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BIOGRAPHY

Biography [English]

Karola Obermüller composes in search of the unknown, with layers upon layers of obscured material buried deep beneath a surface that is sometimes sumptuous, sometimes bristling with rhythmic energy. Her unique voice began forming in collages of sound made with tape recorders as a child and evolved later with composition degrees from the Meistersinger-Konservatorium Nürnberg, the Hochschule für Musik Saar, and the University Mozarteum Salzburg. Her sense of rhythm and form was forever changed by studying Carnatic and Hindustani classical music in Chennai and Delhi, India.

A Ph.D. at Harvard University brought her to the US where she taught at Wellesley College and at the University of New Mexico, co-directing the composition area and the annual John Donald Robb Composers’ Symposium music festival, before joining the Department of Music at UC San Diego. She also lives and works part of the year in Europe and has been a visiting artist at ZKM, Deutsche Akademie Rom, Centro Tedesco di studi Veneziani, Akademie Schloss Solitude, Leipzig Gewandhaus and Hanns Eisler House, and IRCAM as well as serving as a resident composer for new music festivals at Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg, Conservatorio Piccinni di Bari (Italy), University Mozarteum Salzburg, Festival Virtuosi Century XXI, Recife (Brazil), Samobor Music Festival Croatia, and others. Obermüller frequently serves as an adjudicator for competitions such as the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Hochschulwettbewerb, the Femfestival, and the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis of the Darmstadt Ferienkurse.

Her music, often political, always dramatic, includes operas for Staatstheater Nürnberg, Theater Bielefeld, Theater Bonn, Theater Heidelberg, and Stuttgart’s Musik der Jahrhunderte. The emotional juxtapositions of story suspended in a tableau architecture that one finds in her operas can be heard in her concert works as well which include commissions from the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fromm Music Foundation, New Music USA, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Saarländischer Rundfunk, and numerous renowned soloists and ensembles.

Obermüller works with lauded contemporary music ensembles such as Ensemble Modern, ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble), Arditti Quartet, Neue Vocalsolisten, Ekmeles, MusikFabrik, Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, E-MEX Ensemble, Iridium Quartet, New Thread Quartet, Soli fan tutti, Pegnitzschäfer Klangkonzepte, Ensemble Adapter, New Mexico Contemporary Ensemble, ensemble phorminx, sonic.art saxophone quartet, Splinter Reeds, Gewandhaus-Ensemble Avantgarde, and AsianArt Ensemble. She has received numerous awards including the Heidelberger Künstlerinnenpreis, Darmstädter Musikpreis, the New York Musicians Club Prize, the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer’s Award, the Bavarian Youth Prize for Composition (awarded by Zubin Mehta), the John Green Prize for Excellence in Music Composition, and the 1st Prize of the “New Note” International Composers Competition Croatia.

Recordings of several of Obermüller’s works have been released on CD including Jacqueline Leclair’s solo CD (New Focus Recordings, Music for English Horn Alone, FCR272), a record by harpsichordist Luca Quintavalle (Brilliant Classics 96476: Mousikē—the art of the muses), a CD with the Voices of the Pearl project (Volume 3), and a disk by Duo Harmonium d’art et Pianoforte (forthcoming on dreyer-gaido). Having been selected by the German Music Council to be a part of the Contemporary Music Edition, the first portrait CD of her music was released by WERGO in 2018 and a second CD is forthcoming on New Focus Recordings.

Biography [English] 150 Words

Karola Obermueller’s composing, described by the New York Times as "hyperkinetic music”, is constantly in search of the unknown. After obtaining composition degrees in Nuremberg, Saarbrücken, and the University Mozarteum Salzburg, her sense of rhythm and form was forever changed by studying Carnatic and Hindustani classical music in Chennai and Delhi, India.

Winner of the Heidelberger Künstlerinnenpreis, she has received commissions from the National Endowment for the Arts, Fromm Music Foundation, Ensemble Modern, International Contemporary Ensemble, Theater Bielefeld, Theater Bonn, Theater und Orchester Heidelberg, Staatstheater Nürnberg, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Saarländischer Rundfunk, and the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation. She has been a visiting artist at ZKM, Deutsche Akademie Rom, Centro Tedesco di studi Veneziani, Akademie Schloss Solitude, and IRCAM.

Since receiving a doctorate from Harvard University, Obermüller has co-directed the composition area at the University of New Mexico. Her music is on CD (WERGO) and online at karolaobermueller.net.

