Stevie Wishart
Stevie Wishart is a composer, improviser, and performer on the hurdy-gurdy and violin. Mainly involved in contemporary music, she has also had a career in early music and has edited and recorded the complete works of Saint Hildegard of Bingen, as well as performing music from the repertoire of the medieval troubadours, trouvères and the Cantigas de Santa Maria, with her ensemble Sinfonye.
Wishart's work is distinguished by her emphasis on exploring music's unique ability to express ideas, transcending other forms of communication. She creates music for a wide variety of contexts. Examples include productions by Michèle Noiret (Théâtre National de Bruxelles) and Wayne McGregor; a large-scale choral work for a Proms commission with the BBC Singers & Sinfonye; and for the designer Philippe Starck.
Wishart has performed and had her compositions played at major venues including the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Royal Festival Hall in London, the Sydney Opera House, St. Peter's Basilica and records for Decca Records, Hyperion and Glossa records, and Splitrec, as well as for her own and other indie labels. Collaborations include composing for Ensemble Variances, a contemporary ensemble directed by Thierry Pécou, British poet Alice Oswald, and Tom Kemp’s Chamber Domaine.
Concern for the environment is a natural extension of Wishart's creativity. She is a member of art/science network Fo.am and a founder member of the nature-music Ecotones Network. Her compositions often use the sounds of endangered species as themes, particularly in recent orchestral, chamber and vocal works.
Wishart was educated at Cambridge, Oxford, and the Guildhall School of Music, studying composition and electronic music at the University of York with Trevor Wishart and Richard Orten. She then studied improvised and aleatoric music with John Cage and David Tudor. Later she was a member of performance ensemble Machine for Making Sense with Chris Mann, Rik Rue, Amanda Stewart and Jim Denley.
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