Biography

Early Life

Silvan Loher (born 1986) was born in Schaffhausen. He received his first musical training in his hometown; at the age of twelve, he began composing autodidactically.

Education

In 2006, he started his composition studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Basel with Georg Friedrich Haas and Jakob Ullmann. He attended masterclasses with Beat Furrer, Helmut Lachenmann, Chaya Czernowin, and Thomas Jennefelt. In 2013, he successfully completed his studies with a Master of Arts diploma in Composition and Music Theory. In November 2013, he was a finalist in the international composition competition “…a Camillo Togni” in Brescia, Italy, where he received the Jury’s Special Award.

Commissions and Performances

Since graduating, he has received numerous commissions from ensembles in Switzerland and abroad. His music has been performed in many European countries as well as in the United States and broadcast on the radio. Notable highlights include the full-length, multi-choir Messe für Muri, a commissioned work for the Muri Abbey Church (2016); the symphony GAIA for Sinfonisches Orchester Schweiz, commissioned by the Musik-Collegium Schaffhausen; works for the Basel ensemble Camerata Variabile (2017 and 2020) and for the Italian ensemble Il Continuo in Cremona (2016); commissioned pieces for the Bachfest Schaffhausen (2018), the Ars Braemia festival (2019), and the Swiss Chamber Music Festival Adelboden (2020); as well as collaborations with singers Maria Cristina Kiehr (CD album Nocturne, Label Solo Musica) and Silke Gäng (CD album Night, Sleep, Death and the Stars, produced in collaboration with Swiss Radio SRF and Odradek Records, 2017).

Oslo and Professional Memberships

Since 2017, Silvan Loher has lived in Oslo. He is a member of the Norwegian Composers’ Association (Norsk Komponistforening)) and SONART – Musikschaffende Schweiz (formerly the Swiss Tonkünstlerverein). In Norway, he has already received three work and creation grants, including a one-year work grant in 2022 from the Arts Council Norway (Kulturrådet), an agency of the Norwegian Ministry of Culture.