Curriculum Vitae available at: UNM Fine Arts


Biographie [DEU]

Karola Obermüller komponiert auf der Suche nach Unbekanntem, mit mehrfach geschichtetem, verrätseltem Material, welches tief eingegraben unter einer Oberfläche liegt, die mal opulent klingt, mal vor rhythmischer Energie strotzt: „hyperkinetische Musik“ (NYT). Ihre individuelle kompositorische Stimme begann sich zu formen, als sie als Kind Klangcollagen auf Tonband aufzeichnete. Später absolvierte sie Studien der Komposition in Darmstadt, Nürnberg, Saarbrücken und am Mozarteum Salzburg. Ihr Verständnis von Rhythmus und Form änderte sich grundlegend durch einen Aufenthalt in Chennai und Delhi (Indien), wo sie karnatische und hindustanische Musik studierte. Eine Promotion an der Harvard University führte sie in die USA, wo sie nun an der University of New Mexiko eine Professur innehat. Sie lebt und arbeitet ebenfalls in Europa und war Gastkünstlerin am ZKM, an der Deutschen Akademie Rom, am Centro Tedesco di Studi Veneziani, an der Akademie Schloss Solitude und am IRCAM.

Zum oft politischen, immer dramatischen Schaffen der Komponistin zählen u.a. Opernwerke für das Staatstheater Nürnberg, das Theater Bielefeld, das Theater Bonn sowie „Musik der Jahrhunderte“ in Stuttgart. Die emotionale Ambivalenz der Handlung inmitten einer szenischen Architektur, die ihre Opernwerke auszeichnet, findet sich ebenfalls in ihrer Konzertmusik, darunter Auftragswerke der Ernst-von-Siemens-Musikstiftung, des National Endowment for the Arts, der Fromm Music Foundation, der New Music USA sowie zahlreicher Rundfunkanstalten, Solisten und Ensembles. Ihre erste Portrait-CD erschien im November 2018 (WERGO/Deutscher Musikrat: Edition Zeitgenössische Musik), ihre zweite Portrait-CD wird 2021 bei New Focus Recordings (NYC) erscheinen.

Curriculum Vitae: UNM Fine Arts


Biographie [DEU] 100 Worte

Karola Obermüller komponiert auf der Suche nach Unbekanntem, mit mehrfach geschichtetem, verrätseltem Material, welches tief eingegraben unter einer Oberfläche liegt, die mal opulent klingt, mal vor rhythmischer Energie strotzt: „hyperkinetische Musik“ (NYT). Eine Promotion an der Harvard University führte sie in die USA, wo sie nun an der University of New Mexiko eine Professur innehat. Sie lebt und arbeitet ebenfalls in Europa und war Gastkünstlerin u.a. am ZKM, der Deutschen Akademie Rom und am IRCAM. Ihre erste Portrait-CD erschien im November 2018 (WERGO/Deutscher Musikrat: Edition Zeitgenössische Musik), ihre zweite wird 2021 bei New Focus Recordings (NYC) erscheinen.

Curriculum Vitae: UNM Fine Arts


Biographie [FR]

Karola Obermüller compose une musique à la recherche de l’inconnu, posant des couches successives d’un matériau obscur enfoui profondément sous une surface parfois somptueuse, parfois survoltée d’énergie rythmique, et décrite par le New York Times comme une « musique hypercinétique ».

Ce langage musical unique est né de collages sonores réalisés par Karola enfant sur un appareil radiocassette, puis s’est développé lors de ses études de composition à Nuremberg, Sarrebruck et au Mozarteum. Son sens du rythme et de la forme a été bouleversé à jamais par l’étude de la musique carnatique et hindoustanique à Chennai et Delhi en Inde. Son doctorat à l’Université de Harvard l’a menée aux États-Unis où elle occupe désormais un poste de professeur à l’Université du Nouveau-Mexique. Elle vit et travaille également en Europe, où elle a été invitée au ZKM, à la Deutsche Akademie de Rome, au Centro Tedesco di Studi Veneziani, à l’Akademie Schloss Solitude et à l’IRCAM.

Sa musique, souvent politique, toujours dramatique, comprend des opéras composés pour le Staatstheater de Nuremberg, le Theater Bielefeld, le Theater Bonn et Musik der Jahrhunderte à Stuttgart. Les juxtapositions émotionnelles de l’histoire suspendue dans une architecture en tableaux que l’on trouve dans ses opéras s’entendent aussi dans ses œuvres de concert. Parmi ces dernières, citons des commandes de la fondation Ernst von Siemens Music, du National Endowment for the Arts, de la fondation Fromm Music, de New Music USA, de plusieurs stations de radio ainsi que de nombreux solistes et ensembles.

