Elena Kats-Chernin

Elena Kats-Chernin (born 4 November, 1957) is a Soviet-born Australian composer.

She was born in Tashkent (now the capital of independent Uzbekistan — but then, part of the Soviet Union), and emigrated to Australia in 1975. She studied composition with Richard Toop, and later with Helmut Lachenmann in Germany. While in Europe she became active in theatre and ballet, composing for state theatres in Berlin, Vienna, Hamburg and Bochum. In 1993 she wrote "Clocks" for the Ensemble Modern. It has since been performed around the world.

Since returning to Australia in 1994, Kats-Chernin has written three operas, two piano concertos and compositions for many performers and ensembles, including The Song Company, the Sydney Alpha Ensemble, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Chamber Made Opera, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Sydney Symphony. She was also commissioned to write a piece, "Page Turn", for the 2000 Sydney International Piano Competition. Her music was featured at the opening ceremonies of both the 2000 Olympic Games and the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

She also wrote three silent film soundtracks for a co-production between German/French TV channels ZDF/ARTE: Victor Sjöström's "Korkarlen" (Phantom Chariot), Billy Wilder and Robert Siodmak's "People on Sunday" (Menschen am Sonntag), and G.W. Pabst's "Crisis".

Kats-Chernin's other works include "Charleston Noir" for solo piano, "Rockhampton Garden Symphonies" with Mark Svendsen for solo voices, mixed choirs and orchestra, and "Wild Swans", a collaboration with choreographer Meryl Tankard. She has won numerous music composition prizes in Australia, and her pieces are regularly broadcast on ABC Classic FM radio.

Performances of Kats-Chernin's music is available on several commercially-released recordings. One album is "Chamber of Horrors", released in August 2006 by Tall Poppies Records. "Chamber of Horrors" includes "Charleston Noir", for four basses; "Chamber of Horrors", for harp (1995), played by Alice Giles; "Still Life", for viola and piano (2001); "Gypsy Ramble", for viola, cello and piano (1996); "Wild Rice", for cello (1996); and "Velvet Revolution", for horn, violin and piano (1999).

Kats-Chernin's "Eliza Aria" from her score for the Ballet "Wild Swans" (ABC Classics), is used in Lloyds TSB's 2007 television advertisements. In late 2007, Eliza Aria was used to form the basis of "The Journey Continues" by Mark Brown featuring Sarah Cracknell. As of|May 2007, "Eliza Aria" can be heard on her official MySpace web page.

Kats-Chernin is a represented composer of the Australian Music Centre.

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External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/elenakatschernin Elena Kats-Chernin's official MySpace page]
* [http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/composer/composer_main.asp?composerid=2756 Elena Kats-Chernin at Boosey & Hawkes, Music Publishing]
* [http://www.amcoz.com.au/composers/composer.asp?id=3428 Biography of Elena Kats-Chernin, maintained by the Australian Music Centre]
* [http://www.topologymusic.com/index.php/basically-its-like-cooking-elena-kats-chernin-interview/ Interview with Elena Kats-Chernin]
* [http://www.tallpoppies.net Tall Poppies Records]