Hildegard Westerkamp

Hildegard Westerkamp
Born (1946-04-08) April 8, 1946 (age 78)
Osnabrück, Germany
NationalityCanadian
Alma materUniversity of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University
Known forcomposer, radio art, acoustic ecology
Notable workFantasie for Horns I (1978)

A Walk Through the City (1981) Harbour Symphony (1986) Cricket Voice (1987) Kits Beach Soundwalk (1989) Beneath the Forest Floor (1992) Gently Penetrating Beneath the Sounding Surfaces of Another Place (1997) Into the Labyrinth (2000) Attending to Sacred Matters (2002)

MotherVoiceTalk (2008)
Websitewww.hildegardwesterkamp.ca

Hildegard Westerkamp (born April 8, 1946, in Osnabrück, Germany) is a Canadian composer, radio artist, teacher, and sound ecologist.[1] She is known for her contributions to and development of acoustic ecology, soundscape composition, and soundwalks, particularly through her work on the World Soundscape Project in the 1970s-'80s. She has written extensively on these topics for journals and conferences, including Organised Sound.

Westerkamp studied flute and piano at the Conservatory of Music in Freiburg, West Germany from 1966 to 1968, then moved to Canada to study for a Bachelor of Music from the University of British Columbia, which she earned in 1972.[2] During this time as a student she encountered both Barry Truax and R. Murray Schafer, and began working for Schafer as part of the World Soundscape Project at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in 1973.[3] She later enrolled as a student in the communications department and completed her thesis, entitled "Listening and Soundmaking: A Study of Music-As-Environment," for a Master of Arts in 1988;[4] she taught acoustic communication at Simon Fraser until 1990.[3] In 2024, Westerkamp received an honorary doctorate from SFU in recognition of her contributions to acoustic ecology, music composition, and sound studies.[5]

Westerkamp became a naturalized citizen of Canada in 1975. In 1972, she married the Canadian poet and playwright Norbert Ruebsaat and collaborated with him on a number of projects before their separation.[1] She later maintained a long-term relationship with Peter Grant, who passed away in 2014 and to whom her 1997 piece Talking Rain is dedicated.[6]

  1. ^ a b Kirk MacKenzie. "Westerkamp, Hildegard." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed December 5, 2015.
  2. ^ Hoolboom, Michael; Frise, Heather. "Hildegard Westerkamp". Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Clarke, Michael; Dufeu, Frédéric; Manning, Peter (2020). Inside computer music. New York, NY, United States of America: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-065968-4.
  4. ^ "Hildegard Westerkamp - Monoskop". monoskop.org. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  5. ^ Deneault, Tessa Perkins. "Communication alumnus and renowned acoustic ecologist Hildegard Westerkamp receives honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from SFU". www.sfu.ca. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  6. ^ "Westerkamp Talking Rain (1997)". Hildegard Westerkamp. Retrieved 2024-09-17.