Curriculum Vitae: UNM Fine Arts


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REVIEWS

Dunkelrot is characterized by high intensity and a constantly evolving sound. ...Dream-like tableaus of sound melt away and through highly expressive cantilena fragments, we learn the story of the suffering of the woman who did not fare well after returning to her homeland.”

Frieder Reininghaus - Deutschlandradio Kultur

“Once again convincing... On Saturday evening, we experienced the impressive continuation of this interdisciplinary art project... The four sophisticated compositions by Obermüller [Reisende] proved to be extremely formidable and exquisitely challenging.”

Markus Jäger - Darmstädter Echo

“One can not really summarize the experience in words. A musical monument is made.”

Michael Sikora - Nürnberger Nachrichten

“Completely radical is Karola Obermüller's Nichts Fettes, nichts Süßes. Obermüller has removed all obvious traces [of Schumann] with rhythmic changes and blurring harmonic alterations. But there is a lot of Schumann’s temperament in this eruptive work, which surges over the vocal parts of the flute and the cello in knotted tangles of sound excess.”

Cora Uitting - Erlanger Nachrichten

“A colorful world of sound.”

Klaus Trapp - Darmstädter Echo

“Camilla Hoitenga opened the concert with ...silbern. From the beginning, filling the grand room with echoing spiccato attacks, forming the sound into a meditative experience, it was the melodious parts of the work that, through their airy approach and the resulting overtone chirp, dragged the listener back to reality.”

Felix Knoblauch - HÖRTZ24

“Ms. Obermüller’s Myrmecia, scored for harp, guitar and hammered dulcimer, was named after a type of ant. The hyperkinetic music, built out of crisp high-pitched notes, has much of that insect’s dogged diligence while the tangy intervals and microtones act like a microscope focusing the listener’s attention onto a world teeming with tiny but determined life.”

Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim - The New York Times

“Music and language are connected here in a way that gets under your skin.”

