composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
of
contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music is Western art music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st-century classical music, 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 Modernism (music), post-tonal music after the death of ...
, working in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, United Kingdom.
Education
Sierra studied at
Oberlin College Conservatory of Music Oberlin may refer to:
; Places in the United States
* Oberlin Township, Decatur County, Kansas
** Oberlin, Kansas, a city in the township
* Oberlin, Louisiana, a town
* Oberlin, Ohio, a city
* Oberlin, Licking County, Ohio, a ghost town
* Oberlin ...
,
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
School of Music and the
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Michigan is one of th ...
, receiving a DMA in 1999; her principal teachers were
Martin Bresnick
Martin Bresnick (born 1946) is a composer of contemporary classical music, film scores and experimental music.
Education and early career
Bresnick grew up in the Bronx, and is a graduate of New York City's specialized High School of Music and A ...
,
Michael Daugherty
Michael Kevin Daugherty (born April 28, 1954) is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American composer, pianist, and teacher. He is influenced by popular culture, Romanticism, and Postmodernism. Daugherty's notable works include his Superman comic b ...
and
Jacob Druckman
Jacob Raphael Druckman (June 26, 1928 – May 24, 1996) was an American composer born in Philadelphia.
Life
A graduate of the Juilliard School in 1956, Druckman studied with Vincent Persichetti, Peter Mennin, and Bernard Wagenaar. In 1949 an ...
. A composition fellow at the Britten-Pears School (
Aldeburgh Festival
The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the town of Aldeburgh, Suffolk and is centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall.
History of the Aldeburgh Festi ...
) in 2000 and
Tanglewood
Tanglewood is a music venue and Music festival, festival in the towns of Lenox, Massachusetts, Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony ...
in 2001, teachers included
Louis Andriessen
Louis Joseph Andriessen (; 6 June 1939 – 1 July 2021) was a Dutch composer, pianist and academic teacher. Considered the most influential Dutch composer of his generation, he was a central proponent of The Hague school of composition. Although ...
,
Magnus Lindberg
Magnus Gustaf Adolf Lindberg (born 27 June 1958) is a Finnish composer and pianist. He was the New York Philharmonic's composer-in-residence from 2009 to 2012 and the London Philharmonic Orchestra's composer-in-residence from 2014 to 2017.
Ear ...
, and
Colin Matthews
Colin Matthews, OBE (born 13 February 1946) is an English composer of contemporary classical music. Noted for his large-scale orchestral compositions, Matthews is also a prolific arranger of other composer's music, including works by Berlioz, ...
. She also worked with
Judith Weir
Dame Judith Weir (born 11 May 1954) is a British composer. She served as Master of the King's Music from 2014 to 2024. Appointed by Queen Elizabeth II, Weir was the first woman to hold this office.
Early life
Weir was born in Cambridge, Englan ...
at the
Dartington International Summer School
Dartington International Summer School was a British summer school and festival of music held on the medieval estate of Dartington Hall, Devon, England, and the first summer school of music in the United Kingdom. It was a department of the Dart ...
Betsy Jolas
Elizabeth Jolas (born 5 August 1926) is a Franco-American composer.
Life and career
Jolas was born in Paris on 5 August 1926. Her mother, the American translator Maria McDonald, also studied singing. Together with Betsy's father, the poet and j ...
at The American Conservatory of
Fontainebleau Schools
The Fontainebleau Schools were founded in 1921, and consist of two schools: ''The American Conservatory'', and the ''School of Fine Arts at Fontainebleau''.
History
When the American Expeditionary Forces entered the First World War, the command ...
in 1993.
Career
Sierra's music has been commissioned by organizations including the
Seattle Symphony
The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra also serves as the accompanying orchestra for the Seattle Opera.
History
Beginnings
The orchest ...
,
Tanglewood Music Festival
The Tanglewood Music Festival is a music festival held every summer on the Tanglewood estate in Stockbridge and Lenox in the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts.
The festival consists of a series of concerts, including symphonic music, c ...
, the
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...
, the
Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival
The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (also known by the acronym HCMF, stylised since 2006 as the lowercase hcmf//) is a new music festival held annually in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Since its foundation in 1978, it has featu ...
, the Albany Symphony, the
Detroit Symphony
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood. Jader Bignamini is the current music ...
, the
Cheltenham International Festival
The Cheltenham Music Festival is a British music festival, held annually in Cheltenham in the summer months (June, July) since 1945. The festival is renowned for premieres of contemporary music, hosting over 250 music premieres as of July 2004. ...
, the
Jerome
Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome.
He is best known ...
,
PRS
PRS or prs may refer to:
Science and technology
* Peripheral Reflex System, an implementation of autonomous peripheral operations in microcontrollers
* Personal response system, in audience response
* Phenotypic response surfaces, in medicine
* P ...
and Cheswatyr Foundations, and the
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams ( ; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...
Trust. Performers of her work have included
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through its 2013 bankruptcy, and again since 2016 when it was revived.
The opera company, dubbed "the peopl ...
VOX, the
London Sinfonietta
The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber music, chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London.
The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert ...
,
International Contemporary Ensemble
The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) is a contemporary classical music ensemble, based in New York City. ICE performs a diverse and extensive array of chamber, electro-acoustic, improvisatory, and multimedia works.
History
The Internati ...
, the
Boston Symphony
The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, the BSO perfor ...
, the
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) () is a Welsh symphony orchestra and one of the BBC's five professional radio orchestras. The BBC NOW is the only professional symphony orchestra organisation in Wales, occupying a dual role as both ...
