Role

:

Composer

Country

:

United Kingdom

Birth

:

1971

 

Juliana Hodkinson is a Danish composer who was born on December 6, 1971, in Copenhagen, Denmark. She grew up in a family of musicians, with her mother being a pianist and her father a composer. Hodkinson started playing the piano at a young age and later learned to play the violin and the viola. She attended the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, where she studied composition with Hans Abrahamsen and Per Nørgård. Hodkinson's early works were influenced by the spectral music movement, which emphasizes the use of sound spectra and timbre in composition. Her first major work, "Still Life with Viola," was written in 1996 and premiered at the Donaueschingen Festival in Germany. The piece features a solo viola accompanied by an ensemble of instruments, and it explores the relationship between the soloist and the ensemble through the use of microtonal intervals and extended techniques. In 2000, Hodkinson received a commission from the Danish National Symphony Orchestra to write a piece for their 75th anniversary. The resulting work, "Lightness," is a large-scale orchestral work that explores the concept of weightlessness through the use of glissandi and other techniques that create a sense of floating. The piece was well-received and established Hodkinson as a major figure in Danish contemporary music. Hodkinson's music often incorporates elements of theater and performance art, and she has collaborated with a number of theater companies and choreographers. In 2003, she wrote the music for the Danish National Theatre's production of "The Tempest," which featured a live orchestra and a cast of actors and dancers. The music for the production was praised for its atmospheric quality and its ability to enhance the emotional impact of the play. In 2006, Hodkinson was awarded the Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Foundation's Composer Prize, which is given to a Danish composer under the age of 40 who has made a significant contribution to contemporary music. The prize included a cash award and a commission to write a new work for the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. The resulting piece, "Stillness and Speed," is a concerto for percussion and orchestra that explores the contrast between stillness and motion. Hodkinson's music has been performed by a number of prominent ensembles and orchestras, including the London Sinfonietta, the Ensemble Intercontemporain, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Her works have been featured at festivals around the world, including the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, the Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival, and the Venice Biennale. In recent years, Hodkinson has continued to explore new avenues in her music, incorporating elements of electronic music and improvisation into her compositions. Her 2016 work "Turbulence" is a collaboration with the electronic musician Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard, and features a live ensemble of musicians and a pre-recorded electronic track. The piece explores the idea of turbulence in both the physical and emotional sense, and incorporates elements of chaos theory and fractal geometry. Hodkinson's music is characterized by its attention to detail and its ability to create a sense of atmosphere and mood. Her works often feature intricate textures and unusual instrumental combinations, and she is known for her use of extended techniques and microtonal intervals.

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