Pierre Boulez @ 100: A Timeline

1925
Born on March 26 in Montbrison, France

1941
After beginning musical studies in piano and secondary studies at Montbrison and Saint-Etienne, takes courses in higher mathematics in Lyon to prepare for admission examination at the École Polytechnique

1942
Settles in Paris to dedicate himself entirely to music

1943
Enters the Conservatoire de Paris, where he studies harmony with Georges Dandelot

1944
Admitted to Olivier Messiaen’s harmony class at the Conservatoire de Paris

1945
After completing counterpoint studies with Andrée Vaurabourg and dodecaphonic technique with René Leibowitz, graduates with highest honors from the Conservatoire de Paris

1946 
Yvette Grimaud gives first public performances of Boulez’s music (Douze Notations and Trois Psalmodies) at the Concerts du Triptyque • Appointed musical director of the Renaud-Barrault Company

1951
Begins experimenting in the studio of Pierre Schaeffer at Radio France, resulting in two studies of musique concrète

1953
Launches the Concerts du Petit-Marigny, renamed Domaine Musical in 1954

1955
Begins music analysis courses in Darmstadt, which continue until 1960 • Hans Rosbaud leads premiere of Le marteau sans maître at Baden-Baden • Makes his debut as a conductor, leading Schoenberg’s Serenade

1959
Settles in Baden-Baden at the invitation of the Südwestrundfunk (South West German Radio) and Heinrich Strobel • Premiere of Tombeau for orchestra in Donaueschingen

1960
Conducts premiere of Pli selon pli in Cologne • Leads course in musical analysis and composition in Basel, which continues until 1962

1962
Becomes a visiting professor at Harvard University

1963
Conducts Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps with the Orchestre National, the French premiere of Berg’s Wozzeck at the Opéra national de Paris and the premiere of Messiaen’s Sept Haïkaï at the Domaine Musical in Paris • Publishes Penser la musique aujourd’hui (Contemporary Musical Thought)

1965
Conducts premiere of Éclat in Los Angeles at the Monday Evening Concerts • Leads orchestral conducting course in Basel 

1966
Conducts Wagner’s Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival at the invitation of Wieland Wagner, then Tristan and Isolde in Japan with the Bayreuth company • Publishes Relevés d’apprenti (Notes of an Apprenticeship)

1967
Begins association with the Cleveland Orchestra at the invitation of George Szell • Turns over the direction of the Domaine Musical to Gilbert Amy • Receives his first Grammy Award nomination for conducting his Le soleil des eaux with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus

1968
Receives his first Grammy awards — Album of the Year–Classical and Best Opera Recording — for Berg’s Wozzeck, featuring Walter Berry, Ingeborg Lasser, Isabel Strauss and Fritz Uhl with the Orchestre and Chœur de l’Opéra national de Paris

1969
Named permanent chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London • Makes his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in two weeks of subscription concerts • Conducts the New York Philharmonic for the first time • Directs Pelléas et Mélisande at Covent Garden • Begins second series of conducting courses at Basel • Makes debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (with Daniel Barenboim and Jacqueline du Pré as soloists), including the U.S. premiere of his Livre pour cordes

1970
Conducts premiere of cummings ist der Dichter in Stuttgart • Leads premiere of Éclat/Multiples in London • Conducts and records Parsifal in Bayreuth with James King in the title role

1971
Succeeds Leonard Bernstein as music director of the New York Philharmonic • Receives a Grammy Award for Best Classical Performance–Orchestra for his recording of Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps with the Cleveland Orchestra

1972
Accepts post of founder and director of the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) at the request of President Georges Pomipdou

1974
Press conference at the Théâtre de la Ville announces the structure and management of IRCAM • Tours Japan with the New York Philharmonic • Recording of Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra with the New York Philharmonic wins Grammy awards for Album of the Year–Classical and Best Classical Performance–Orchestra

1975
Leads premiere of Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna • Japan tour with the BBC Symphony Orchestra • Tours of Europe with the New York Philharmonic, performing at all the major European festivals

1976
Announces the creation of the Ensemble InterContemporain, of which he is president • At the invitation of Wolfgang Wagner and in commemoration of the centenary of Wagner’s Ring at Bayreuth, conducts four cycles of the tetralogy in a new staging by Patrice Chéreau, also directing the same production for the next four years (the complete cycle is audio and video recorded by Deutsche Grammophon in 1979 and 1980) • Named professor of the Collège de France by decree of the President of the Republic

1977
Records Schoenberg’s Erwartung with Janis Martin in London • Final concerts as music director of the New York Philharmonic

1979
Leads the world premiere of the complete version of Berg’s Lulu at the Paris Opera • Receives the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize given by the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste

1980
Premiere of Notations with the Orchestre de Paris, Daniel Barenboïm conducting

1981
Festival of Donaueschingen • First performance of Répons commissioned by the Südwestfunk at Baden-Baden • Extensive Boulez retrospective organized by the Autumn Festival, Paris

