Elizabeth Knudson is an internationally award-winning Vancouver-based composer, and an Associate of the Canadian Music Centre. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Music from Simon Fraser University (2004), where she studied composition with David MacIntyre, Owen Underhill, Janet Danielson, and Barry Truax, and a Masters degree in Composition (2006) from the University of British Columbia, where she studied with Keith Hamel.
Ms. Knudson is currently composer-in-residence of Allegra Chamber Orchestra, an all-female Canadian ensemble, directed by Janna Sailor. She has also had works performed by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Victoria Symphony, Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra, West Coast Symphony, Phoenix Chamber Choir, musica intima, Chor Leoni Men’s Choir, Turning Point Ensemble, soloists Ariel Barnes, and Nadine Deleury (cello), Oliver de Clercq, and Stacey Eliason (horn), the RTSH Radio Television Orchestra (Albania), Duo Ahlert & Schwab (Germany), and Music Progressive Quartet (Macedonia), among others. Other highlights include the Sonic Boom Festival (Vancouver, BC), Open Ears Festival (Kitchener, ON), Baie des Chaleurs International Chamber Music Festival (Dalhousie, NB), the New Music Festival at California State University (USA), the International Women’s Brass Festival (Mito City, Japan), Schwetzinger Festspiele (Germany), and hosting the first international edition of “Making Waves” new music programme (Australia).
Elizabeth has been the recipient of a number of awards, including the Association of Canadian Women Composers’ national choral composing competition (2005), and the Golden Key International Honor Society’s composition award for her orchestral work, “The Gnarled Root”. In 2011, she was selected for residency in the Canadian League of Composers/Canadian Music Centre’s inaugural Composer Mentorship Programme. Her piece, “Ere Sleep Comes Down”, was selected as first prize winner in a national competition (receiving the Barbara Pentland Award in 2019), and premiered by the Chor Leoni Men’s Choir. She is also the recipient of the Canadian Music Centre’s national Music Creation Prize (2019), with a commissioned work for double guitar orchestra, premiered at the 21st Century Guitar Conference in Ottawa, ON. More recently, she had a commissioned work for erhu quartet (2023), as well as a commissioned piece for the Sound of Dragon Ensemble (2024), premiered in Vancouver, as well as an electroacoustic work commissioned by La Petite Écurie, and premiered as part of the Schwetzinger Festspiele in Germany (2025).
Elizabeth enjoys composing for full orchestra, various chamber ensembles, electroacoustic media, choir and voice, and collaborating with dance, film, and theatre. She has been a guest composer-mentor in various capacities, including working with youth at the Burnaby Correctional Facility, the Langley School of Music, and the BCRMTA Student Composers’ Club (facilitated through the Canadian Music Centre). Outside of composing, she is a freelance cellist and music instructor, and performs with several local ensembles, including the Syrinx String Quartet. For the past several years, she has also been studying the sitar, and learning about Indian classical music.
_____________
(Bio- short):
Elizabeth Knudson is an internationally award-winning Canadian composer, and an Associate of the Canadian Music Centre. Her works have been performed in over a dozen countries around the world, from Albania to Australia, and Germany to Japan. Elizabeth enjoys composing for full orchestra, various chamber ensembles, electroacoustic media, choir and voice, and also working collaboratively with dance, film, and theatre. Outside of composing, she is a freelance cellist and music instructor. For the past several years, she has also been studying the sitar, and learning about Indian classical music.