Chiyoko Szlavnics

Chiyoko Szlavnics (b. 1967, Toronto) has composed works ranging from solo instruments to chamber orchestra since 1993. She studied composition with James Tenney in Toronto, was in residence at the Akademie Schloss Solitude (Stuttgart) from 1997-8, and attended Walter Zimmermann′s seminars at the HdK (now the UdK) in Berlin.

Her recent body of compositions are based on drawings which are translated into musical notation using the Just Intonation ratio system as a harmonic and microtonal basis. Szlavnics has also produced numerous multi-channel sound installations, created works for contemporary dance and theatre, video and film. In 1995 & 1997, she co-curated Art in Open Spaces, a Toronto performance series highlighting outdoor public art sites and spaces in the city′s downtown core, through the commissioning and production of new music and choreographies.

Her compositions have been performed and presented by a variety of ensembles, venues, and on radio in Europe and North America.

Photo by Philipp Hennig