Hanna Styrie - Kölner Rundschau



WORKS

TITLE & YEAR INSTRUMENTATION LINKS
spelothems (2024)
for the Fromm Foundation
Reed Quintet available upon request
tbd (2023-4)
for Gewandhaus Ensemble Avantgarde
Octet available upon request
hopes and invitations (2023)
for Duo Biloba
Cello, Piano available upon request
one another | Zustand 2023
for ensemble phorminx
Flute, Clarinet 9' available upon request
footprints (linger) | Zustand 2023 2 Violins 9' available upon request
Zeitpol (2023)
(with Peter Gilbert)
for the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg
Percussion Quintet, Electronics 7' available upon request
Duo Variabile | Zustand (2022)
for Longy School of Music
Flute, Recorder 8' available upon request
prati (2014-15/2021)
for the Alte Oper Frankfurt
Trumpet, Organ 9' available upon request
Dehnung (2020)
for AsianArt Ensemble
Daegeum, Koto, Gaya-geum, Percussion, String Quartet, Double Bass 8'30 available upon request
Urwaldblumen (2020)
for Duo Pianarmonio
Harmonium, Piano 9' available upon request
Reisende (2019)
for Soli Fan Tutti
Clarinet/Bass Clarinet, Horn, Cello 60' available upon request
xs (2005/2012/2019)
for Arditti Quartet
String Quartet 10'
Myrmecia (2015-16/2018) alternate version Guitar, Harp, Cimbalom 11'
Umdrehungen (2016-18)
for Iridium Quartet
Saxophone Quartet 10' available upon request
one another (2018)
for Jennifer and Eric Lau
Flute and Saxophone 5' available upon request
From Shadow to Thunder (2017)
(with Peter Gilbert)
for the New Mexico Contemporary Ensemble
Clarinet, Bassoon, Trombone, Percussion, Electronic Piano, Live Electronics, Dance 15' available upon request
Myrmecia (2015-16)
for the International Contemporary Ensemble
Guitar, Harp, Dulcimer 11'
traverse (2016)
for E-Mex Ensemble
Flute, Clarinet, Percussion, Piano, Violin, Cello 10'30
Nichts Fettes nichts Süßes (2015) Flute, Clarinet, Percussion, Piano, Cello 7'
footprints (linger) in memoriam Theo B. (2013-14)
for Kim Fredenburgh and Kevin Vigneau
Oboe, Viola 9' available upon request
elusive corridors (2011-13)
for the Fromm Foundation
Bass Clarinet, Piano, Live Electronics 10'30 available upon request
Las cosas, unas conducen a otras (2002/2008)
for Carin Levine and Elizaveta Birjukova
2 Flutes (Doubling Bass Flutes and Piccolos) 8' available upon request
Red Lake Fields 2 (2002/2006)
for ensemble phorminx
Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Percussion 12; available upon request
reflejos distantes (2006)
for ensemble phorminx
Bass Flute, Bass Clarinet, Violin, Cello 5'30
will o’ wisp (2006)
for Festival KlangAktionen
Recorder, Flute, Bass Koto, Accordion 10'
WindKaskaden (2006)
for Festival KlangAktionen
Clarinet, Accordion 8'30 available upon request
Knotenpunkte (2005) Alto Flute, Clarinet, Harp, String Quartet 6' available upon request
Nichts Fettes nichts Süßes (2005) Ur-versions for Quartet Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Piano, Percussion 7'
les sables mouvants (2004) Clarinet, Piano, Violin, Cello 10' available upon request
shraeng (2004)
for guitar duo shraeng
2 Guitars 13'30 available upon request
Red Lake Fields 1 (2001-02)
for ensemble phorminx
Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano 12' available upon request
Protuberanzen II (2001-02) Trumpet, Organ, Cello, Percussion, Dancers 5' available upon request
duo variabile (2001-02)
for Carin Levine and Jeremias Schwarzer
Flute, Recorder 8' available upon request
Protuberanzen I (2001) Trumpet, Organ, Cello, Dancers 5' available upon request
the great secret lies (2001) Pipa, Kayagum, Marimba 8' available upon request
…incalzando… (1999-2001) English Horn, Organ 6'30 available upon request
Music for recorder, harp and harpsichord (1999-2001)
for Festival "Blaue Nacht 2000"
Recorder, Harp, Harpsichord 6'30 available upon request
Streichquintett (1996-98) 2 Violins, Viola, Cello, Double Bass 15'30 available upon request
TITLE & YEAR INSTRUMENTATION LINKS
seq (2023)
for Petra Stump-Linshalm
Bass Clarinet 2'30 available upon request
Diabellis Divergenz (2022)
for Ewa Kupiec
Piano 1' available upon request
Suite des femmages pour clavecin (1998/2016/2019/2022)
for Luca Quintavalle
Piano 5’30 available upon request
Bite in (2022)
for Martin von der Heydt
Piano 6' available upon request
different forms of phosphorus (2003/2019-20)
for Jacqueline Leclair
English Horn 10' available upon request
Fünf Wutfetzen (1995-1998/2019) Piano 9' available upon request
Pulstastung (2011/2014/2015-17)
for Emanuele Arciuli
Piano 16’
…silbern (2008/2011/2016) alternate version Bass Flute 5’30
fusion: femmage à Ruth Crawford (2016)
for Martin Tchiba
Piano 1'
…silbern (2008/2011) Alto Flute 5’30
Für Wilfried (2009)
(with Peter Gilbert)
for Wilfried Krüger
Horn 4' available upon request
…und Licht sich breitet aufs Meer… (2008)
for Eliot Gattegno
Soprano Saxophone with Live Electronics 6'30 available upon request
gegen.wind.stärken 1 (2005-06)
for Jeremias Schwarzer
Bass Recorder with Live Electronics 7’
but one adagio smile still lingers (2004) Cello 11' available upon request
Metamorphosen (2003) Oboe 6’30 available upon request
