Claire Cowan
- Composer
- Music Department
Claire Cowan is hailed as one of New Zealand's most exciting composers with an impressive array of scoring and composition credits spanning concert, film, television and theatre. Seven prime-time TV soundtracks, multiple "Best Original Score" national awards, several Composer Residencies, and two full length ballets commissioned from the Royal New Zealand Ballet are just a few of the many accolades to her name. In 2021 Claire was awarded "Best Classical Artist" at the Aotearoa Music Awards.
Her passion for collaboration, and her versatility as an orchestrator, has led her to work with the cream of the crop in NZ's pop-music scene; names like Benee, Marlon Williams, Leisure, Tami Neilson and Dave Dobbyn are but a handful of the talents she has joined forces with, reinventing their songs with fully orchestrated versions for New Zealand's most prestigious orchestras.
As a performer, Cowan's expertise lies in strings and keys, often incorporating percussive and folk techniques into her classical string scores. Her classical concert work is special in that it seamlessly merges art music and popular idioms in a way that is both natural and accessible. Her works are often inspired by stories that intrigue her -as a result, her music offers a very strong connection to audiences. Notable recent projects include Ultra Violet and Hansel and Gretel for the Royal New Zealand Ballet, music for World of Wearable Arts, Stark Violin Concerto for Amalia Hall, and six short chamber commissions from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra to accompany iconic Kiwi storybooks. In 2019 Claire created Lo Co Arts with choreographer Loughlan Prior, with whom she collaborates on a regular basis.
Her passion for collaboration, and her versatility as an orchestrator, has led her to work with the cream of the crop in NZ's pop-music scene; names like Benee, Marlon Williams, Leisure, Tami Neilson and Dave Dobbyn are but a handful of the talents she has joined forces with, reinventing their songs with fully orchestrated versions for New Zealand's most prestigious orchestras.
As a performer, Cowan's expertise lies in strings and keys, often incorporating percussive and folk techniques into her classical string scores. Her classical concert work is special in that it seamlessly merges art music and popular idioms in a way that is both natural and accessible. Her works are often inspired by stories that intrigue her -as a result, her music offers a very strong connection to audiences. Notable recent projects include Ultra Violet and Hansel and Gretel for the Royal New Zealand Ballet, music for World of Wearable Arts, Stark Violin Concerto for Amalia Hall, and six short chamber commissions from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra to accompany iconic Kiwi storybooks. In 2019 Claire created Lo Co Arts with choreographer Loughlan Prior, with whom she collaborates on a regular basis.