New Members of the Akademie der Künste’s Music Section

The six art sections – Visual Arts, Architecture, Music, Literature, Performing Arts, Film and Media Arts – have come into being over the course of the Akademie’s history. The idea was to make it possible for members to be categorised appropriately, even if the work of interdisciplinary artists tends to blur the distinctions between the various fields of art and there is an increasing focus on projects that span different sections.

Established in the first half of the 19th century, the Music Section, as represented by its members and programmes, is a flagship of contemporary composition, sound art and performance addressing current and future issues. It currently has 70 members.

Elaine Mitchener, vocalist, movement artist, composer
Mitchener was born in London, UK, in 1970. The British Afro-Caribbean artist’s work moves between contemporary/experimental new music, free improvisation and visual art. She is a Wigmore Hall Associate Artist, an ENSEMBLE KLANG Artist Associate  and a NEEDCompany fellow. In 2022, she was a fellow of the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program and exhibited her work at the British Art Show 9 (2021–2022). In 2023 and 2025, she taught on the Darmstadt Summer Course for New Music. She is a professor of music at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. In 2022, she was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for services to music. Works (selection): SWEET TOOTH (2017), b r e a d t h b r e a t h (2018), On Being Human as Praxis (2020), To Be Decided (2025). Find out more at elainemitchener.com.

Brigitta Muntendorf, composer
Born in Hamburg in 1982, Muntendorf studied composition in Bremen and Cologne. She has been an artist-in-residence at the Cité Internationale Des Arts in Paris and the Villa Concordia in Bamberg. She founded and directed the Ensemble Garage and the F*MN Festival. She has been a professor of composition at the Cologne University of Music and Dance since 2019 and a member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and Arts since 2024. She is artistic director of the KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen festival since 2025. Works (selection): Batailles d’Image, music/dance theatre (2019), ARCHIPEL, a spectacle of blending (2020/21), MELENCOLIA, a show against the indifference of the universe (2022), Trilogy for Two Pianos, for two pianos, live electronics and tape (2023). Find out more at brigitta-muntendorf.de.

Uroš Rojko, composer
Born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 1954, Rojko lives in Berlin and Ljubljana. He studied clarinet and composition in Ljubljana (with Uroš Krek), Freiburg (with Klaus Huber) and Hamburg (with György Ligeti). He was a DAAD fellow from 1985 to 1987 and composer-in-residence at the Künstlerhof Schreyahn from 1993 to 1994. He received the City of Stuttgart Advancement Award in 1984, the Premio Europa in 1985 and the Gaudeamus Award (Amsterdam) in 1986. He is professor emeritus of composition and music theory at the Academy of Music of the University of Ljubljana and a member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Works (selection): INNER VOICES for flute and chamber orchestra (1988/90), LA BELLA DONNA DOVE AMOR SI MOSTRA for mixed choir (2000/01), THE RHYTHM OF SKIN for two percussionists (2020). Find out more at uros-rojko.de.

Lucia Ronchetti, composer
Born in Rome, Italy, in 1963, Ronchetti studied composition, computer music and philosophy in Rome and Paris, including under Gérard Grisey. She was awarded a doctorate in musicology in 1999 at the École Pratique des Hautes Études en Sorbonne. In addition, she gained important work experience with Salvatore Sciarrino (international courses in Città di Castello, 1989–1991) and Hans Werner Henze (Marino, 1993–1996). From 2021 to 2024, she was artistic director of the Biennale Musica in Venice. In 2005, she was a fellow of the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program. From 2022 to 2023, she was a fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. Works (selection): Les aventures de Pinocchio, chamber opera (2015), Inferno, opera (2018), Das fliegende Klassenzimmer, opera (2021), Der Doppelgänger, opera (2023) Prosopopeia, choral opera (2025). Find out more at luciaronchetti.com.

Charles Uzor, composer
Born in Udo Mbaise, Nigeria, in 1961, Uzor came to Switzerland in 1968 during the Nigerian Civil War. He studied oboe and composition in Rome, Bern and Zurich and gained a master’s in composition under Malcolm Hill and Hans Werner Henze. He received his doctorate in 2005 from Goldsmiths College in London. He is a fellow of the Civitella Ranieri Foundation and director of the contrapunkt.new art music forum in St. Gallen. Although his oeuvre includes operas and dance, orchestral and choral works, he is primarily interested in pieces for small ensembles and voice. Works (selection): Canto (after a poem by Giuseppe Ungaretti, 1985–86), Echnaton’s Hymnos to Aton for tenor and ensemble (1995), Nri/mimicri for percussion quartet, ondes Martenot and tape (2015–16), George Floyd in memoriam (trilogy, 2019–21). Find out more at uzor.ch/.

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