TITLE & YEAR INSTRUMENTATION LINKS
tbd (2023)
(with Peter Gilbert)
for KlangForum Heidelberg & Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation
Soprano, Alto, Baritone, Clarinet/Bass Clarinet, Trombone, Percussion, Harp, Piano, Violin, contrabass, electronics available upon request
GERADE SEIN UND MENSCH WERDEN: Sophie Scholl (2018-21)
for Theater Heidelberg
Five Singers, Chamber Orchestra 87' available upon request
GERADE SEIN UND MENSCH WERDEN: Sophie Scholl (2018-21)
for Theater Heidelberg
Five Singers, Chamber Orchestra 87' available upon request
Robert S.: Leipzig (2010-11)
for Theater Bonn
Soprano, Countertenor, Tenor, Baritone, Orchestra 15’30
3x3=∞ (2009)
(with Peter Gilbert)
for Musik der Jahrhunderte
with support from ZKM
Opera: Soprano, Alto, Tenor Bass, Clarinet, Accordion, Cello, Live Electronics, Live Video 65'
Helges Leben (2010-11)
(with Mark Möbius)
for Theater Bielefeld
8 Singers, 3 Actors, Orchestra 50' available upon request
Dunkelrot (2003-07)
for Staatstheater Nürnberg
7 singers, Dancer/Actress, Chamber Orchestra, Live Electronics 75’
Mein Name ist Urlappi (1998-99)
for Tage Neuer Musik 1999
Chamber Opera for Soprano, Mezzo-soprano, Violin, Saxophone, Percussion 25' available upon request
TITLE & YEAR INSTRUMENTATION LINKS
Einseitige Dialoge (2000-02/2022) Soprano, Piano 9' available upon request
Bloch träumt (2020-21)
for KlangForum Heidelberg
6 Singers, 3 Instruments 8'30 available upon request
PERSERVERE (2016-17/2019)
for Anne Harley
Soprano, Harp, Live Electronics/tr> 16'30 available upon request
Untergegangen der Mond (2008/2017)
for Kai Wessel
Countertenor/Bass Voice, Flute, Clarinet, Percussion, Piano, Violin, Cello 13’30
Kohlenmonoxyd.Nachtstück (2006/2016)
for Pegnitzschäfer-Klangkozepte
Two Sopranos, Narrator, Choir, Nine Instruments 33’ available upon request
mass:distance:time (2010/2016)
for Neue Vocalsolisten
2 Sopranos, Mezzo-Soprano, Countertenor, Baritone, Bass 7'
in zwischen (2004)
for ensemble avantage
Soprano, Recorder, 3 Violas, 2 Viola da gambas, Harpsichord 11' available upon request
Einseitige Dialoge (2000-02) Mezzo-soprano, Piano 9' available upon request
Das Gold (1999) Mezzo-soprano, Percussion 6' available upon request
Drei Lieder über die Liebe (1992-94) Mezzo-soprano, Baritone, Piano, Marimba, 2 Celli available upon request
TITLE & YEAR INSTRUMENTATION LINKS
Phosphor (2020-21)
for Julian Steckel and the Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg
Solo Cello, Orchestra 21' available upon request
volatile (2005/2020) Orchestra (1121/1110/4pc/Piano/11111) 8'30 available upon request
coiling and swaying (2014-15)
for Ensemble Modern
Chamber Orchestra (1111/1210/2pc/2 Pianos/11121) 12’30
Glaube. Merke. Rolle. Homage with anagram to Mauricio Raúl Kagel (2011)
Homage with anagram to Mauricio Raúl Kagel
for Ensemble Grenzpunkt
11 instruments 16' available upon request
helical (2005-06)
for Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne
Chamber Orchestra (1121/1110/1pc/Piano/11111) 12’30
volatile (2005) 1st version
for Alarm Will Sound
Orchestra (1121/1110/4pc/Piano/11111) 7'30 available upon request
Schalen (2005) Orchestra (2222/3220/2pc/Harp/Strings) 7' available upon request
Kalpa><Pralaya (2002) Bansuir, Sitar, Mridangam, Orchestra 34' available upon request
Im Vorraum (2000-02) Orchestra (4233/5231/4pc/Celeste/Strings) 10’
TITLE & YEAR INSTRUMENTATION LINKS
Listening to Mountains (2012-13)
(with Peter Gilbert)
for Balance-Unbalance
Live Electronic Installation n/a
imPuls(tastung (2012)
for the Robb Composers’ Symposium
Fixed Media (4 channels) 7’
An Overlapping of Spaces (2009)
(with Peter Gilbert)
for the Davis Museum
Live Electronic Installation n/a available upon request
moving in spirals (2003) Fixed Media (4 channels) 7' available upon request
Mendschenfresser (2003) Fixed Media (2 channels) 9' available upon request
Imaginary Landscape No.5 (2002-03) Fixed Media (2 channels) 3' available upon request
Kleines Konzert Fixed Media (2 channels)


RECORDINGS

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Karola Obermüller—Portrait CD
Wergo

WERGO/SCHOTT

untergegangen der mond (12:46)
Kai Wessel, countertenor; Ensemble Musikfabrik; Warwick Stengårds, conductor

myrmecia (9:12)
Nathan Davis, percussion; Nuiko Wadden, harp; Daniel Lippel, guitar

Pulstastung (16:48)
Emanuele Arciuli, piano

mass:distance:time (6:42)
Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart

... silbern (6:09)
Camilla Hoitenga, bass flute

Nichts Fettes nichts Süßes (6:40)
reflejos distantes (5:11)
Ensemble Phorminx

coiling and swaying (12:37)
Ensemble Modern; Johannes Kalitzke, conductor



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TEACHING

The music program at the UCSD is one of the most renowned in the United States for fostering creative experimentation and innovation. Obermüller teaches composition there alongside a world-class collection of teachers and musicians.

To find out more, visit the Department of Music at the University of California San Diego.



CONTACT

Albuquerque, NM (USA) | Darmstadt (DEU)

Email: kobermueller [at] ucsd.edu