, and the
Tokyo Philharmonic
The is recognized as the oldest symphony orchestra in Japan. It was founded in 1911 and debuted at the original Matsuzakaya store in Nagoya as the . It relocated to Tokyo in 1938. As of 2024, it has 166 members.
The orchestra plays frequently a ...
American Academy of Arts and Letters
The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...
with a citation for music, "by turns, urgent, poetic, evocative and witty." In 2011, a debut CD of chamber music was released by
Bridge Records
Bridge Records is an independent record label that specializes in classical music located in New Rochelle, New York.
History
A classical guitarist, David Starobin recorded the Boccherini Guitar Quintet in E minor in the 1970s. This was his firs ...
: Arlene Sierra, Volume 1 and she was named Composer of the Year by the Classical Recording Foundation. A second CD, Game of Attrition: Arlene Sierra, Vol. 2, was released in 2014 including four orchestral works recorded by the
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) () is a Welsh symphony orchestra and one of the BBC's five professional radio orchestras. The BBC NOW is the only professional symphony orchestra organisation in Wales, occupying a dual role as both ...
, Jac Van Steen, conductor. In the same year, ''
Moler
Moler, previously called Snuff, are an Australian Indie power pop band which formed in 1993 as a three-piece with founding mainstays Helen Cattanach on bass guitar and lead vocals and Julien Poulson on lead guitar. They had a changing line-up ...
'', an orchestral work commissioned by the
Seattle Symphony
The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra also serves as the accompanying orchestra for the Seattle Opera.
History
Beginnings
The orchest ...
, was nominated for a
Latin Grammy Award
The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...
. Sierra's latest release on the Bridge label, Butterflies Remember a Mountain – Arlene Sierra, Vol. 3 (2018) is a chamber disc including performances by
Nicola Benedetti
Nicola Joy Nadia Benedetti (born 20 July 1987) is a Scottish classical solo violinist and festival director. Her ability was recognised when she was a child, including the award of BBC Young Musician of the Year when she was 16. She works wi ...
, Leonard Elschenbroich, the Horszowski Trio, and Quattro Mani. Sierra was Composer-in-Association with the
Utah Symphony
The Utah Symphony is an American orchestra based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The orchestra's principal venue is Abravanel Hall. In addition to its Salt Lake City subscription concerts, the orchestra travels around the Intermountain West serving ...
for the 2020-21 season.
Sierra was a Composition Tutor at
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
in 2003-4 before joining
Cardiff University School of Music
Cardiff University School of Music is a music department of Cardiff University and is located in Cardiff, Wales. It is home to about 240 undergraduate and 40 postgraduate students. It was one of the first departments established when Cardiff ...
in 2004, where she is Professor of Composition.
Her music is published by Cecilian Music (
ASCAP
The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...
).
Musical style
Sierra's compositions are rooted in early training in classical piano and in
electronic music
Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
at the
Oberlin Conservatory of Music
The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is a private music school, music conservatory of Oberlin College, a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1865 and is the ...
.
Sierra's earlier works have their origins in military strategy and game theory, with literary sources including
Vitruvius
Vitruvius ( ; ; –70 BC – after ) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work titled . As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissan ...
and
Sun Tzu
Sun Tzu (; zh, t=孫子, s=孙子, first= t, p=Sūnzǐ) may have been a Chinese General, military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC). Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the au ...
, notably: ''Ballistae'' (2000) for large ensemble and ''Surrounded Ground'' (2008) for sextet, as well as ''Art of War'' (2010), a concerto for piano and orchestra.
Many of Sierra's works are inspired by bird song, insect calls, and sounds and processes from the natural world, including ''Butterflies Remember a Mountain'' (2013), a piano trio which was inspired by a peculiar detour in the annual mass migration of
monarch butterflies
The monarch butterfly or simply monarch (''Danaus plexippus'') is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names, depending on region, include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black-veined brown. ...
BBC Philharmonic
The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at Media ...
and
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
. Other works that employ natural sounds and processes include ''Cicada Shell'' (2006) for ensemble, ''Birds and Insects'', Books 1, 2, and 3 (2007, 2018, 2023) for piano solo, ''Insects in Amber'' (2010) for string quartet, and ''Urban Birds'' (2014) for three pianos with percussion and electronics.
These two interests – nature and military strategy – are both evident in her 2009 orchestral work ''Game of Attrition'' which takes its structure from processes described by
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
in ''
The Origin of Species
''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life'')The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by M ...
Utah Symphony
The Utah Symphony is an American orchestra based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The orchestra's principal venue is Abravanel Hall. In addition to its Salt Lake City subscription concerts, the orchestra travels around the Intermountain West serving ...
, which creates a large-scale four-movement structure using transcriptions of bird song. ''Kiskadee'', an orchestral work from 2023 commissioned by the
Detroit Symphony
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood. Jader Bignamini is the current music ...
, features the calls of two birds that compete for territory in nature, taking this interaction as a source for the structure of the work.
Sierra has demonstrated an interest in dramatic and stage works centered on women protagonists, in scenarios ranging from
Faust
Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...
in the opera ''Faustine'' to human trafficking in the collaborative chamber opera Cuatro Corridos. Since 2012, she has been working on a series of original scores to films by
Fanfare (magazine)
''Fanfare'' is an American bimonthly magazine devoted to reviewing recorded music in all playback formats. It mainly covers classical music, but since inception, has also featured a jazz column in every issue.
History and profile
''Fanfare'' wa ...
NewMusicBox
''NewMusicBox'' is an e-zine launched by the American Music Center on May 1, 1999. The magazine includes interviews and articles concerning American contemporary music, composers, improvisers, and musicians.
A few interviews include renown ...