Cristóbal Halffter (Composer) 

24 March 1930 – Born in Madrid. Elementary school in Germany. Nephew of the Spanish composers Rodolfo and Ernesto Halffter

1947–1951 – Private studies of harmony and composition with Conrado del Campo and at the Real Conservatorio de Música in Madrid, where he graduated in 1951

1951 – Halffter began to work for the Spanish Radio

1955–1963 – Conductor of the de Falla Orchestra in Spain

1961–1966 – Professor for composition at the Real Conservatorio de Música in Madrid, which he directed between 1964–1966

1967 – On scholarship in the United States (Ford Foundation) and Berlin (DAAD).

1970–1978 – Lecturer at the University of Navarra; lecturer at the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik at Darmstadt

1976 – Prix d’Italia della RAI

1976–1978 – President of the Spanish section of the ISCM

1979 – Artistic director of the Studio for electronic music at the Heinrich Strobel Foundation, Freiburg

1980 – Member of the European Academy of Science, Arts and Humanities, Paris

1981 – Halffter was awarded the Gold Medal for Fine Arts by King Juan Carlos of Spain

1983 – Member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts San Fernando, Madrid

1985 – Doctor honoris causa of the University of Léon

since 1989 – Principal Guest Conductor of the National Orchestra, Madrid

1994 – Montaigne-Award of the Hamburger Stiftung F.V.S.

1995 – European Prize for Composition in Karlsruhe

1998 – Doctor honoris causa of the Universidad Complutense Madrid

2000 – World Premiere of his opera Don Quijote at Teatro Real in Madrid

4 Aug 2003 – World Premiere of Adagio en forma de rondo for orchestra, commissioned by the Vienna Philharmonics, under Semyon Bychkov at the Salzburg Festival

30 Dec 2004 – World Premiere of Eritana for orchestera, from Iberia by Isaac Albéniz, Orquesta Sinfonica de Madrid, under Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Teatro Real Madrid/E

5 Feb 2005 – World Premiere of Palimsesto for timpani and orchestra, Dresdner Philharmonie under Pedro Halffter, Alexander Peter, timpani, Kulturpalast Dresden/D

4 May 2008 – World Premiere of the opera Lázaro in Kiel/D, commissioned by the Theatre of Kiel, Libretto by Marset Juan Carlos, under Georg Fritzsch, Philharmonic Orchestra Kiel

Since 1970 Cristóbal Halffter has conducted many important orchestras in Europe and America. He lives with his wife, the pianist Maria Manuela Caro, in Villafranca del Bierzo/E.

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