Vivienne Olive

Vivienne Olive was born on 31st May 1950 in London, where she studied Piano, Organ, Harpsichord and Music Theory. In 1968 she received her A.Mus.T.C.L. diploma from Trinity College London. From 1968 to 1971 she studied for her B.A. degree in music at the University of York. She then went on to postgraduate studies in composition, studying with Bernard Rands (York 1971-72), Franco Donatoni (Milan 1972-74), Roman Haubenstock-Ramati (Vienna 1974-75) and Klaus Huber (Freiburg 1975-78). She received her Ph. D. in composition from the University of York in 1975. Vivienne Olive`s Oeuvre comprises more than 60 works that reach from compositions for recorder to operas. The impulse for her opera „Das hässliche Entlein“ was an International Composer´s Competition initiated by Hochschule für Musik Köln in cooperation with the Cologne Opera in 2004. The fairytale opera with a libretto written by the director and author Doris Dörrie has been first performed in cooperation with Hochschule für Musik Nuremberg at „Theater Mummpitz“ in Nuremberg on 6th march 2010. On march 20, 2014 she has been appointed to a honory professor of the University of Music Nuremberg. From 1976 to 1978 she also continued her studies in harpsichord with Stanislav Heller at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg which lead to a diploma in 1978. She has been awarded composition scholarships from the Department of Education and Science (1971-74) and the German Academic Exchange Service (1975-78).
She has been recipient of various prizes and distinctions: from the Gedok – Leni Neuenschwander Prize 1998- for ”Gleichsam einem Garten”, from the Bach Academy in Stuttgart for “Stabat Mater”, from the town of Hamlyn (Hameln/Germany) for “An English Suite”, and the Stuttgart Composition Prize for “Tomba di Bruno”. Many of her works have been commissions from soloists, chamber ensembles and radio stations, mainly in Germany, Great Britain and Australia. Various publications in the field of music theory (analyses, theory of harmony, editing). Vivienne Olive is member of the board of directors of the “Internationaler Arbeitskreis Frau und Musik” (Women in Music Germany) since 1995.
Since 1979 she has been lecturer for Music Theory and Composition at the Hochschule für Musik, Nuremberg (formerly Meistersingerkonservatorium), Germany. Between 1993 and 1995 she was on leave of absence in Australia at the University of Ballarat and the James Cook University, Townsville, where she headed the University’s Music Academy and also staged the music festival, “Contempofest 94”.
In August/September 2005 she was “Composer in Residence” in Bundanon, New South Wales, Australia. Vivienne Olives works are published by the publishing house Furore Verlag.
To compose is for Vivienne Olive first and foremost a personal experience, a way of expressing herself. When asked in an interview what she thought about contemporary music being “elitist” and only being accessible to a small group of experts, she answered that the listener can be reached on two levels: the intellectual one and the emotional one. The main point of her message is directed at the “feelings surrounding the soul of her audience”. (Foto: Volker Blumentaler)

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