Georg Friedrich Haas was born in Graz in 1953 and spent his childhood in the mountainous province of Vorarlberg. The landscape and the atmosphere have moulded his character. He returned to his native city to study composition with Iván Eröd and Gösta Neuwirth and later continued his studies with Friedrich Cerha in Vienna. Haas and Friedrich Cerha share mutual respect for each other’s music. In 2007 Haas received the Grand Austrian State Prize. It was a long and difficult journey to get to that point. Georg Friedrich Haas speaks openly of the years of “total failure” – another experience which influenced his development significantly. Since September 2013 Haas is MacDowell Professor of Music at the Columbia University, New York.