Hannah Kendall

Hannah Kendall (born 1984)

Born in London in 1984, Hannah is currently based in New York City as a Doctoral Fellow in composition at Columbia University.

Described as “…intricately and skillfully wrought” by The Sunday Times, Hannah’s music has attracted the attentions of some of the UK’s finest groups.

Hannah's works have been broadcast on BBC Radio, on the programs 'Composer of the Week' in March 2015 and 'Hear and Now' in October 2016. In 2015, Hannah won the Women of the Future Award for Arts and Culture. 

Her recent projects include a one-man chamber opera, The Knife of Dawn, which premiered at London's Roundhouse in October 2016. Based on the Guyanese/Caribbean political activist and poet Martin Carter, set to a new libretto by award-winning author Tessa McWatt, and directed by John Walton, it was described as being “dramatically intense and atmospheric, a powerful snapshot of a poet incarcerated in British Guyana” by The Stage. The Spark Catchers, an orchestral piece for Chineke! Orchestra, was premiered at the Royal Albert Hall in August 2017 as part of the BBC Proms, was described as “imaginatively intricate” by the Financial Times. Verdala for London Sinfonietta, conducted by George Benjamin at the 2018 Proms, was described as having a “strikingly original form” by the Daily Telegraph; and also Disillusioned Dreamer written for the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, was described by the San Fransisco Chronicle as “...teem[ing] with passages of brilliant instrumental colors...and harmonies boast[ing] surprising edges and a rich inner life…”.

Hannah is deeply committed to contemporary culture as a whole and often works collaboratively with artists from other art forms.