Sivan Cohen Elias
Born in Jerusalem, Sivan Cohen Elias sees herself as an interdisciplinary composer. In her work she investigates the boundaries and possibilities of integrating different art forms into a unified medium. Movement, sound, space and visual objects are sewed within themes corresponding with the failure and limitations of systems and bodies.
Cohen Elias’s works have been performed and commissioned by musicians such as Ensemble Klangforum Wien, Mosaik, MusikFabrik, Nikel, Trio Amos, Meitar, Ascolta, Talea, tenor Frank Wörner, conductors Titus Engel and Enno Poppe, and other musicians and ensembles in and around Europe, Israel and the United States. Her work has appeared in festivals and venues such as IMD (Darmstadt); Der Sommer in Stuttgart; Impuls festival; Mozartsaal, Konzerthaus Wien; Warsaw Autumn; Ultraschall (Berlin); Wien Modern; Bang on a Can (New York), among others.
Cohen Elias is currently a PhD candidate and a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University under the guidance of composers Prof. Chaya Czernowin and Prof. Hans Tutschku. In 2012, Cohen Elias relocated to Germany for an eleven-month fellowship at the Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart. After finishing her M.Mus with high distinctions in Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, Tel Aviv University with composer Ruben Seroussi, she relocated to Vienna in 2007 for the postgraduate program at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst, Wien. Cohen Elias has participated in lessons and master classes with composers such as Brian Ferneyhough, Georges Aperghis, Pierluigi Billone, Steven Kazuo Takasugi, John Luther Adams, and Rebecca Saunders, among others.
Cohen Elias has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Boost! 2012 Project IMD (Darmstadt 2012); 10 months fellowship at the Akademie Schloss Solitude (Stuttgart 2011); winner of the ‘Impuls’ competition (Graz/Vienna 2009); full scholarship for Darmstadt Summer Course 2008 and 2012, among others.
In addition to her work as a musical composer, Cohen Elias continuously explores the fields of sculpting, choreography and engineering. This participatory research inspires her work as a composer enormously.
Last updated: August 30, 2014
