Elena Mendoza is a sound researcher with a flair for theatre and language. Born in Seville in 1973, she combines the musical with the literary, the precise with the poetic in her compositions. After studying in Zaragoza, Augsburg, Düsseldorf and Berlin – with Hanspeter Kyburz, among others – she developed an unmistakable style in which sound, scene and meaning merge.
Mendoza’s works are created in close collaboration with renowned ensembles such as Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Modern and the Neue Vokalsolisten Stuttgart. Since 2014, she has been professor of composition at the Berlin University of the Arts. In Über Zauberei (About Magic), she combines music, language and theatre to create a multi-layered play about manipulation and seduction. Between irony and seriousness, she negotiates questions of freedom and control. Her music doesn’t just listen – it looks, speaks and asks the right questions.
