For the Indian military decoration, see Param Vir Chakra

Param Vir Chakra

The Param Vir Chakra is India's highest military decoration awarded for the highest degree of valour or self-sacrifice in the presence of the enemy. It can be, and often has been, awarded posthumously....

.

Param Vir (born 1952) is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 composer originally from India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

.

Born in Delhi

Delhi

Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

, Param Vir read philosophy at Delhi University and studied composition in England with Peter Maxwell Davies

Peter Maxwell Davies

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, CBE is an English composer and conductor and is currently Master of the Queen's Music.-Biography:...

 and Oliver Knussen

Oliver Knussen

Oliver Knussen CBE is a British composer and conductor.-Biography:Oliver Knussen was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His father, Stuart Knussen, was principal double bass of the London Symphony Orchestra. Oliver Knussen studied composition with John Lambert, between 1963 and 1969 and also received...

.

His works include Horse Tooth White Rock (1994) and the operas Snatched by the Gods and Broken Strings (a double bill commissioned for the Munich Biennale

Munich Biennale

The Munich Biennale is an opera festival in the city of Munich. The full German name is Internationales Festival für neues Musiktheater, literally: International Festival for New Music Theater. The biennial festival was created in 1988 by Hans Werner Henze and is held in even-numbered years over...

 of 1992), and Ion, given at the Aldeburgh Festival

Aldeburgh Festival

The Aldeburgh Festival is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the Aldeburgh area of Suffolk, centred on the main concert hall at Snape Maltings...

 in 2000. He has won, among other prizes, the Tippett Award and the Britten Prize.

Career highlights

• 1983 - attended Dartington Summer School on a scholarship.
• 1984 - moved to London to study with Oliver Knussen.
• 1987 - awarded Benjamin Britten Composition Prize.
• 1993 - Pierre Audi production of Broken Strings wins Ernst von Siemens Music Prize
  Ernst von Siemens Music Prize
  The international Ernst von Siemens Music Prize is an annual music prize given by the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste on behalf of the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung , established in 1972. The foundation was established by Ernst von Siemens...
  
   for young composers (Munich).
• 2003 - first full production of Ion tours Europe.
• 2005 - Horse Tooth White Rock performed at the BBC Proms.
• 2005 - Hayagriva commissioned and premiered by the Schoenberg Ensemble in Amsterdam
• 2006 - Between Earth and Sky, inspired by Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate, premiered by the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London

Stage works

Premiere	Title	Description	Libretto and source
11 May 1992, De Nederlandse Opera De Nederlandse Opera De Nederlandse Opera , in Amsterdam, is a Dutch opera company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its present home base is the Het Muziektheater, a modern building designed by Cees Dam which opened in 1986.... , Amsterdam	Snatched by the Gods	Opera in one act, 55'	William Radice William Radice William Radice is a Poet, Writer and Translator.He is the Senior Lecturer in Bengali in the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.His research area is in Bengali language and literature.... , after the poem Debatar Gras by Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
11 May 1992, De Nederlandse Opera De Nederlandse Opera De Nederlandse Opera , in Amsterdam, is a Dutch opera company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its present home base is the Het Muziektheater, a modern building designed by Cees Dam which opened in 1986.... , Amsterdam	Broken Strings	Opera in one act, 60'. (revised 1995)	David Rudkin David Rudkin James David Rudkin is an English playwright of Northern Irish descent. Coming from a family of strict evangelical Christians, Rudkin was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and read Mods and Greats at St Catherine's College, Oxford... , after an ancient Buddhist tale Guttil Jatak
09 Jun 2000, Aldeburgh Festival Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh Festival is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the Aldeburgh area of Suffolk, centred on the main concert hall at Snape Maltings... / Almeida Opera	Ion	Opera in 4 scenes with Prologue, 120'	David Lan David Lan David Lan is an English playwright, filmmaker and theatre director.Born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1952, he emigrated to London in 1972. Since 2000 he has been artistic director of the Young Vic theatre in London's South Bank.-Career:... , after Euripides Euripides Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
24 Oct 2008, De Toneelschuur, Haarlem	Black Feather Rising	Music Theatre for 2 Singers and 6 Instrumentalists, 90'	David Rudkin David Rudkin James David Rudkin is an English playwright of Northern Irish descent. Coming from a family of strict evangelical Christians, Rudkin was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and read Mods and Greats at St Catherine's College, Oxford... , after folklore collection Healers on the Mountain by Teresa Pijoan

Other

• Before Krishna (1987; string orchestra)
• Horse Tooth White Rock (1994; orchestra)
• Ultimate Words: Infinite Song (1997; baritone, six percussion, piano)
• The Theatre of Magical Beings (2003; large ensemble)
• Hayagriva (2005; large ensemble)
• Between Earth and Sky (2006; orchestra)

Selected recordings

• White Light Chorale - Metronome METCD1053

External links

• Param Vir official website
• Param Vir's homepage at Chester Music