Caroline Charrière
Swiss composer, conductor, flautist and teacher Caroline Charrière was born in Fribourg on 26 December 1960. She studied flute with Pierre Wavre at the Institute of Advanced Musical Studies in Lausanne, and orchestration and composition with Jean Balissat. Later she studied flute with Aurèle Nicolet and at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.
She taught flute at Fribourg Conservatory, established a female choir, the Choeur de Jade, directed other choirs in Fribourg and wrote her own music.
From 2000 she concentrated on composing, and, the following year, established her reputation with Le livre de Job, an oratorio for mixed choir, soprano and bass soloists and orchestra. She wrote chamber music, choral and orchestral works, and her music has been played widely in Switzerland and abroad.
In 2017, with Awakening for wind quintet, she won second prize in the 'Aufbruch' contest for female composers.
Following a long illness, Caroline Charrière died on 1 October 2018, aged fifty-seven.