Elena Rykova

A composer, interdisciplinary and performance artist Elena Rykova explores a wide variety of genres in music and visual art. She brings together instruments and found objects, extending one through another and creating performative musical situations, often with a strong visual aspect. Her scores are characterized by an innovative use of nontraditional notation, having been exhibited in art museums in her native Russia and abroad. She has written chamber and ensemble works, music theatre pieces, and musical performances for major new music groups around the world. Her current interests lie in the spatial aspect of sound and virtual sonic spaces. Past and recent collaborations involve: Ensemble Musikfabrik, Frames Percussion, UFA Sextet, Nikel, IEMA, Curious Chamber Players, Mosaik, Nemø, Down the Rabbit Hole, Schallfeld, Calefax Reed Quintet, Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, line upon line, the Black Page Orchestra, Opera lab Berlin, London Contemporary Ensemble, Garage, hand werk, among others.

Her music has been performed at festivals such as Darmstadt Music Festival, ECLAT, Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik, Klangspuren, WIEN-Modern, Klang, Tzlil Meudcan, Ensems, Mixtur, Warsaw autumn, Bludenzer Tage zeitgemäßer Musik, New Talents Biennale in Cologne, Ultima, Impuls and others.

She was an invited professor of composition at Catalonia College of Music (Esmuc), Ciel Composition Academy, Mixtur festival, and a lecturer at Bath Spa University, Robert Schumann Hochschule, Conservatory Superior de Música de València, and others. She holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University, where she also worked as a teaching assistant in acoustic and electroacoustic composition courses.

Rykova is currently based in Lausanne, Switzerland.