Olga Neuwirth
OLGA NEUWIRTH (1968) is an Austrian composer, visual artist and writer. She began studying composition privately while still attending secondary school, studying with Hans Werner Henze and Gerd Kühr. She continued her studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with Elinor Armer, and also studied filmmaking and painting at the San Francisco Art College. She is currently a professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien). She has composed numerous music theatre works, including the opera Lost Highway, based on David Lynch's film; Bählamms Fest, created in collaboration with Austrian Nobel Prize-winning author Elfriede Jelinek; Orlando, based on Virginia Woolf's novel; and American Lulu, a free adaptation of Alban Berg's opera. Her works frequently combine different media, bringing together acoustic sound, electronics and video projections. She describes her artistic aesthetic as “art in-between”. Neuwirth has collaborated with leading conductors, including Pierre Boulez, Péter Eötvös, Daniel Harding and Susanna Mälkki. Her works have been commissioned by prestigious institutions such as Carnegie Hall, the Lucerne Festival, the Vienna State Opera and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. They have been performed by leading European orchestras and ensembles, including the Berlin Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, MusikFabrik, Ensemble Intercontemporain, London Sinfonietta and Ensemble Modern, among others. Olga Neuwirth has received numerous awards for her work, including the Grawemeyer Award and the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize.