Christophe Schiess
Swiss composer, born Thursday October 31, 1974
Christophe Schiess lives in Biel/Bienne. He studied musical pedagogy and choral conducting at the Hochschule für Musik Basel. He also studied music theory and composition with Roland Moser and Georg Friedrich Haas. Christophe Schiess composes for various ensembles (e.g. Ensemble Phoenix, UMS 'N JIP, Camerata variabile). His music is characterized by structural links which are either precise or free associations with extra-musical phenomena that are often foreign to "high culture" (e.g. an action on a football pitch consisting of 26 passes that led to an Argentinian goal in the 2006
World Cup / people falling down stairs in the 21st volume of The Adventures of Tintin / the extreme slowing down of a marmot's vital organs in winter / the way a game of cards progresses / etc.). Sometimes the initial impetus stems from listening to an existing piece of music - from the emotional shock and the thoughts that derive from it.
Christophe Schiess is a teacher at the Gymnase français in Biel/Bienne and at the Hochschule für Musik Basel. He also conducts the Jubilate choir (Biel/Bienne).