Rita Ueda

Composer

orchestral, choral, operatic, and intercultural music

Rita Ueda is a Canadian composer based in Vancouver, the unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Notable recent works include let us not be the reason why someone out there is praying for peace (2020) and Birds Calling… From the Canada in You (2022), described as “… fresh, thoroughly Canadian, and breathtakingly original” (Musical America Worldwide). Winner of the 2022 Azrieli Prize in Canadian Music and the 2014 Penderecki International Composers’ Competition, her works have been premiered by the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Budapest MAV Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Prague Modern, and the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra. Ms. Ueda holds degrees from Simon Fraser University and the California Institute for the Arts, and she is currently completing her PhD at Durham University (UK).

“Thematically and technically, this work feels fresh, thoroughly Canadian, and breathtakingly original.”

~ Musical America Worldwide

Rita Ueda brings rigour and care to her music. Her proposal is well-researched and interesting in the ways that it confronts tensions in and between cultures…”

~ Azrieli Music Prize jury