Composer

Biography

Dorothy Ker was born in Carterton, New Zealand in 1965 and grew up in Te Awamutu and Auckland. A graduate of the University of Auckland where she studied with John Rimmer, she travelled to London in 1992 and in 1998 completed a PhD in composition at the University of York, studying with Nicola Lefanu and Harrison Birtwistle. Her music is performed and broadcast in both hemispheres and has been heard at international festivals in Auckland, Perth, Belfast, Huddersfield, Taipei and Seoul, in London and on BBC Radio 3. Her highly-acclaimed work ‘The Structure of Memory’ was recorded by the leading new music ensemble Lontano on the Lorelt label in 2003 and represented New Zealand at the ISCM World New Music Days 2004 in Switzerland. In 2000-2001 she received a Year of the Artist award for her project Music for Quiet Spaces, featuring violinist Mieko Kanno. From 2001-2004 she held an AHRB Fellowship at Reading University. Since February 2005 she has held the position of Research Fellow at Sheffield University. A new CD of her chamber works recorded by Lontano will be released in November 2007.