Olivier Greif was born in Paris on January 3rd, 1950.

His father had studied piano in Poland before moving to France and becoming a doctor. A precocious child, Olivier discovered music at age three in a kindergarten. Admitted to the Paris National Conservatory at age ten, he studied piano with Lucette Descaves and composition with Tony Aubin. He worked with Luciano Berio in New York City and Santa Fe.

From 1961 to 1981, he composed a first series of works. His style was quite personal, unaffected by current trends. Then he stopped composing for ten years or so, as he explored a “spiritual path” with a New York-based Indian master. From 1991 on, he wrote a new series of dark and intense pieces, marked by themes he had always been familiar with: the war, his father’s stay in Auschwitz, the loss of most of his family in the death camps. He put Paul Celan’s poems to music. Having been badly ill twice, he died at home on May 13th, 2000.

Photo :  © Yannick Coupannec

Concerto pour violoncelle et orchestre (1999) 
cello & orchestra
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Quadruple concerto (1998)
string quartet & orchestra
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Trio (1998)
violin, cello & piano
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Livre des Saints Irlandais (1998)
voice & piano
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Les chants de l'âme (1996)
voice & piano
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Lettre de Westerbork (1993)
female voice & 2 violins
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