Hildegard Westerkampborn 1946 in Germany

COMPOSERRADIO ARTISTSOUND ECOLOGIST

Bibliography:• 1946 - born in Germany • 1966 - she met her husband and future partner in

work Norbert Ruebsaat• 1966 - she studied flute and piano in Germany

(Hochschule für Musik Freiburg)• 1968 – emigration to Vancouver, British Columbia,

Canada• 1968 – 1972 - she studied music at the University

of British Columbia• 1980s –professor in the School of Communication

at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada• 1980s -  member of the World Soundscape Project

(WSP)• 1993 - World Forum for Acoustic Ecology (WFAE)

Compositions

Examples:

„By listening only can we identify the sounds we should encourage and those which we should discourage”

Sensitive Chaos (1995)

Breaking News (2002)

World Soundscape Project (WSP) •the goal is to "to find solutions

for an ecologically balanced soundscape where the relationship between the human community and its sonic environment is in harmony."

What is a Soundscape?It is a sound or combination of sounds that forms or arises from an immersive environment.

Vancouver Co-operative Radio•non-commercial community radio station

in Vancouver, British Columbia. •first air date: 14th April 1975

What is a Soundwalk?„It is an excursion whose main purpose is listening to the environment.”

A walk through the city (1981)http://www.electrocd.com/en/bio/westerkamp_hi/oeuvres/

Kits Beach Soundwalk (1989) 

Hildegard Westerkamp’s input on sound history.•An author of articles and texts addressing

issues of the soundscape and listening•She travel widely and is giving lectures and

conducting soundscape workshops http://vimeo.com/12479152 •Founding member of the World Forum on

Acoustic Ecology (WFAE) •1991 – 1995 editor of The Soundscape

Newsletter•Her work has been published on at least 16

CDs

World Forum on Acoustic Ecology (WFAE)

WFAE works in collaboration with its world-wide network of Affiliated Organizations to promote:

•Education•Research and study•Publishing and distributing•Protecting and preserving•Designing and creating

Hildegard Westerkamp incorporates poetry in her compositions• the poetry of her then-partner, Canadian writer

Norbert Ruebsaat. A walk through the city (1981)

• as well as others:École polytechnique (1990)My Horse and I (1991) - Sharon ThesenFur dich (For you) - Rainer Maria Rilkehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kKgpLNN2s4 http://www.ymxmedia.com/en/oeuvres/fiches/f/u/fur-dich-for-you-westerkamp-rilke-ruebsaat.php

film soundtracks• Elephant (2003) directed by Gus Van

Sant

•  Last Days (2005) directed by Gus Van Sant

Beneath the Forest Floor (1992)

Türen der Wahrnehmung — Doors of Perception (1989, 96)

Bibliography:

http://www.soundandmusic.org/features/ear-room/hildegard-westerkamp picture http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/08f42fcc-6bcc-4bab-9079-91c6e935e81a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Soundscape_Project http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundscape http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFRO-FM http://wfae.proscenia.net/ http://www.electrocd.com/en/bio/westerkamp_hi/oeuvres/ http://www.ymxmedia.com/en/oeuvres/fiches/f/u/fur-dich-for-you-westerkamp-rilke-ruebsaat.php http://www.sfu.ca/~westerka/bio.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kKgpLNN2s4

http://www.electrocd.com/en/bio/westerkamp_hi/oeuvres/

http://vimeo.com/12479152