Helen Wynfreda Fisher (born 1942) is a New Zealand composer and music teacher.
Helen Fisher grew up in Māpua, Nelson, and attended secondary school in Wellington. She graduated from the University of Canterbury in 1964 with a degree in English and taught English, music and French in New Zealand and Canadian secondary schools. She married and raised three daughters, but continued her studies in music at Victoria University of Wellington with Ross Harris, David Farquhar and Jack Body. In 1987 she won first prize in the Victoria University's Composers' Competition with Woodwind Trio and in 1989 won second prize for Pounamu. [1]
She graduated in composition in 1991 and began working as a composer. Her compositions have been performed internationally. In 1990 and 1991, Fisher held the Arts Council residency of Composer-in-Schools in the Wellington area. In 1993, she co-founded the first New Zealand Composing Women's Festival. [2]
Fisher's compositions often blend Māori and European traditions. She composes for vocal and instrumental ensembles and also for dance theatre. [3] [4] Selected works include:
Her music has been recorded and issued on CD, including:
John Stanley Body was a New Zealand composer, ethnomusicologist, photographer, teacher, and arts producer. As a composer, his work comprised concert music, music theatre, electronic music, music for film and dance, and audio-visual gallery installations. A deep and long-standing interest in the music of non-Western cultures – particularly South-East Asian – influenced much of his composing work, particularly his technique of transcribing field recordings. As an organiser of musical events and projects, Body had a significant impact on the promotion of Asian music in New Zealand, as well as the promotion of New Zealand music within the country and abroad.
Richard Danielpour is an American composer and academic, currently affiliated with the Curtis Institute of Music and the University of California, Los Angeles.
Chen Yi is a Chinese-American composer of contemporary classical music and violinist. She was the first Chinese woman to receive a Master of Arts (M.A.) in music composition from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Chen was a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her composition Si Ji, and has received awards from the Koussevistky Music Foundation and American Academy of Arts and Letters, as well as fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2010, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from The New School and in 2012, she was awarded the Brock Commission from the American Choral Directors Association. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2019.
Karl Richard Korte was an American composer of contemporary classical music.
Dan Welcher is an American composer, conductor, and music educator.
David Blair Hamilton is a New Zealand composer and teacher.
Marti Epstein is an American composer. She is Professor of Composition at Berklee College of Music and the Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
Jeff Hamburg is an American composer. Born in Philadelphia, he studied acoustics and composition at the University of Illinois and moved to the Netherlands in 1978 to continue his studies at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague with Louis Andriessen. In 1986, he received the Conservatory Prize. He further studied French Horn at the Royal Conservatory and later conducted classes with David Porcelijn at the Conservatory of Utrecht.
Andrew Perkins is a New Zealand composer, choral conductor and teacher. He has had a number of works recorded and performed internationally.
Odaline de la Martinez is a Cuban-American composer and conductor, currently residing in the UK. She is the artistic director of Lontano, a London-based contemporary music ensemble which she co-founded in 1976 with New Zealander flautist Ingrid Culliford, and was the first woman to conduct at the BBC Promenade Concerts in 1984. As well as frequent appearances as a guest conductor with leading orchestras throughout Great Britain, including all the BBC orchestras, she has conducted several leading ensembles around the world, including the Ensemble 2e2m in Paris; the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra; the Australian Youth Orchestra; the OFUNAM and the Camerata of the Americas in Mexico; and the Vancouver Chamber Orchestra. She is also known as a broadcaster for BBC Radio and Television and has recorded extensively for several labels.
Jacqueline, Baroness Fontyn is a contemporary Belgian composer, pianist and music educator. She was born in Antwerp, and has received the title of baroness from the King of Belgium in recognition of her many artistic contributions.
Enid Luff was a Welsh musician, music educator, and composer.
Dorothy Whitson Freed was a New Zealand author, composer, and music historian. She made significant contributions to the field of music librarians, and authored several books and articles regarding musical information and resources in New Zealand.
Betty Olivero is an Israeli composer and music educator.
Jadwiga Szajna-Lewandowska was a Polish pianist, music educator and composer.
Clare Shore is an American composer, music educator mezzo-soprano, and conductor.
Gerda Geertens is a Dutch composer. She was born in Wildervank, and studied music and philosophy in Groningen. In 1981 she began the study of composition with Klaas de Vries at the Rotterdam Conservatory. Her compositions include chamber music, choir and solo singing and pieces for symphony orchestras.
Vera Baeva was a Bulgarian writer and composer. She was born in Burgas and studied at the Sofia State Academy of Music with Dimiter Nenov, Marin Goleminov and Lyubomir Pipkov.
Carol Edith Barnett is an American composer. She was born in Dubuque, Iowa, and studied at the University of Minnesota with Dominick Argento and Paul Fetler (composition), Bernard Weiser (piano) and Emil J. Niosi (flute). She graduated with a bachelor's degree in music theory and composition in 1972 and a masters in theory and composition in 1976.
Ariana Rahera Tikao is a New Zealand singer, musician and author. Her works explore her identity as a Kāi Tahu woman and her music often utilises taonga pūoro. Notably, she co-composed the first concerto for taonga pūoro in 2015. She has released three solo albums and collaborated with a number of other musicians. She was a recipient of an Arts Foundation Laureate Award in 2020.