Biography
Elena Kats-Chernin is an Australian composer and pianist. She was born on 4 November 1957 in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR (now Uzbekistan). She studied at the Gnessin State Musical College in Moscow before emigrating to Australia in 1975. There she continued her studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with Richard Toop (composition) and Gordon Watson (piano). She later studied in Germany with Helmut Lachenmann and lived there until returning to Australia in 1994.
Kats-Chernin has composed works across many genres, including ballet, opera, orchestral and chamber music. She is known for the ballet Wild Swans (2002, choreographed by Meryl Tankard) and its aria 'Eliza Aria'. Her film scores include music for Mary and Max (2009) and the full score for Memoir of a Snail (2024), performed by the Australian Chamber Orchestra. She received the Officer of the Order of Australia in 2019.
