14 Facts About Elena Kats-Chernin

Elena Davidovna Kats-Chernin was born on 4 November 1957 and is an Uzbek-born Australian composer and pianist, best known for her ballet Wild Swans.

Elena Kats-Chernin was born in Tashkent and is Jewish.

Elena Kats-Chernin studied at the Yaroslavl Music School and the Gnessin State Musical College in Moscow from age 14, and migrated to Australia in 1975, continuing her studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, under Richard Toop and Gordon Watson.

Elena Kats-Chernin participated in the Darlinghurst underground theatre scene, with groups such as Cabaret Conspiracy, Fifi Lamour, Boom Boom La Burn and others, often under the name Elena Kats.

Elena Kats-Chernin remained in Europe for thirteen years, and became active in theatre and ballet, composing for state theatres in Berlin, Vienna, Hamburg and Bochum.

Since returning to Australia in 1994, Kats-Chernin has written several operas, two piano concertos and compositions for many performers and ensembles, including The Seymour Group, The Song Company, The Sydney Jewish Choral Society, the Sydney Alpha Ensemble, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Chamber Made Opera, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Elena Kats-Chernin was commissioned to write a piece, Page Turn, for the 2000 Sydney International Piano Competition.

Elena Kats-Chernin's music was featured at the opening ceremonies of both the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

Elena Kats-Chernin has won numerous music composition prizes in Australia, and her pieces are regularly broadcast on ABC Classic FM radio.

In 2009, Elena Kats-Chernin was commissioned by the National Museum of Australia to write a piece for orchestra called Garden of Dreams, named for one of the architectural features of the museum, which premiered at the museum the same year.

Performances of Elena Kats-Chernin's music are available on several commercially released recordings.

Elena Kats-Chernin has written a number of ragtime pieces for piano; one of these, "Russian Rag", was used in two different instrumental ensemble arrangements, as the theme of Late Night Live until 2010.

Elena Kats-Chernin is a represented composer of the Australian Music Centre.

Elena Kats-Chernin was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in January 2019 "for distinguished service to the performing arts, particularly to music, as an orchestral, operatic and chamber music composer".