Martin Loridan is a French composer, researcher, and educator whose work explores the relationships between sound, gesture, resonance, and the physicality of instruments. Professor of composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Brussels, he is recognized internationally for a musical language that combines instrumental research, acoustic experimentation, and a deep investigation into breath (souffle) as both a physical phenomenon and a compositional principle.

His works have been performed throughout Europe and beyond by leading performers and ensembles, including Claude Delangle, Rohan de Saram, the Arditti Quartet, Klangforum Wien, Fractales, Mise-En Ensemble, and Accroche Note, as well as by numerous contemporary music ensembles and soloists. His compositions have received international recognition through awards such as the Reinl Foundation Prize (Vienna), the André Jolivet Prize (Paris), and the Vareler Prize (Berlin).

A graduate of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), Martin Loridan also holds a PhD in composition from the University of Leeds (United Kingdom), supported by the Leeds Doctoral Scholarship. His doctoral research focused on souffle—air and breath—as a compositional material, examining its physical, acoustic, and expressive dimensions and exploring the ways in which breath can shape musical form, timbre, and instrumental interaction.

At the intersection of composition, research, and instrument development, Loridan has developed an artistic practice centred on the idea of the instrument as a living, transformable body. His research investigates new forms of instrumental hybridization, including extended instrumental techniques, augmented acoustic instruments, and hybrid lutheries. Among his developments is an extended pedal system expanding the possibilities of intra-piano resonance and sound transformation, as well as new approaches to amplification and resonance in instruments such as piano, cello, accordion, and harp. His work also includes research into hybrid instruments such as the Naylute, a crossbreeding between the Western flute and the traditional Arabic nay.

His artistic investigations have been nourished by collaborations with diverse musical traditions, notably during his Villa Salammbô residency in Tunis, supported by the French Institute, where he developed research around the nay and the relationship between traditional instrumental practices, breath, and contemporary creation. Across these projects, his research focuses on the porosity of sound: the transformation of air into vibration, the dialogue between human and instrumental resonance, and the emergence of complex timbral phenomena at the threshold between sound, noise, and silence.

Recipient of the prestigious Art Research Fund (FRArt) awarded by the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS), Loridan develops research-creation projects combining composition, technological experimentation, and collaboration with performers, instrument makers, and researchers. His work has been presented in concert halls, festivals, and academic contexts, reflecting his ongoing exploration of new relationships between music, technology, and embodied knowledge.

Alongside his compositional activities, Martin Loridan is the founder and artistic director of Festival Mosaïques, an interdisciplinary contemporary music festival in Brussels dedicated to experimentation, emerging creation, and encounters between artists and audiences. The festival brings together international composers, performers, and young audiences through concerts, commissions, and innovative formats.

His works are published at Babelscores.