HILDEGARD WESTERKAMP

"Hildegard Westerkamp moved in her twenties from her native Osnabrück in Germany to Vancouver, where she joined the World Soundscape Project at the Simon Fraser University. Under the guide of composer and ‘soundscape godfather’, R. Murray Schafer, the World Soundscape Project maintains that collective field recordings are ecological statements. Their recordings, such as the now classic ‘Vancouver Soundscape’ (1973) form detailed studies of the local (sound) environment and carry an inherent, objectivized critique of (noise) pollution. Westerkamp’s considerable work is characterized by a concern about noise, a great interest in the power of cultural expression of sound in the environment and a manifest attitude in acoustic ecology. Her long list of compositions and sound environments for, among others, Canadian Broadcasting Company Radio, Vancouver Art Gallery and the Museum of Québec are in disproportionate contrast to the brevity of her list of disk releases. In the 1980s, she taught acoustic communications at Simon Fraser University and she currently organises lectures and soundscape workshops internationally. She is founding member of the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology (WFAE, 1993) and holds a seat on the publishing committee for ‘Soundscape—The Journal of Acoustic Ecology’, a WFAE publication." (argos festival 2004 catalogue)

Selected discography:
‘Into India’ (CD, Earsay, 2002) ‘Transformations’ (CD, empreintes DIGITALes, 1996)