Salina Fisher is one of Aotearoa New Zealand's most internationally programmed and performed composers, her works performed around the world by leading musicians and ensembles. A multi-instrumentalist of mixed Japanese heritage, her highly evocative music often involves collaborations, notably with taonga pūoro musicians. She finds lyricism in unusual timbres and extended tonalities, and has been noted for her "extraordinary sense of colour and texture" (New Zealand Herald).
Her works have been commissioned by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, New Zealand String Quartet, NZTrio, Marmen Quartet, and violinist Alexi Kenney, among others, and performed by major symphony orchestras across North America, Europe, and Australasia including the Helsinki Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra (Canada), MDR Leipzig, Dallas Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and Juilliard Orchestra, often under the direction of conductors Gemma New and Tianyi Lu. Her music has been heard at venues including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Philharmonie Berlin, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Tanglewood Music Festival. Her solo works have also been programmed by the New York Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra.
In 2026, Salina was commissioned to write the new New Zealand work for the Michael Hill International Violin Competition, to be performed by all sixteen quarter-finalists. Other recent highlights include Papatūānuku, for taonga pūoro and orchestra, co-composed with Jerome Kavanagh Poutama, which has received numerous performances across New Zealand and internationally, and her pieces Kintsugi, Rainphase, and Heal selected by choreographer Jessica Lang as the score for Pacific Northwest Ballet's Black Wave in 2024. That same year she was named one of New Zealand Listener's "50 Most Inspiring People".
Salina has received numerous honours including the SOUNZ Contemporary Award (2016, 2017), Arts Foundation New Generation Award, FAME Trust Mid-Career Award (2025), Composers Association of New Zealand Trust Fund Award, and a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the Manhattan School of Music, where she was awarded the Carl Kanter Prize for Orchestral Composition. She has held composer-in-residence roles with New Zealand School of Music – Te Kōkī, Victoria University of Wellington, At the World's Edge Festival, Chamber Music Festival of Lexington, University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, and NZSO National Youth Orchestra, and has lectured in composition and orchestration at New Zealand School of Music as Teaching Fellow in Composition.
Salina enjoys improvising on violin and koto, and collaborating across artistic disciplines including poetry, film, and ceramics. She has performed in the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra as a violinist, and has also worked as an orchestrator on their projects with Te Reo metal band Alien Weaponry and singer-songwriter Ria Hall. She is a member of Moth Quartet, an experimental composer-performer string quartet and nominees for the 2026 Aotearoa Music Awards. She has mentored emerging composers through AWE Festival, NZSO National Youth Orchestra, and the APRA Aotearoa Mentorship Programme.
Short bio (150 words)
Salina Fisher is one of Aotearoa's most internationally programmed and performed composers, her works performed around the world by leading musicians and ensembles. A multi-instrumentalist of mixed Japanese heritage, her highly evocative music often involves collaborations, notably with taonga pūoro musicians. Her works have been commissioned by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, New Zealand String Quartet, and NZTrio, among others, and performed by major symphony orchestras across North America, Europe, and Australasia at venues including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Philharmonie Berlin, and Tanglewood Music Festival. She is a member of Moth Quartet, nominees for the 2026 Aotearoa Music Awards. She has received numerous honours including multiple SOUNZ Contemporary Awards and an Arts Foundation New Generation Award. A Fulbright Scholar, she holds a Master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music and has lectured in composition and orchestration at NZSM.
May 2026