‘A cry of rage… striking, unforgettable’

Hugh Canning, Operalogue

British-Austrian composer Noah Max’s output spans opera, orchestral and chamber music. His works have been performed at the Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall and the Royal Albert Hall’s Elgar Room in London, as well as New York’s Carnegie Hall, Vienna’s Musikverein, Altalena Festival in Budapest, Uilenburgersjoel Synagogue in Amsterdam and the Paderewski Academy in Poland. His string trio Sojourn op.4 won the 2021 Clements Prize and was performed by members of the Piatti Quartet at Conway Hall.

Three notable premieres of Max’s music have taken place in 2025. First his song cycle for mezzo and viola Lemonade in the Armenian Quarter op.49, setting poems from Sarah Mnatzaganian’s collection of the same title, took place at The Glasshouse, Gateshead in January. May brought the premiere of Piano Sonata No.II: The Curve op.54 at New York’s iconic Carnegie Hall, performed by Alexandra Balog. This was quickly followed by Ennui op.59 in June, a rare showpiece for flugelhorn and piano premiered by Imogen Whitehead and Patrick Milne. In 2026 his chamber symphony The Alpinist op.65 has its first flight with Arhus Sinfonietta in Denmark, while Kaddish op.60 for choir and strings (the final commission of the late Ronald Corp OBE) will receive its first performance in London. For upcoming projects Max is collaborating with artists such as Ian Bostridge, Hugo Ticciati and Mark van der Wiel.

As Composer-in-Residence at Thaxted Festival from 2023 – 4, Max saw his String Quartet No.2 op.37 premiered by the Tippett Quartet in July 2023. The festival subsequently commissioned Symphony No.1 op.50, which premiered with London Mozart Players in June 2024, followed by the Echo Ensemble performing Max’s Phantasy Quintet op.32 later that month. Other highlights of the 2023/24 season included Max’s song cycle Rapture op.47, based on the 2005 poetry collection by Carol Ann Duffy, which premiered at Wild Arts’ Summer Opera Festival, in partnership with the Essex Book Festival. Max also conducted his new Cello Concerto AXIOM op.46 with Robert Max and Echo Ensemble as part of Proms at St. Jude’s

Max spent five years bringing his debut opera A Child In Striped Pyjamas op.34 to the stage by special arrangement with Miramax, culminating in a sold-out premiere production at London’s Cockpit Theatre in January 2023. The opera was lauded by critics as ​“emotionally ambitious and vocally eloquent” (The Telegraph) and ​“marvellously scored… A remarkable achievement for a young composer” (The Arts Desk). Max was interviewed about the opera by The Sunday Times and BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, with excerpts from the piece also broadcast on RTÉ Radio. The opera was revived at Brundibár Arts Festival in January 2024 for Holocaust Memorial Day. 

Max’s debut album Songs of Loneliness was released on Toccata Classics in 2022. His String Quartets No.1 – 4 with the Tippet Quartet was released to critical acclaim in 2025, featuring narration from Sir Michael Morpurgo.

With a creative life that embraces music, painting, poetry and cinema, Max enjoys illuminating the relationships between different mediums. As a conductor, he has assisted Jonathan Cohen and Arcangelo at the BBC Proms and conducted Endymion at Wigmore Hall. Max’s artworks have been displayed at the National Portrait Gallery. His columns have been printed in The Irish Times, The Strad and The Jewish Chronicle; he has contributed to BBC Music Magazine and has been interviewed for Classical Music, Opera Today and BBC Radio 3’s In Tune.

Noah Max’s music is published worldwide by Birdsong, a HarrisonParrott-associated company and by United Music Publishing. A selection of his drawings and prints are represented by McNeill Contemporary.

Please do not reproduce this biography without permission.

‘Seriousness of purpose is crystal-clear from the outset. Max’s control of colour and texture is as impressive as it is wide-ranging’

The Stage