Born in 1973, Claire-Mélanie Sinnhuber, a French-Swiss national, lives and works in Paris. She studied composition with Sergio Ortega and Allain Gaussin before joining the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where she studied with Frédéric Durieux. She completed the annual course at IRCAM under the mentorship of Philippe Leroux. She furthered her studies with composers such as Salvatore Sciarrino, Gérard Grisey, Brian Ferneyhough, Ivan Fedele and Luca Francesconi.
In 2008, she took up a residency in Japan at Villa Kujoyama to explore the poetic connections between her own artistic language and that of traditional Japanese music. There she met the Noh actress Ryoko Aoki, for whom she composed music whilst also supporting the creation of her first piece for large orchestra, premiered at Suntory Hall by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.
On her return to France, she collaborated with the filmmaker Jean-Charles Fitoussi on the writing of a joint opera-film, a project that led her to the Villa Medici in 2010 and 2011. This opera, Mitsou, La vie+un chat, premiered at the Musica festival in 2014.
Her precise, lively and transparent style of composition, characterised by a sense of humour and tenderness, stems from a strong interaction with the performers. She embraces all genres, from solo pieces to orchestral works, from mixed-media music to opera, in a quest for sensuality and speed.
Her work has been recognised with several awards: Prix Georges Enesco from Sacem (2007), Prix Hervé Dugardin from Sacem (2017), Prix Nadia et Lili Boulanger from the Académie des Beaux-Arts et Grand Prix from Sacem (2021).
She has received numerous commissions, including those from Radio France (the ‘Présence’ Festival, a world premiere by Anne Montaron, the Radio France Children’s Choir, the Orchestre National de France, the ‘Journées de la viole’, and a show for young audiences), the Ensemble Intercontemporain, the Ministry of Culture (DRAC), the Ars Musica Festival (Brussels), the Geneva Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the Grand Théâtre de Provence, the Opéra de Lyon, and SWR…
She regularly engages with young performers and composers through residencies at conservatoires or as part of academies (the European Creative Academy in Annecy, Unanimes!, the American Art Schools in Fontainebleau, the Xenakis Trio Academy…).
Her works are performed by leading ensembles such as:
Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ars Nova, L’instant donné, Cairn, Court-Circuit, 2e2m, Multilatérale, L’itinéraire, l’ensemble Alter Ego, le quatuor Hermes, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Bruxelles, l’Orchestre de Picardie, l’Orchestre de Paris, L’Orchestre National de France, Le chœur de chambre Les Éléments, La Maîtrise de Radio France, Raquel Camarinha, Shigeko Hata, Mathieu Dubroca, Lucile Boulanger, Vanessa Benelli Mosell, Léo Warynzki, Marin Alsop, Victor Jacob, George Jackson, Alasdair Beatson, Sofi Jeannin…
