Olga Neuwirth

Olga Neuwirth

Olga Neuwirth first burst onto the international scene in 1991 at the age of 22 when two of her mini-operas were performed at the Vienna Festival. Born in Vienna, she studied at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Her teachers include Tristan Murail and Luigi Nono. In 1998 she was featured in two portrait concerts at the Salzburg Festival within the framework of the “Next Generation” series. Her works are multi-layered and multi-sensory, and draw upon the full range of effects of both electronic and orchestral instruments. “The purpose of music,” says Neuwirth, “cannot possibly be to lull people to sleep with the promise of creating a unity overcoming all contradiction and to make them docile. I cannot make reality any better than it is. I would like my audience to consist of people who are fully aware, who consider art to be a reflection of an inquiring mind wishing to understand that which is familiar, and [willing] to venture into the unknown.”