Salina Fisher

Biography

Salina Fisher is an award-winning New Zealand composer based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. Her highly evocative music often draws on her Japanese heritage, as well as a fascination with the natural world. With a background as a violinist, Salina finds lyricism in unusual timbres and extended tonalities, with a sensitivity to detail and gesture. Her music has been commissioned by ensembles including New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, International Contemporary Ensemble, Marmen Quartet, New Zealand String Quartet, NZTrio; and performed worldwide at venues including Lincoln Center, Philharmonie Berlin, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and The Kennedy Center. In 2022-2023 her music has been programmed by the New York Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, Stavanger Symphony, Auckland Philharmonia, and Ulster Orchestras; Land’s End Ensemble, Syzygy Ensemble, and Alexi Kenney.

In 2016 Salina became the youngest ever recipient of the SOUNZ Contemporary Award for her orchestral work Rainphase, and also won the award in 2017 with her string quartet Tōrino – echoes on pūtōrino improvisations by Rob Thorne. After studying composition and violin at Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music, she received a Fulbright scholarship to study in New York, where she was awarded the Carl Kanter Prize for Orchestral Composition. She has since been Composer-in-Residence at New Zealand School of Music (2019-2020) and At the World’s Edge Festival (2021), and is the recipient of awards from The Arts Foundation (New Generation Award), Edwin Carr Foundation, Composers Association of New Zealand (Trust Fund Award) and Canberra International Film Festival (Best Score - International Category, for 'Misimpressions').

Salina particularly enjoys collaborating with other artists, including practitioners of taonga pūoro, Japanese instruments, ceramics, poetry, and film. She has worked with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra as a violinist (2012–2016) and more recently as an orchestrator, on the arranging team for their performances with Te Reo metal band Alien Weaponry and singer/songwriter Ria Hall. A passionate advocate for music education, she has been Teaching Fellow in Composition at Te Kōki New Zealand School of Music – Victoria University of Wellington since 2020, lecturing in composition and instrumentation/orchestration, and mentoring emerging composers through NZSO National Youth Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, and At the World’s Edge. Salina also enjoys performing and improvising in local groups on both violin and koto.

Upcoming premieres in 2023 include Toroa for taonga pūoro and violin commissioned by Forest & Bird for Auckland Arts Festival, Hikari for solo violin commissioned by Alexi Kenney for performances across USA and at Wigmore Hall, and a major new work for taonga pūoro and orchestra with Jerome Kavanagh and Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.