Francis Dhomont (2 November 1926 – 28 December 2023) was a French composer, a pioneer of electroacoustic and acousmatic music who worked and taught both in France and in Québec.

Biography

Born in Paris on 2 November 1926, Dhomont studied composition with Ginette Waldmeier, Charles Koechlin and Nadia Boulanger. In compositions for instruments and voices from 1944 to 1963, he tried to "reconcile modality and atonality". In 1963 he decided to dedicate his time to electroacoustic composition utilising natural sounds. Public performances of his music are done using the French "diffusion" technique over multiple loudspeakers. His work consists exclusively of tape pieces using natural, or "found" sounds, exploring morphological interplay and the ambiguities between sound and the images it may create. He presented his compositions in France and abroad. Dhomont's work won international awards including at the Bourges International Electroacoustic Music Competition (France), the Magisterium Prize in 1988, Prix Ars Electronica in 1992 (Linz, Austria). In 1997, as the winner of the Canada Council for the Arts' Lynch-Staunton Prize, he was supported by the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program for a residence in Berlin. He was awarded a career grant by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. Dhomont was the editor of several electroacoustic music journals. He produced radio programs for Radio-Canada and Radio France, and participated in juries of competitions. From 1978 to 2005, he worked both in France and Québec, teaching at the Université de Montréal from 1980 to 1996. He was a founding member of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community. Dhomont lived in Avignon, where he died on 28 December 2023, at the age of 97.

Recordings

Dhomont's recordings include:

List of works

Publications

Dhomont published many articles on esthetic topics, influencing philosophical debates on the evolution of electroacoustic music.