Biography

Elizabeth Knudson (b. 1981) is a Vancouver-based composer, and an Associate of the Canadian Music Centre, as well as a member of the Canadian League of Composers, the Association of Canadian Women Composers, and SOCAN. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Simon Fraser University (2004), and a Masters degree in Composition from the University of British Columbia (2006).

Elizabeth is currently composer-in-residence of Allegra Chamber Orchestra, an all-female Canadian ensemble (since 2017). She has also had works performed by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Victoria Symphony, West Coast Symphony, Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra, Phoenix Chamber Choir, musica intima, Chor Leoni Men’s Choir, Turning Point Ensemble, soloists Ariel Barnes (cello), and Oliver de Clercq (horn), the RTSH Radio Television Orchestra (Albania), Duo Ahlert & Schwab (Germany), and Music Progressive Quartet (Macedonia), among others. Highlights include performances at the Sonic Boom Festival (Vancouver, BC), Open Ears Festival (Kitchener, ON), Baie des Chaleurs International Chamber Music Festival (Dalhousie, NB), the New Music Festival at California State University (USA), and being guest host of the first international edition of “Making Waves” new music programme (Australia).

Elizabeth has been the recipient of several awards, including the Meir Rimon Commissioning Assistance Grant through the International Horn Society (2012). She was also winner of the Association of Canadian Women Composers’ national choral composing competition (2005), and the Golden Key International Honor Society’s composition award for her orchestral work, "The Gnarled Root" (2004). In 2011, Elizabeth was selected for residency in the Canadian League of Composers/Canadian Music Centre’s inaugural Composer Mentorship Programme. In 2019, she tied for first place in the Chor Leoni Men’s Choir’s national composing competition, and received the Barbara Pentland Award for Outstanding Composition, through the Canadian Music Centre. She also received the Creation Award through the Canadian Music Centre, and a commission to compose a new work for the International 21st Century Guitar Conference, in Ottawa, Ontario (2019).

Elizabeth’s musical interests and experience encompass a wide spectrum, from choral, chamber, and orchestral works, to electroacoustic sound design, to collaborations with film, theatre, dance, and performance art. World music is also a deep interest: she has studied and performed with a Javanese gamelan ensemble, a Scandinavian folk music group, a Celtic group, has traveled three times to the Balkans (as a cellist, composer, and guest lecturer), and for the past several years, has been studying sitar privately. Her main instrument, however, is the cello. Outside of composing, Elizabeth is a freelance cellist and music instructor, and performs with several ensembles, including the Syrinx String Quartet.

If you are interested in commissioning a new work, performing or programming an existing work, or collaborating on a project, Elizabeth would be happy to hear from you.