Elena Kats-Chernin AO (b. 1957) trained at the Gnessin Musical College in Moscow before moving to Australia in 1975. On graduation from the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music in 1980 she gained a grant to study with Helmut Lachenmann in Hanover. She spent thirteen years in Germany before returning to Sydney. Among her many commissions are pieces for Ensemble Modern, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Australian World Orchestra, the Adelaide, Tasmanian, Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestras, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, the City of London Sinfonia, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and the North Carolina Symphony. Kats-Chernin was composer-in-residence with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (2011) and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (2017). Her album Butterflying spent 13 weeks at the top of the ARIA Classical Chart before reaching number 1 in September 2016, while her Unsent love letters: meditations on Erik Satie album debuted at number 1 in March 2017. Her music has inspired choreographers around the world and has featured in television, advertising and film scores.