1982
First performance of the extended version of Répons at the Promenade concerts in London

1983
Recording of the Ring Cycle from the Bayreuth Festival wins a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording

1984
Five-week residency with the Los Angeles Philharmonic

1985
Premiere of Dérive by the London Sinfonietta • Premiere of Dialogue de l’ombre double for clarinet and pre-recorded tape

1986
Leads extensive tour of the United States with the Ensemble InterContemporain performing Dérive and Répons • Conducts the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra

1987
After an absence of nearly 19 years, Boulez returns to conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Stravinsky’s Symphonies of Wind Instruments, Bartók’s The Wooden Prince and his own Notations I-IV

1988
Tours Australia and New Zealand with the Ensemble InterContemporain • Boulez in the limelight at the Festival d’Avignon • Conducting courses at the Centre Acanthes at Villeneuve-lez-Avignon

1989
Boulez Festival in London organized by the BBC Symphony Orchestra • Premiere of the definitive version of Le visage nuptial at the Festival of Contemporary Music in Metz with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, with repeats in Paris, Milan and London

1990
Tours Moscow and Leningrad with the Ensemble InterContemporain • Continues his regular visits to the United States where he conducts the orchestras of Cleveland, Los Angeles and Chicago • Signs exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon

1991
Tour of Canada with the Ensemble InterContemporain • Gives concerts and master classes at the Scotia Festival at Halifax • Daniel Barenboim leads the CSO and Chorus in the U.S. premiere of four movements from Le visage nuptial • Speaks at the Art Insitute of Chicago “On Classicism and Modernism” and leads the Civic Orchestra of Chicago in an open rehearsal of Schoenberg’s Variations for Orchestra • Makes his first recording with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, leading Schoenberg’s Pelleas und Melisande and Variations for Orchestra

1992
Conducts Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande in a staging by Peter Stein with the Welsh National Opera at Cardiff • Important presence at the Festival of Salzburg as a composer and conductor

1993
Important world-wide conducting activities • Tour of the United States with the Ensemble InterContemporain including the Carnegie Hall premiere of . . . explosante-fixe . . . • Leads a concert version of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle with Jessye Norman and László Polgár in Chicago

1994
Receives three Grammy Awards for Bartók’s The Wooden Prince and Cantata profana with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus • Returns to the Salzburg Festival, conducting the Ensemble InterContemporain and the Vienna Philharmonic and participates at the Berlin Webern Festival with the EIC and the Berlin Philharmonic • Concerts and recordings in Chicago and Cleveland

1995
Inauguration concerts of the Cité de la musique at La Villette in Paris • Prestigious tour with the London Symphony Orchestra (Paris, London, Vienna, New York) • Boulez Festival in Tokyo involving four orchestras (London, Chicago and NHK symphony orchestras and Ensemble InterContemporain) • Conducts a new production of Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron at the Amsterdam Opera, in collaboration with Peter Stein • Receives two Grammy awards, the Edison Award from the Dutch phonograph industry, the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik and the artist of the year award from Gramophone • Named principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

1996
Continues intensive conducting activities with the orchestras of Berlin, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles and Vienna. Receives two Grammy Awards for works by Debussy with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Berliner Kunstpreis 1996 and the Swedish Polar Prize • Returns to the Salzburg Festival to conduct Moses und Aron with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and additional concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic • Travels with the Ensemble InterContemporain to South America with stops in Santiago, Buenos Aires, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro • Leads the world premiere of Augusta Read Thomas’ . . . words of the sea . . . with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

1997
Celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Ensemble InterContemporain • Conducts a new production of Stravinsky’s The Nightingale and Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, staged by Stanislas Nordey at the Châtelet and in Berlin • Leaves the stage to devote one year to composition • Premiere of Anthèmes II for violin and electronics at the Donaueschingen Music Festival

1998
Resumes numerous conducting activities, mostly in Cleveland, Chicago and Vienna, as well as touring in Europe with the Ensemble InterContemporain and the London Symphony Orchestra • Leads new staged version of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle by the choreographer Pina Bausch of at the Festival of Aix-en-Provence • Premiere of sur Incises in Edinburgh, Basel and Paris

1999
Daniel Barenboim leads the world premiere of Notations VII with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra • Répons and sur Incises are performed at the Salzburg and Schleswig-Holstein festivals • Signs a contract with Carnegie Hall for an extended collaboration as composer and conductor, giving concerts there with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Ensemble InterContemporain, including workshops and conducting classes • For Deutsche Grammophon, records Ravel and Debussy works with the Cleveland Orchestra as well as several of his own compositions, including Messagesquisse, Anthèmes II and sur Incises • Receives two Grammy awards for Mahler’s Ninth Symphony and Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra • Leads the CSO and Chorus in Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron in Chicago and at at the Berlin Festtage • Conducts the music of Bruckner for the first time — the Ninth Symphony — with the CSO

