Hildegard Westerkamp

Westerkamp studied flute and piano at the Conservatory of Music in Freiburg, West Germany from 1966 to 1968, then moved to Canada to study for a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of British Columbia, which she earned in 1972. During this time as a student she encountered both Barry Truax and R. Murray Schafer, and began working for Schafer as part of the World Soundscape Project at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in 1973. She later enrolled as a student in the communications department and completed her thesis, entitled "Listening and Soundmaking: A Study of Music-As-Environment," for a Master of Arts degree in 1988; she taught acoustic communication at Simon Fraser until 1990. In 2024, Westerkamp received an honorary doctorate from SFU in recognition of her contributions to acoustic ecology, music composition, and sound studies. Westerkamp became a naturalized citizen of Canada in 1975. In 1972, she married the Canadian poet and playwright Norbert Ruebsaat and collaborated with him on a number of projects before their separation. She later maintained a long-term relationship with Peter Grant, to whom her 1997 piece Talking Rain is dedicated; Grant died in 2014.

Hildegard Westerkamp studied at Simon Fraser University, Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and University of British Columbia. The recorded working language is German. The field of work recorded is composer. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are electronic. Residence is recorded at Vancouver. Employment is recorded with Simon Fraser University.

• Name — Hildegard Westerkamp • Born — 8 April 1946 • Birthplace — Osnabrück, Germany • Field — composer, radio art, acoustic ecology • Education — University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University • Works — Fantasie for Horns I (1978) A Walk Through the City (1981) Harbour Symphony (1986) Cricket Voice (1987) Kits Beach Soundwalk (1989) Beneath the Forest Floor (1992)

Many of Westerkamp's compositions deal with the acoustic environment, a method of composing known as soundscape composition. As part of her work with the World Soundscape Project she listened to and catalogued the Project's field recording archives, and has since dedicated the majority of her work to pieces that involve the layering and manipulation of field recordings. She additionally popularized the creative method/experience of soundwalking, which she defines as "any excursion whose main purpose is to listen to the environment." Works such as Kits Beach Soundwalk are inspired by this practice. Collaborations She collaborated with director Gus Van Sant, with whom she seemed to share work that explored similar concepts. To quote Randolph Jordan, "Her compositions are ideally suited for helping to flesh out Van Sant's portraits of young people adrift in worlds from which they are seemingly detached, but who might well be pointing towards alternative modes of environmental awareness."

From 1973–80 Westerkamp worked as a research associate along with R. Murray Schafer at the World Soundscape Project at Simon Fraser University. This work fed into Schafer's book The Tuning of the World. In 1974 she began working as a producer and host at CFRO (Vancouver Cooperative Radio). Through her work with Schafer and with radio, she developed a deep interest and concern for noise and the acoustic environment, which greatly influenced her style of composition. After this time, she began to experiment with recording, processing, and mixing environmental sounds in the recording studio. Westerkamp was involved in several other research projects on noise, acoustic ecology and music. From 1974 to 1975, she was a researcher with the Noise Abatement Project of the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation in Vancouver. Throughout the 1980s, she developed an interest in music for live performance, and in creating installations and other "composed environments" (sometimes in collaboration) for specific sites. In 1982, she was a researcher for the Women in Music project at Simon Fraser University. She is also a founding member of the World Forum on Acoustic Ecology (WFAE).

After 1991, Westerkamp devoted herself to more fully to composing, lecturing, and writing, disseminating her compositions and ideas at concerts and conferences. She was editor of The Soundscape Newsletter from 1991 to 1995, and joined the editorial committee of Soundscape: The Journal of Acoustic Ecology, for the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology in 2000. She has also composed soundtracks for radio dramas and film and her music has been featured in movies by Gus Van Sant including Elephant (2003) and Last Days (2005). She collaborated with Jesse Zubot on the electronic score for Koneline (2016). Some of Westerkamp's works are directly related to feminism. In 1990, she composed "École Polytechnique", which was commissioned by Montréal Musiques Actuelles/New Music America. According to Andra McCartney and Marta McCarthy, "Hildegard Westerkamp's (1990) composition École Polytechnique is an artistic response to one of Canada's most profoundly disturbing mass murders, the 1989 slaying of fourteen women in Montreal, Quebec."

• Cordillera (Music from the New Wilderness Festival, Western Front Gallery, Vancouver, Feb 1980) • Zone of Silence Story, with Norbert Ruebsaat (Zone of Silence Project, Museum of Quebec, Quebec City, Dec 1985–Jan 1986 • Coon Bay (1988) • Türen der Wahrnehmung (Ars Electronica '89, Linz, Austria, Sept 1989) • Nada – An Experience in Sound, in collaboration with Savinder Anand, Mona Madan, and Veena Sharma (Mati Ghar, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts Janpath, New Delhi, India, 10–25 Dec, 1998) • At the Edge of Wilderness, in collaboration with photographer Florence Debeugny (Industrial Ear, Vancouver, Sept 8-16, 2000; Whyte Museum, Banff, 11 Oct, 2002 – 19 Jan, 2003; Victoria College of the Arts, Melbourne, 19–27 March 2003) • Soniferous Garden, rev. of Part 4 of Nada (Engine 27, New York, 7–15 Nov, 2000; Sound Practice [first UKISC Conference on Sound Culture and Environments], Dartington College of Arts, UK, Feb 2001; CCNOA, Brussels, 2–9 Feb, 2003; x-tract Sculpture Musicale, Podewil, Berlin, 1–12 Apr, 2003)

Hildegard Westerkamp is recorded with the occupation film score composer. Recorded with the occupation sound artist. Classed in the genre electronic music. Established in IdRef (French universities) under 24228146X. Hildegard Westerkamp is recorded as composer, pianist, writer and sound artist. Established in Library of Congress under no97061373. Established in Discogs under 153299. Established in VIAF under 8245310. Established in FAST under 399071. Within the Encyclopedia. Connected to 1 other published record in the VALÉORINE Encyclopedia.