Chaya Chernowin

Chaya Chernowin was born and raised in Israel. She has studied and lived in Germany, Austria, the USA and Japan. She is the first female composition professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna (2006-2009), and at Harvard University (2009 and on). She has composed chamber and orchestral music, and 3 large scale works for the stage. She has received major international composing prizes, including residencies at the festivals of Salzburg and Lucerne, and the awards of Siemens, Rockefeller, and Fromm Foundations. In 2017, she became a member of the Akademie der Kuenste in Berlin.

In her work, she uses concepts that relate to natural parameters, such as weight, texture and the question of time, in metaphorical ways, in order to reach an unfamiliar sonic world and create a vital, visceral and direct experience. She is interested in approaching a music of the subconscious, beyond rationality and style conventions.