2000
Celebrates his 75th birthday • Leads a series of concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra giving a perspective of the orchestral repertoire of the 20th century, visiting Carnegie Hall and touring the major European summer festivals • Receives the Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition for his Répons • Receives the Wolf Prize of Israel, shared with Riccardo Muti • Conductor’s workshop at the Festival of Aix-en-Provence • Concerts and tour with the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester

2001
Inaugurates the Hungarian Year in France with a series of Bartók works involving Maurizio Pollini, Gil Shaham, the Orchestre de Paris and the Ensemble InterContemporain • Records Pli selon pli for Deutsche Grammophon • Presents a weeklong workshop on Le marteau sans maître at Carnegie Hall • Begins a sabbatical to work on several composition projects • Receives the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for his sur Incises

2002
Serves as composer-in-residence at the Lucerne Festival, where activities include conducting masterclasses and concerts with the BBC Symphony, the Berlin Philharmonic and the Ensemble InterContemporain • Premiere of Dérive II • Recording of Varèse’s Amériques, Arcana, Déserts and Ionisation with the CSO wins the Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance • Receives the Glenn Gould Prize 

2003
Conducts Stravinsky’s Renard, Falla’s Les Tréteaux de maître Pierre and Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire in stagings by Klaus-Michael Grüber at the Festival of Aix-en-Provence

2004
Conducts Parsifal In Bayreuth at the invitation of Wolfgang Wagner in a new staging by Christoph Schlingensief • Receives a Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance for the recording of Mahler’s Third Symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic, featuring Anne Sofie von Otter

2005
Leads international tours with the London and Chicago symphony orchestras and conducts Parsifal in Bayreuth • Conducts Berg’s Chamber Concerto in Chicago with Daniel Barenboim and Pinchas Zukerman as soloists

2006
Takes a sabbatical devoted to composition • Presents his compositions involving electronics at the Printemps des Arts/Monaco and conducts Mahler’s Eighth Symphony in Berlin • Resumes conducting activities in June with the Orchestre de Paris and Jessye Norman and returns to the Aix-en-Provence Festival with Renard, Les Tréteaux de maître Pierre and Pierrot lunaire • Named the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Helen Regenstein Conductor Emeritus • Conducts the CSO in Mahler’s Seventh Symphony in Carnegie Hall • Receives his 26th Grammy Award for Best Small Ensemble Performance (with or without conductor) for his Le marteau sans maître and Dérive 1 and 2 with the Ensemble InterContemporain

2007
Along with Daniel Barenboim, performs Mahler’s complete symphonies and orchestral songs with the Berlin Staatskapelle at the Berlin Festtage and the Musikverein in Vienna • Renews his collaboration with Patrice Chéreau for the staging of Janáček’s From the House of the Dead, highly acclaimed in Vienna, Amsterdam and Aix-en-Provence

2008
Continues numerous conducting activities, bringing him amongst others to New York, Chicago, Brussels, Berlin, Paris, London, Salzburg, Vienna and Lucerne • Appears as special guest, the “Grand invité,” of the Louvre in Paris • Leads the world premiere of Matthias Pintscher’s Osiris with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

2009
Serves as composer-in-residence at the Mozartwoche in Salzburg • After a concert tour to Chicago, returns to the United States in May bringing together with Daniel Barenboim Mahler’s complete symphonic works to Carnegie Hall • Leads a masterclass in conducting and Répons at the Lucerne Festival • Receives the 2009 Kyoto Prize

2010
An all-Stravinsky disc — featuring Pulcinella and the Symphony in Three Movements — is released on CSO Resound • Performance of Mahler’s Seventh Symphony with the CSO is broadcast live on PBS’ Great Performances • Leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus for the last time, conducting Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night and Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass

2012
Receives the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement from the Venice Biennale

2013
Receives the Cleveland Orchestra’s 2013 Distinguished Service Award • Deutsche Grammophon releases a 13-CD set of his complete works

2014
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra presents a Beyond the Score production entitled A Pierre Dream • Curates a series of concerts in Chicago featuring works by Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky and led by Matthew Aucoin, Marcelo Lehninger and Cristian Măcelaru

2015
Celebrates his 90th birthday • Recognizing his significant contributions to music and recording, is honored with the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the 57th Grammy Awards ceremony • Wins the 2015 Bach Prize — awarded every four years to “an exceptional composer of our time” — from the city of Hamburg, Germany • An exhibit on Boulez is mounted at the Musée de la Musique in Paris and a series of concerts are given in his honor at the Barbican Center in London • Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich perform Boulez’s complete works for the piano at Orchestra Hall in Chicago

2016
Dies on January 5 at his home in Baden-Baden