Wayne Siegel has written music in many genres ranging from electronic music to orchestral works, from chamber music to a full-length science fiction opera. Leading international artists, including the Kronos Quartet, Singcircle, Safri Duo and Harry Sparnaay, have commissioned works from him. His music has been performed widely throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia. Many of his works fall between genres, combining diverse cultural elements and compositional techniques, encompassing influences from folk music, rock and minimalism. He often uses computers for interactive sound and music, allowing performers, dancers and even the weather to control and influence his compositions.
Wayne Siegel was originally from California, where he was inspired by American folk music, blues and avant-garde rock. He studied music composition at the University of California at Santa Barbara in the early 1970’s. In 1974 he moved to Denmark to study composition with Per Nørgård. He settled in Denmark, where he has worked as a composer, performer, researcher, curator, promoter and teacher. In 1986 he became director of Denmark`s national electronic music center, DIEM. From 2003 to 2017 Siegel worked as professor of electronic music at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus. In 2013 he was awarded a life-long artist’s stipend from the Danish Ministry of Culture for outstanding artistic achievement and in 2017 he was appointed honorary professor at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus.
Read more about Wayne Siegel and his work in the Biography section. For detailed information in Danish see The Danish Composers’ Society