Cathy Milliken is a composer and oboist. Initially she studied oboe and piano in her native Australia, and then in Freiburg under Heinz Holliger. She became a founding member of Ensemble Modern and performed with them across the globe. She has worked with composers such as György Ligeti; Heiner Goebbels; Helmut Lachenmann; Frank Zappa; and Karlheinz Stockhausen, and she recorded Stockhausen´s solo work “Spiral“ on CD. In 2019 she released her solo record TWO STEP (Tall Poppies Records), an improvisational compositional work in collaboration with friends. Starting in 1990 her compositions have included music theater works; instrumental and chamber music pieces; radio plays; installations; and theater and film music. She composed commissioned works for, among others, Staatsoper Berlin; Southbank Center London; Ensemble Resonanz; Ensemble Modern; Neue Vocalsolisten; and the “Musica Viva“ series of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. There followed awards such as, among others, Prix Marulic; YAMA Award; Australian ArtMusic Award; and Prix Italia (together with Dietmar Wiesner). She is working on new commissions with Ensemble Modern; Sydney Chamber Opera; Ensemble Offspring; London Sinfonietta; Asko Ensemble; Queensland Symphony Orchestra; and Musica Viva in Munich. From 2005 – 2012 she was the director of the educational program of the Berliner Philharmoniker. In addition to her compositional works, she is an internationally sought-after composer and director of participatory social art projects. She lives in Berlin and is a member of Ensemble Extracts. She was an associate composer with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra from 2018 – 2020, and she is currently working on her doctorate at Griffith University, Queensland.
