What a beautiful noise! KIWI CLAIRE'S SPELLBINDING TUNES

From pop songs to symphonies, the composer makes everything sound better

- Rebekah Hebenton

You may not recognise her face, but most Kiwis will have heard the sweeping melodies created by Claire Cowan.

The 40-year-old composer has won awards for her work scoring TV shows such as Under the Vines, has worked with the likes of Benee and Marlon Williams to put a classical spin on their hit songs, and holds the special privilege of being the first and only woman to compose a full-length ballet for the Royal New Zealand Ballet (RNZB).

Claire will never forget the day she received the life-changing request from the RNZB. Her longtime friend Loughlan Prior was choreographing the 2019 production of Hansel and Gretel, and convinced them they needed Claire to compose a new score.

Without actors saying dialogue, music is an essential part of telling the story in ballet and every movement of the dancers is built around the score. Most ballet companies choose to use music from classic composers as it is a costly and lengthy endeavour to commission one for a full-length ballet. The last time the RNZB had commissioned an original score was in 2007.

"I was extremely excited," Claire says. "It's been a life-long dream of mine to write a ballet. Loughlan convinced them it was a good idea to take a risk on a composer who hadn't written a ballet before, and I'm really honoured they trusted me with such an enormous task.