| Country | Spain |
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| Occupation | Composer |
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| Categories | Contemporary |
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Elena Mendoza was born in Sevilla in 1973, whre she studied german linguistics. She then studied piano and composition in Zaragoza with Teresa Catalán, in Augsburg with John Van Buren, in Düsseldorf with Manfred Trojahn and in Berlin with Hanns Peter Kyburz at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler. After finishing studies she was a fellow at different institutions, like Ensemble Modern Akademie in Frankfurt a.M., among others. Currently she lives in Berlin.
She is particularly interested in timbrical and dramaturgical questions and has particular preferences for theatrical concepts touching on language, space and music. From these emerged in 2007 the music-theater production Niebla (Europäisches Zentrum der Künste in Dresden Hellerau), written in close cooperation with the director Matthias Rebstock and setting new music-theatre standards.
She has worked in collaboration with ensemble recherche, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Modern, Neue Vokalsolisten Stuttgart, Ensemble Mosaik, Ensemble emex, Ensemble Taller Sonoro, Ensemble Ascolta, Vogler-Quartett, Oper Nürnberg, Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg and many others.
Her music has been presented at several international festivals, such as Ars Musica Brussels, Eclat Stuttgart, Maerzmusik Berlin, Dresdner Tage der Zeitgenössischer Musik, Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik, Ultraschall Berlin, World New Music Festival, Acanthes Metz, Nous Sons Barcelona, Steirischer Herbst Graz or musicadhoy Madrid. She has won several important awards, such as a fellowship at the Academy Schloß Solitude (2008), the Musikpreis Salzburg 2011 (Förderungspreis) or the spanisch Premio Nacional de Música 2010.
Elena Mendoza works to spread the understanding of recent musical languages using (for example) procedures of analysis by listening and offering composition-workshops. Since October 2007 she also teaches composition and experimental music at the Universität der Künste Berlin.
A portrait CD with chamber music has been published in 2008 by the label Kairos (Vienna), in colaboration with musicadhoy (Madrid) and Deutschlandradio Kultur (Berlin). Besides, a CD with vocal and instrumental music is planned to be published in 2010 by Wergo, Deutschlandradio Kultur and Deutscher Musikrat.
From 2009 on her scores are published by Edition Peters.
