David Sontòn Caflisch was born in Basel and raised through his childhood and early youth in Grisons. He received his first instruction on the violin at the age of eight. He discovered his passion for composing at an early age and put together an ensemble for the performance of a theatrical musical at his secondary school in Andeer. During 1992 in Chur, he founded the „Kammerensemble musicuria“ whose work has been continued since 2002 by the „Ensemble für zeitgenössische Musik ö!“ and the concert series „ö!“. Per season, „ö!“ organizes 6 programmes, each with 2-3 concerts in Switzerland and abroad. Following his graduation with a teacher’s diploma and a concert diploma (1997/1998) for violin under the tutelage of Michael Gebauer in Zurich (both diplomas with distinction), he continued his violin studies with Ingolf Turban in Stuttgart and Hansheinz Schneeberger in Basel. With the latter he specialized in the interpretation of contemporary music. In 2004 he resolved to intensify his work in composing and, in addition to his activities as a freelance violinist for contemporary music (solo and as a member of chamber music ensembles), which he did in addition to his activities as the artistic director of the emsemble „öl“, he began studies in composition under the tutelage of Isabel Mundry at the MHT in Zurich, which, following a residency with Frederic Durieux in Paris from the Autumn of 2006 to the Summer of 2007, he will complete in the autumn of 2007.
The focuses of this course were, until present, the architecture and precisely calculated form of the large-scale composition, repetition and a special microtonal harmony based on numeric proportions. These three focal points precipitated after intensive collaboration with Isabel Mundry in the first large „educational piece“ „Kilroy – eine Sprechoper“. The present topic is „Intuition and Orgasmised planning in Relation to Form“.
„At the moment I am grappling with the carefully planned structure of a piece of music and the simultaneous integration of intuitive forming. I have additionally, since the beginning of the course, been occupied with the further development of a microtonal harmony and the possibilities for its instrumental realization.“
In 1998 David Sonton Caflisch received an endowed promotional prize from the canton of Grisons and the main prize offered by the Eliette-von-Karajan-Kulturfonds in 2002. He has been the house composer of the Therme Vals since 2000. As a violinist he performs as a soloist, in chamber music formations and in various ensembles including the collegium novum Zürich, Ensemble ö! and the basel sinfonietta.
He has a desire to perform the world premiere of new works.
