was born and raised in London. She studied composition at Edinburgh University with Nigel Osborne and with Wolfgang Rihm in Karlsruhe.
She received various prizes including the Ernst von Siemens Förderpreis, the Paul Hindemith Prize, the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Award for Chamber Music and the GEMA Music Prize for Instrumental Music 2010.In 2009 she elected into the Berlin Academy of Arts, and was Composer-in-Residence at the Staatskapelle Dresden for the 2009/2010 season.
Saunders´ compositions have been released on numerous CDs and her music is performed throughout Europe and the USA. Currently Professor of Composition in Hannover, she lives in Berlin.
Rebecca Saunders´ music oscilliates between an extreme intensity and a close intimacy, and is characterized by the manipulation of colour and movement, with the notions of speechlessness and imagination being of particular relevance.
2012 will be Rebecca Saunders' third stint as composition tutor of the Darmstadt Summer Course. She will be present in the second week and offers three different course formats for composition students:
Flute Composition Workshop with Eva Furrer
Rebecca Saunders and Eva Furrer continue a collaboration, which started at Impuls 2011. This involves (student) flutists and composers working together under their guidance, exploring a single sound, its potential and limits, and also exploring notational possiblities. Placing an emphasis on the crucial performer/composer relationship, encouraging composers to listen, think and explore with musicians, to pursue and develop fragments of sound. The project, presumably taking place on July 22nd, has three parts:
- 10h-11.30h an initial presentation by Furrer and Saunders outlining the workshop's aims
- pairing off (one performer and two composers per group) and working
- 17h student presentations, with comments and closing discussion.
Ensemble Composition Workshop
Rebecca Saunders is also involved in the project boost! (ENSEMBLE 2012) exploring with the Greek dissonArt ensemble (fl, cl, pno, vn, vc) and a group of composer participants the compositional potentials of a specific instrumentation.
A pre-condition for taking part in this project is a thorough knowledge of the given instruments and their techniques, including their limits and timbral potential. Chosen participants will be asked to bring sketches of 90 seconds to 3 minutes (maximum!) of music to the class that can be tried out and discussed with the ensemble and Saunders.
Passive participants, composers and performers alike are welcome to attend.
Composition Classes
In addition, Rebecca Saunders will hold 3-hour sessions with 4 active students (and an open number of passive participants) where aspects of their work can be discussed in detail.
Please note: In the interest of an intense feedback, in all three projects of Rebecca Saunders only a limited number of composers can take part actively. Depending on how many students are interested in her courses, a selection procedure for active and passive participation will be defined.
Presentation with Peter Veale
Rebecca Saunders and the oboe tutor Peter Veale would like to present a palette of fragile sounds they have been working on over the last few years: pppp-pp multiphonics and double harmonics. This will be similar to the trumpet and clarinet presentations Saunders did in 2010, and it may become an Open Space project.
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Photo: Katrin Schander
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