Born in Innsbruck in 1974, composer Johannes Maria Staud constantly draws inspiration for his music from literature, film, visual arts, and philosophical and political themes. He transforms these impulses into energetic, sensual sound adventures.
Renowned orchestras such as the Wiener Philharmoniker, Berliner Philharmoniker, Cleveland Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, SWR Symphonieorchester, Wiener Symphoniker, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien and Ensemble intercontemporain have performed his works under conductors such as Simon Rattle, Daniel Barenboim, Franz Welser-Möst, Peter Eötvös, Susanna Mälkki and Mariss Jansons. He has worked with soloists such as Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Heinrich Schiff, Midori, Tamara Stefanovich, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Bruno Ganz, Martin Grubinger, Christoph Sietzen and Christoph Prégardien. He has received commissions from the Wiener Staatsoper, the Lucerne Festival, the Wiener Festwochen, the Berliner Festspiele, the Salzburg Festival, IRCAM/Centre Pompidou, the Harvard Musical Society and the Aldeburgh Festival, among others.
Johannes Maria Staud’s most important works include Apeiron for orchestra (2004/2005), Segue for violoncello and orchestra (2006–2008), the diptych Zimt (On Comparative Meteorology and Contrebande, 2008–2010), Oskar for violin and orchestra (2014), Whereas the Reality Trembles for percussion and orchestra (2022), the operas Berenice (2003/2004, rev. 2006), Die Antilope (2013/2014), Die Weiden (2016/2018) – all based on libretti by Durs Grünbein – as well as missing in cantu (2022/2023) based on a libretto by Thomas Köck and Once Anything Might Have Happened for soprano and horn solo, ensemble and electronics (2021/2022).
For the past and current season, he has composed Die Schöne Müllerin/These Fevered Days, an orchestration of Schubert’s song cycle with seven new songs based on poems by Emily Dickinson for tenor (Christoph Prégardien) and large ensemble, commissioned by Ensemble Kontraste Nürnberg, Klangforum Wien, Wiener Konzerthaus and Casa da Música Porto, as well as Stachel. Rhapsody for string orchestra for the Münchener Kammerorchester. In preparation are a string quartet for the Kuss Quartett, an organ work for Wolfgang Kogert and a large, full-length opera.
After studying composition in Vienna and Berlin with Michael Jarrell and Hanspeter Kyburz, among others, Johannes Maria Staud received early recognition and was awarded the Erste Bank Composition Prize (2002), the International Rostrum of Composers Prize (2003) and the Siemens Förderpreis (2004), later followed by the Paul Hindemith Prize (2009), the City of Vienna Music Prize (2012), the Austrian Art Prize (2022) and the Tyrolean State Prize for Art (2025). He taught as a visiting professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in 2015/16 before taking up a professorship in composition at the Mozarteum University Salzburg in 2018; he is also co-founder of the Arco Summer Academy.
2025/26 season