Salina Fisher

Salina Fisher is a Wellington-based composer and violinist of New Zealand and Japanese heritage. Her music has been performed throughout New Zealand and in the USA, UK, Germany, Australia, Malta, and China, with performances and commissions from ensembles including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand String Quartet, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, NZSO National Youth Orchestra, Stroma New Music Ensemble, Mimosa Ensemble, and Lazarus String Quartet.

Fisher’s gift for music was apparent from a very young age. After developing a fascination with her family’s piano at the age of four, she began formal lessons and a year later was also learning the violin. Fisher’s violin teacher observed her advanced grasp of composition and musicianship, which led to Fisher sitting grade 7 performance and grade 5 music theory examinations at the age of seven. At eight, Fisher was the youngest of six composers to have their music performed by the visiting Netherlands Wind Ensemble at the Wellington Town Hall as part of the 2002 New Zealand Festival. Fisher joined the group on stage for their performance of her work, Suite No.1 (2002), playing violin and piano. Later that year a re-orchestrated version of Suite No. 1 was performed by the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra.

Instead of staying on for her final year of high school, Fisher began studying composition and violin performance at the New Zealand School of Music. Under the tutelage of John Psathas and Michael Norris, she completed a Postgraduate Diploma (with Distinction) in 2014. Fisher was the Overall Winner of the NZSO Todd Young Composer Award in both 2013 and 2014, and also received the Orchestra’s Choice Award for her work Blushing Skies. In 2014-2015 she was Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra’s ‘Rising Star’ Young Composer-in-Residence. In 2015, violist Bryony Gibson-Cornish’s performance of her work Reflect for solo viola was awarded the ‘Best Performance of a New Zealand Work’ award at the Gisborne International Music Competition. In 2016, Fisher became the youngest ever winner of the SOUNZ Contemporary Award, New Zealand’s premier composition prize, for her orchestral work Rainphase, which was written during her time as the 2015 NZSO National Youth Orchestra’s Composer-in-Residence.

Fisher has performed on traditional Japanese instruments koto, taiko, and shamisen, and has recently begun exploring taonga puoro, the traditional Maori instruments of New Zealand. Her work Torino, commissioned in 2016 by Chamber Music New Zealand for performance by the New Zealand String Quartet, is inspired by the putorino playing of Taonga Puoro musician Rob Thorne. Fisher has also written for film, scoring the 2016 short film Misimpressions.

Speaking about her compositional style and influences, Fisher states: ”I’m hesitant to define my musical style or philosophy in any way; not only because I’m at an early stage in my career, but also because what I love about composition is the continuous exploration and discovery of new ideas. I try to keep my mind open to all kinds of inspiration; to grow an idea as naturally as I can, whatever it may be. Each new piece presents an entirely new set of challenges, and sends me on an unpredictable and ultimately rewarding journey. So far, I’ve been interested in exploring the musical traditions of Japan and New Zealand, and experimenting with timbre and colour, particularly through the use of extended techniques. I’m drawn to (non-Western) modal harmonies, pitch-bending, “beatless-ness” and space; as well as sounds that could be described as fragile or haunting. My experience as a performer undoubtedly influences my writing, which often begins through improvisation with the violin, piano or voice.”

As a violinist, Fisher has frequently performed as a casual player with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra since 2012, including their Complete Beethoven Symphonies tour and their recording of the soundtracks to The Hobbit films. She has been a member of the NZSO National Youth Orchestra since 2010 and was Concertmaster in 2012-13. She has had lessons with world-class violinists including Nicola Benedetti, Pietari Inkinen, and Pinchas Zukerman, and was a finalist in the 2013 New Zealand School of Music Concerto Competition. She also holds an ABRSM Diploma in Piano Performance.