Liza Lim

Liza Lim (born 30 August 1966) is an Australian composer. Lim writes concert music (chamber and orchestral works) as well as music theatre and has collaborated with artists on installation and video projects. Her work reflects her interests in Chinese culture and the aesthetics of Aboriginal art and shows the influence of non-Western music performance practice.

Early life and education Liza Lim (林瑞玲) was born on 30 August 1966 in Perth, Western Australia, to Chinese parents. They were doctors who during her early years spent time working and studying in Brunei, and she was sent to boarding school. At the age of 11, she was encouraged by her teachers at Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne to turn from piano and violin to composition. Lim earned her PhD from the University of Queensland, her Master of Music from the University of Melbourne (1996), and her Bachelor of Arts from the Victorian College of the Arts (1986). She studied composition in Melbourne with Richard David Hames and Riccardo Formosa and in Amsterdam with Ton de Leeuw.

Career Lim has been a guest lecturer at the Darmstadt Summer School, the University of California, San Diego, she is married to Daryl Buckley, its artistic director.

In February 2017, she was appointed to the composition unit at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where she is the Sculthorpe Chair of Australian Music.

Selected works

Stage works 1991–93 The Oresteia. A Memory Theatre, opera 1994–95 Bar-do'i-thos-grol, 7-night installation performance based on The Tibetan Book of the Dead, artist Domenico de Clario 1991–99 Yuè Lìng Jié (Moon Spirit Feasting), A Chinese ritual street opera, libretto by Beth Yahp 2005 Glass House Mountains, installation work with artist Judy Watson 2008 The Navigator, opera for 5 singers, 16 instruments and electronics, libretto by Patricia Sykes

Orchestra works 1994–95 Sri-Vidya, Utterances of Adoration for choir and orchestra 1996 The Alchemical Wedding for orchestra (22 instruments) 2001–02 Ecstatic Architecture, commissioned for the inaugural season at the Walt Disney Concert Hall 2004 Immer Fliessender (Ever Flowing), a companion-piece for Gustav Mahler's Ninth Symphony 2005 Flying Banner, "Fanfare" for orchestra, after Wang To 2005–06 The Compass for orchestra with flute and didgeridoo soloists 2010 Pearl, Ochre, Hair String for orchestra 2010 The Guest for orchestra with recorder soloist 2024 A Sutured World for orchestra and cello soloist, for Nicolas Altstaedt; co-commissioned by Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Amsterdam Cello Biennale, Casa da Música Porto 2006 Shimmer Songs for string quartet, harp, 3 percussion 2006 City of Falling Angels for 12 percussion 2007 Sensorium for soprano, C-tenor recorders, baroque harp, viola d'amore 2010–11 Tongue of the Invisible, a work for improvising pianist, baritone and 16 musicians 2014 Winding Bodies: 3 Knots for alto flute, bass clarinet, piano, percussion, violin, viola, violoncello and double bass

Chamber music 1996 Inguz (Fertility) for clarinet in A, violoncello 1997 The Heart's Ear for flute/piccolo, clarinet, violin I, violin II, viola, violoncello 1999 Sonorous Bodies for koto and voice solo, in collaboration with video artist Judith Wright 2004 In the Shadow's Light for string quartet, commissioned by Festival d'automne à Paris for the Kairos Quartett 2004–05 The Quickening for soprano and qin, commissioned by the Festival d'Automne à Paris 2008 Ochred String for oboe, viola, cello, double bass 2013–14 The Weaver's Knot for string quartet

Solo works 1992 Amulet for viola solo 1997 Philtre for Hardanger fiddle solo or retuned violin 2007 Wild Winged–one for solo trumpet 2007 Weaver–of–Fictions for alto Ganassi recorder 2007 The Long Forgetting for tenor Ganassi recorder 2008 Well of Dreams for solo alto trombone 2008 Sonorous Body for solo B clarinet 2011 Love Letter for solo instrument

Awards and nominations In 2007, Lim's Sydney Symphony Composer Residency was nominated for an APRA Classical Music Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Individual, her piece Mother Tongue was nominated for Best Composition by an Australian Composer, and her piece Flying Banner (After Wang To) won the Orchestral Work of the Year Award.

In 2018, Lim won the Don Banks Music Award, which honours a senior artist of high distinction who has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to music in Australia.

The 2026 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition ($100,000) was awarded to Lim for her cello concerto A Sutured World.

Other awards 1996 Australia Council fellowship 1996 Young Australian Creative Fellowship 2002 APRA Classical Music Award for Best Composition 2004 Paul Lowin Award for Ecstatic Architecture 2023 Member of the Order of Australia in the King's Birthday Honours 2024 Australian Laureate Fellowship 2026 13th Roche Commission