Biography
Elena Mendoza
was born in Sevilla in 1973, whre she studied german linguistics. She then studied piano and composition in Zaragoza with Teresa Catalán, in Augsburg with John Van Buren, in Düsseldorf with Manfred Trojahn and in Berlin with Hanns Peter Kyburz at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler. After finishing studies she was a fellow at different institutions, like Ensemble Modern Akademie in Frankfurt a.M. or Academy Schloß Solitude in Stuttgart. Currently she lives in Berlin, where she is a composition Professor at the Universität der Künste.
She is particularly interested in timbrical and dramaturgical questions and has particular preferences for theatrical concepts touching on language, space and music. From these emerged in 2007 the music-theater production "Niebla" (Europäisches Zentrum der Künste in Dresden Hellerau), written in close cooperation with the director Matthias Rebstock and setting new music-theatre standards. On behalf of Gerard Mortier they also created "La ciudad de las mentiras", based on textes by Juan Carlos Onetti, for the Teatro Real Madrid. Their most recent project in common "Der Fall Babel", a commission from Schwetzinger Festspiele, was premiered in April 2019 with great succes.
She has worked with many renowned performers such as ensemble recherche, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Modern, Vogler-Quartett, Ensemble Mosaik, Ensemble emex, Ensemble Taller Sonoro, Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, Schola Heidelberg, KNM Berlin, WDR Sinfonieorchester, Orquesta nacional de España, Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg, Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla and many others. With the Ensemble Ascolta in Stuttgart she helds a particularlly close relationship since years.
Her music has been presented in festivals such as Biennale Salzburg, Ars Musica Brussels, Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik, Eclat Stuttgart, MärzMusik Berlin, Dresdner Tage der Zeitgenössischen Musik, Ultraschall Berlin, Mixtur Barcelona, Acanthes Metz, Steirischer Herbst Graz, Schloßmediale Werdenberg, Musica Viva München, Schwetzinger Festspiele or rainy days Luxembourg. She has received numerous awards, such as the Spanish Premio Nacional de Música 2010, the Musikpreis Salzburg 2011, the Kunstpreis Berlin 2017, the Heidelberger Künstlerinnenpreis 2019 or just recently the Christoph and Stephan Kaske Stiftung Prize.
Her discography includes two portrait CDs, one with instrumental chamber music on the label Kairos (2008), and another with scenes of "Niebla" followed by "Fe de erratas" and "Gramática de lo indecible" on the Wergo/Deutsche Musikrat collection (2011).
From 2009 on her scores are published by Edition Peters/ Wise Music Classical.