Liisa Hirsch

 

Liisa Hirsch (b.1984) studied in the Royal Conservatory of The Hague with Peter Adriaansz and Cornelis de Bondt, and in Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre with Prof. Toivo Tulev. Hirsch has worked as music director at the Estonian Drama Theatre and taught improvisation at Tallinn Music High School.

Liisa Hirsch’s music can be characterized by sensitivity to timbre, purity of form and research- oriented approach towards composition. Microtonal reflection can also be observed in her work. Lately, she has been seeking to further the means of concentrated listening. Hirsch has composed music also for film and theatre and oftentimes she collaborates with dancers.

In 2016 Hirsch's composition “Mechanics of Flying” for orchestra received an European Composer Award at the festival Young Euro Classicsin Berlin.

2015, Hirsch’s composition “Ascending...Descending” for solo violin and string orchestra, was given recommendation (5th) in the International Rostrum of Composers.Her piece “Brautigan Circles” won the chamber music prize at Orkest de Ereprijs Young Composers Meeting 2015.

She has worked together with S.E.M. Ensemble (New York), Figura Ensemble (Denmark), Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Elblag Chamber Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Estonian National Male Choir among others. Her music has been played in several festivals including Gaudeamus Muziek Week, ISCM World Music Days, Young Euro Classics, Ostrava New Music Days, Estonian Music Days, Afekt Festival, International Arts Festival in St. Petersburg, Soochi Choir Olympics and Internationale Stichting Masterclass Apeldoorn.

George Grella, New York Classical review: “Hirsch’s music is enveloping and out of time, like the microtonal music of Giacinto Scelsi, but with a different aesthetic and philosophy—she’s spinning out material and setting up a system for organizing it on the fly. The concentrated quiet and listening this demands from the musicians spreads to the audience, there’s a communal experience of witnessing something grow and disappear.”