sound

She went to Jussieu University where she learned about musical acoustics. This is the science of how sound works in music. Her teachers included Émile Leipp and Michèle Castellengo.

Later, she continued her studies at the famous Paris Conservatory. There, she learned from very important composers like Pierre Schaeffer and Olivier Messiaen. In 1977, she earned a special diploma in electroacoustic music. This type of music uses electronic sounds and recordings to create new sounds. She got this diploma from the Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM).

Teaching and Creating Music

After finishing her studies, Gisèle Barreau became a music teacher. She also had special opportunities to focus on her own music. In 1978, she was a "composer-in-residence" at the MacDowell Colony. This means she lived and worked there for a time, focusing only on composing. From 1980 to 1982, she was also a resident at the Villa Medici in Rome, Italy. Today, she works as a professor at the Paris Conservatoire, teaching new generations of musicians.

Awards and Recognitions

Gisèle Barreau has received many awards for her musical talents and compositions. These awards show how much her work is appreciated.

• She won first prizes in harmony, counterpoint, fugue, and musical analysis at the Paris Conservatoire.
• In 1977, she won the first prize in musical composition from Olivier Messiaen's class.
• She received the Koussevitzky Composition Prize in 1977 for her piece called Tlaloc.
• In 1978, she was given the Composition Prize of the SACEM Georges Enescu.
• The Ministry of Women's Rights honored her with an award in 1986.
• She won the Prix de composition Stéphane Chapelier-Clergue in 1988.
• In 2000, she received the Prix SACEM Partition teaching for her work Blue Rain.

Musical Works

Gisèle Barreau has composed many pieces of music. Here are some of her well-known works:

• Blue Rain: This piece was written in 1998 for two pianos and two percussion instruments.
• Océanes: Composed in 1988, this work is for a full orchestra.
• Piano-Piano: This piece was created in 1982 for an ensemble, which is a group of musicians.
• Little Rain
• Tlaloc: This composition is for two percussionists.