THOMAS LARCHER

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Austrian composer Thomas Larcher is a leading voice in contemporary classical music embracing symphonic tradition whilst also pushing at the boundaries of conventional structure.

Orchestral works include several concertos for prestigious soloists, four symphonies, notably Symphony No. 2 ‘Kenotaph’, a monument to refugees drowned in the mediterranean sea. Premiered by the Vienna Philharmonic under Semyon Bychkov, the work earned the 2018 Le Prix de Composition Musicale de Monaco and garnered international acclaim.

Larcher’s lyrical writing has led to partnerships with the leading singers of today including A Padmore Cycle, written for Mark Padmore and later orchestrated and premiered by the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 2014, The Living Mountain (2022) for soprano and ensemble, debuted in Amsterdam with Sarah Aristidou and Asko|Schönberg, and his most recent song cycle Unerzählt premiered at Aldeburgh Festival 2024 with Andrè Schuen. 

Recent works include Love and the Fever, a major work for choir and orchestra, premiered in March 2024 by the MDR Sinfonieorchester and Rundfunkchor in Leipzig, conducted by Dennis Russell Davies. In April 2025, a new Cello Concerto written for Alisa Weilerstein will premiere with the New York Philharmonic, marking Weilerstein and Larcher’s second collaboration after 2015’s Ouroboros.

In 1994, Larcher founded the internationally recognized “Klangspuren” festival for new music and, in 2003, established the “Musik im Riesen” festival in Wattens, Austria, a prominent platform for international and young local chamber musicians. His accolades include the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Elise L. Stoeger Prize (2014/15), the Ernest Krenek Prize (2018), and the Grand Austrian State Prize (2019).

Photo: Eduadus Luo