Barbara Heller (born 6 November 1936) is a German composer and pianist. She lives in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

, in the

Odenwald The Odenwald () is a low mountain range in the German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Location The Odenwald is located between the Upper Rhine Plain with the Bergstraße and the ''Hessisches Ried'' (the northeastern section ...

and at times on the

Canary Island The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocco ...

La Gomera La Gomera () is one of Spain's Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. With an area of , it is the third smallest of the eight main islands of this archipelago. It belongs to the province of Santa Cruz de Tene ...

Biography

Barbara Heller was born in

Ludwigshafen am Rhein Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it form ...

. Her father Eugene Heller was a restorer of church art. After the parental home was bombed in 1943, the family moved to Hammelbach/Odenwald. In 1948 they returned to

Ludwigshafen Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it form ...

, in 1949 moved to

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

, then to

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

and

. Barbara Heller studied music in Mannheim and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and graduated in 1957. Her first attempts at composition were in 1949, though self-taught. She studied composition with Hans Vogt and

Harald Genzmer Harald or Haraldr is the Old Norse form of the given name Harold. It may refer to: Medieval Kings of Denmark * Harald Bluetooth (935–985/986) Kings of Norway * Harald Fairhair (c. 850–c. 933) * Harald Greycloak (died 970) * Harald Hardrada ...

and film music for a short time in

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

. She received several scholarships to the

Darmstädter Ferienkurse Darmstädter Ferienkurse ("Darmstadt Summer Course") is a regular summer event of contemporary classical music in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany. It was founded in 1946, under the name "Ferienkurse für Internationale Neue Musik Darmstadt" (Vacation Cou ...

where she studied under

Hermann Heiss Hermann Heiss (29 December 1897 – 6 December 1966) was a German composer, pianist, and educator. His work was part of the music event in the art competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics. Life Heiss was born in Darmstadt and studied compositio ...

and

David Tudor David Eugene Tudor (January 20, 1926 – August 13, 1996) was an American pianist and composer of experimental music. Life and career Tudor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied piano with Irma Wolpe and composition with Stefan ...

, among others. From 1958 to 1962 she was a lecturer and piano teacher at the School of Music and Performing Arts in Mannheim. In 1970 she established the "Hermann Heiss Archive, Darmstadt" from the estate of the composer, and continued to collect documents for the archive. In 1978 she participated in the construction of th
Internationaler Arbeitskreis Frau und Musik
(International Working Group on Women and Music) and served on the executive board until 1981. In 1980 she helped organize the first big festival on women and music in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

/Cologne. From 1986 to 1993, she served on the board of th
Institut für Neue Musik und Musikerziehung Darmstadt
(Institute for New Music and Music Education Darmstadt). Until 1990 Heller continued to actively perform as a pianist. In 1991 she participated in the foundation of the group "Bluna Bluna" with Nicholas Heyduck and Michael Harenberg, which produces tape compositions, sound installations, audio-visual exhibition projects, and improvisations.

Works

Barbara Heller has composed a large body of works, including works for piano, harpsichord, orchestra, chamber ensembles, and film scores.

Discography

* ''Feminae in Musica'' ( Feminae Records, 2007) ** ''Lalai, Schlaflied zum Wachwerden?'' *** Performed by: Aleksandra Maslovaric (violin) and Tania Fleischer (piano) *** Available

References

External links

Short biography, news about the composer, and works
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heller, Barbara 1936 births Living people German classical pianists Women classical composers German women pianists 21st-century classical pianists Women classical pianists 21st-century women pianists