Iris ter Schiphorst

Iris ter Schiphorst (born 22 May 1956) is a German composer and musician. Early life Iris ter Schiphorst was born in Hamburg into a middle-class family, her father a Dutch technician and her mother a German pianist. She describes music as her “second mother tongue” (“zweite Muttersprache”). She began taking piano lessons, initially from her mother, after her early hopes of becoming a dancer were thwarted by injury. She continued her piano studies at the Bremen Musikhochschule from 1973 to 1978, and embarked on a busy schedule of concert performances. She then spent two years (1978–1980) travelling in Europe and Africa, an experience that transformed her social and musical outlook. On returning to Germany she began playing in rock bands, including Bremen’s all-female Seven Kick the Can. She remained active in rock music from 1980 to 1986, as keyboardist, bassist, drummer, and sound engineer. ter Schiphorst moved to Berlin in 1984 and from 1986 studied humanities (theatre studies, cultural studies, and philosophy) at the Freie Universität Berlin, later transferring to Humboldt-Universität. She also attended seminars with composers Dieter Schnebel and Luigi Nono and musicologist Helga