Florian Magnus Maier

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FLORIAN MAGNUS MAIER is one of the most prolific young composers in the Netherlands. After a youth spent mainly in a basement playing thrash metal in his native Bavaria, he emigrated to the Netherlands in 1994 to study flamenco guitar with Paco Peña and composition with Klaas de Vries at the conservatory of Rotterdam. He graduated cum laude in the latter in 2001. His music is performed all over the world, appeared in important international festivals like the Tanglewood Music Center, the Gaudeamus competition, November Music, Moscow Autumn, Dutch Music Days, Gergiev Festival, Dag in de Branding and the Rotterdam and Cannes film festivals, on worldwide radio and on Dutch television. It has earned him composition prizes such as the Paul Jacobs Memorial Award and two Tanglewood fellowships (2001, 2002), the Matthijs Vermeulen Aanmoedigingsprijs (2002) and the Prize for Composition of the Rotterdam Conservatory (2001), as well as nominations for the Gaudeamusprize (2000, 2001) and the prize for electroacoustic music of Musica Nova (2001). His oeuvre comprises symphonic works, concertos, chamber music - written for distinguished Dutch and international artists and ensembles - electronic music, rock, film and dance music as well as theater and multimedia productions. He was also chosen to make the musical logo of Rotterdam 2001 - Cultural Capital of Europe (together with Lars Skoglund).
Maier is founder and leader of the virtuosic crossover ensemble The Hungry Gods and the progressive death metal band Noneuclid. As a soloist, he performed with a.o. Orkest De Volharding, the Asko Ensemble, the Doelen Ensemble and the Metropole Orchestra, and he is the lead singer of the German black metal flagship Dark Fortress. He lives as a freelance composer, guitarist and producer in Rotterdam.