INFO
Name | Salina Fisher (she/her) |
Born | 1993 |
Country of Birth | Aotearoa |
Place of Residence | Pōneke Wellington |
Ethnicities | Japanese, Pākehā |
Artform | Music |
Decades Active | 2010s, 2020s |
ABOUT
Salina Fisher is an award-winning composer. Through her music and frequent collaborations with other artists (musicians and non-musicians), Fisher explores themes inspired by the natural world and connections between Japanese and other musical traditions.
Fisher is a violinist and also performs on koto, a Japanese zither instrument. As a violinist, she was Concertmaster of the NZSO National Youth Orchestra and a casual player with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
Her body of work ranges from compositions for full orchestra, to ensembles, as well as solo and duo performers. Drawing on observations of natural phenomena like rainfall, light and the changing skies, Fisher’s music plays with timbre, texture and the layering of sustained sound. Her music often emphasises the unique qualities of each instrument — sometimes incorporating unconventional playing techniques, such as circular bowing and tapping the keys of woodwind instruments. Fisher has said, “It’s about not having certain expectations of what music needs to do for you… [it’s about] allowing yourself to be completely open-minded about what sound can do or mean for you.”
Fisher often collaborates with taonga pūoro artist Jerome Kavanagh Poutama, bringing together notated and non-notated sound traditions. In 2023 they worked with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra to present Papatūānuku, for which Kavanagh played 19 different taonga pūoro. The orchestral composition was written to support the sounds of each taonga pūoro and connect with “the songs and sounds of our natural world.”
In 2016 Fisher became the youngest composer to win the SOUNZ Contemporary Award, which she also won the following year. She has also held Composer in Residence positions at the New Zealand School of Music (2019-2020), At the World’s Edge Festival in Central Otago (2021) and the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra (2023). Orchestras and ensembles all over the world have performed Fisher’s music, including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand String Quartet, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Stroma, NZSO National Youth Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra (USA), Dallas Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.
Fisher grew up in Ōtautahi Christchurch. She is a graduate of the New Zealand School of Music, where she is now a Teaching Fellow in Composition. She also holds a Master of Music in Composition, from the Manhattan School of Music in New York.
LINKS
Key works / presentations
2023 — Papatūānuku, for taonga pūoro and orchestra, by Salina Fisher & Jerome Kavanagh
2022 — woman 女 beneath a wave 波, for taonga pūoro, vibraphone, harp, koto, violin, cello, and projected text
2021 — Mata-Au, for string trio
2020 — Kintsugi, for piano trio
2019 — Murmuring Light, for orchestra
2019 — Between, for shakuhachi, koto, viola, cello
2019 — Uchi-Soto (内外), for solo piano
2018 — Tupaia, for orchestra
2016 — Tōrino — echoes on pūtōrino improvisations by Rob Thorne
2015 — Rainphase, for orchestra
2014 — Komorebi, for violin & vibraphone
A full list of works can be found on Salina Fisher's website.
Key awards
2020 — Composers Association of New Zealand Trust Fund Award
2019 — Carl Kanter Prize for Orchestral Composition, Manhattan School of Music, New York
2017 — The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi, New Generation Award
2017 — SOUNZ Contemporary Award, APRA Silver Scrolls, for the composition Tōrino – echoes on pūtorino improvisations by Rob Thorne
2016 — SOUNZ Contemporary Award, APRA Silver Scrolls, for the composition Rainphase
2017 — Fulbright New Zealand General Graduate Award
2014-15 — Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra ‘Rising Star’ Composer in Residence
2014 — NZSO Todd Young Composer Award
2014 — NZSO Orchestra Choice Award, for Blushing Skies
2013 — NZSO Todd Young Composer Award
2002 — National Tower Young Composers Competition, for Suite No. 1