Torsten Rasch (Audio Producer) was born in Dresden in 1965. From 1974 to 1982, he was a member of the renowned Dresdner Kreuzchor and subsequently went on to study Composition and Piano at the Carl Maria von Weber University in Dresden. In 1990, he emigrated to Japan and established himself as a successful composer of film and television scores, completing over 40 to date. Following an orchestral commission in 1999 from the Dresdner Sinfoniker (Völuspa - Der Seherin Gesicht for narrator and orchestra), Rasch was approached once again by the orchestra in 2002 for a commissioned song-cycle based on music and lyrics by the German industrial metal band Rammstein.
DG recorded and released the disc of the resultant 65-minute cycle Mein Herz Brennt with bass René Pape, voice Katharina Thalbach and conductor John Carewe. This followed premiere performances of the work in Dresden and Berlin in late 2003. In 2004, the disc was released in Japan and the USA, and was awarded Best World Premiere Recording at the Echo Classical Awards in Munich. In March 2006, the work was performed at the Helsinki Musica Nova to great acclaim. Later that same year, Rasch was commissioned by the ICA in London to collaborate with the Pet Shop Boys on a soundtrack for the silent film Battleship Potemkin and a live, screened performance took place in London's Trafalgar Square.
Meanwhile, interest in his music grew in Great Britain when he was taken up by the publisher Faber Music, London. A Piano Trio commissioned by the BBC for the 2006 Cheltenham Festival received highly appreciative reviews; an orchestral commission for the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Kurt Masur is underway. The UK premiere of Mein Herz Brennt is scheduled for the Royal Festival Hall in May 2009 with the original soloists (René Pape and Katharina Thalbach) conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. In Germany, his first opera has been commissioned by Koeln Opera and will premiere in February 2008 in a production directed by Katherina Thalbach. Currently he is working on an opera for the English National Opera (ENO) which will premiere in July 2010. ©Faber Music Ltd 2007
