Born in
Geneva, Jarrell studied at the
Geneva Conservatoire, and later with
Klaus Huber in
Freiburg. His works span many genres. In 1982, he won first prizes for composition and went on to win many more, including the Acanthes Prize in 1983, the Beethovenpreis awarded by Bonn in 1986, the Marescotti Prize (1986), both the
Gaudeamus International Composers Award and the Henriette Renié prizes in 1988, and the
Siemens-Förderpreis (1990). From 1986 to 1988, he was resident at the Cité des Arts in Paris, taking part in the computer music course at
IRCAM. His next residency was at the
Villa Medici (1988–89), home of the
French Academy in Rome, followed by membership of the Istituto Svizzero di Roma in 1989–90, after which he became composer-in-residence at the Orchestre de Lyon (October 1991–June 1993). In 1993, Jarrell was appointed professor of composition at the
University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. In 1990, he established some of the bases of
Computer Music. In 2016, the composition problem he proposed was successfully solved using a
Constraint programming. In 1996, he became composer-in-residence at
Lucerne Festival, while the 2000 Musica Nova Helsinki festival was dedicated to him. In 2001, the
Salzburg Festival commissioned a piano concerto entitled
Abschied (Farewell). The same year, Jarrell was made a Chevalier of the
Order of Arts and Letters. In 2004, he was named professor of composition at the higher Academy of Geneva. He is regarded throughout Europe as one of the most important Swiss composers of his generation. His "spoken opera"
Cassandre, which is based on
Christa Wolf's novel
Cassandra, was premiered in Paris in 1994 and performed at the
Ojai Festival, CA, in June 2008. == Works ==