Bernhard Lang, born in Linz in 1957, is an Austrian composer, improviser and programmer of musical patches and applications. He works in the field of modern contemporary music. He studied music at the Bruckner Conservatory in Linz from 1972 to 1975. From 1975, he studied philosophy and German language and literature in Graz, jazz theory with Dieter Glawischnig, piano with Harry Neuwirth, counterpoint with Hermann Markus Preßl, and harmony and composition with Andrzej Dobrowolski. During his studies, he worked as a composer, arranger and pianist with various jazz groups from 1977 to 1981. At the Institute for Electronic Music (IEM) at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, he began his exploration of electronic music and computer technology. From 1984 to 1989, Lang was a lecturer at the Johann Joseph Fux Conservatory in Graz and continued his studies with Georg Friedrich Haas and Gösta Neuwirth.
In 1987, Lang founded the composers' association ‘die andere saite’ together with Gerhard Präsent and Jörg-Martin Willnauer. He developed (initially supported by Winfried Ritsch) the CADMUS software in C++ (development environment for computer-assisted composition). From 1989, he taught composition and harmony at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz. In 1999, he moved to Vienna as a freelance composer. From 2003 to 2022, he returned to Graz to teach as an associate professor of composition.
In 1999, Lang founded the music publishing company Zeitvertrieb together with Peter Ablinger, Klaus Lang, Nader Mashayekhi and Siegwald Ganglmair.
From 2004 to 2005, Lang was a scholarship holder at the International Artists' House Villa Concordia in Bamberg, and in 2006 he was the principal composer at Wien Modern. In June 2007, he spent a working stay at the Thomas Bernhard Archive artist studio in Gmunden. From 2007 to 2008, he was composer in residence at Theater Basel, from 2008 to 2009 he was Capell-Compositeur of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, and from 2013 to 2014 he was a guest lecturer in composition in Lucerne.
Lang's works have been performed at numerous festivals, including the Moscow Alternativa Festival, Moscow Modern, resistance fluctuations Los Angeles 1998, Tage Absoluter Musik Allentsteig I and II, Klangarten, Herbstfestival Lissabon 1998, Steirischer Herbst Graz, Wien Modern, Münchner Opernfestspiele, Darmstadt Summer Courses, Donaueschingen Music Days, Salzburg Festival, Disturbances – Music Theatre Workshop Copenhagen 2003, Moving Sounds Festival New York 2010, Witten Days for New Chamber Music, ImPulsTanz Vienna, MaerzMusik Berlin, Warsaw Autumn, Contempuls Prague, Eclat Stuttgart, Suntory Hall Summer Festival Tokyo, ManiFeste Festival Paris and Ostrava Days. Since 2016, Ricordi Berlin has been publishing Bernhard Lang's entire catalogue of works. His works have been released on numerous CDs and LPs, primarily on Kairos and GODrec.
According to a 2017 survey of more than 100 contemporary music experts conducted by the Italian music magazine Classic Voice, Bernhard Lang is one of the ten most important living composers. He is an honorary member of Klangforum Wien and has been a member of the Berlin Academy of Arts since 2014.
Lang's opera
Hiob at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt (director:
Michael Sturminger) was awarded the Austrian Music Theatre Prize 2024 for best premiere/world premiere. His opera
Dora at the Stuttgart State Opera (libretto: Frank Witzel) was voted premiere of the year 2024 in the international critics' poll conducted by Opernwelt magazine.
