Julien Gauthier, 44, a French composer of Canadian origin, has been killed last week by a Grizzly bear while camping in the territories of Western Canada. The bear invaded the camp, grabbed the man and took him into the forest. The inanimate body was found the next day.
Julien Gauthier followed an atypical artistic career. Attracted by the most unusual or extreme places, he was the laureate, in 2016, of the artist residency L’Atelier des Ailleurs. He stayed for 5 months in the Kerguelen Islands, in the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF), one of the most isolated places on the planet. From this experience, he drew a symphony, Symphonie australe, created by the Symphonic Orchestra of Bretagne as well as an album of sound creations and soundscapes, Inaudita Symphonia.
Gauthier has received various commissions of French institutions or ensembles including the Symphonic Orchestra of Bretagne, the Ariam, the Sacem Action Fund, the Cabaret Contemporain, the French ministry of Culture and has worked as a composer for several theatre and dance companies.
Composer in residence of the Orchestre de Bretagne since 2017, he was working on a new symphonic project to be premiered in the 2019-2020 concert season. In addition to his activity as a composer, Julien Gauthier taught History and Musical Analysis at the Conservatory of Gennevilliers.
