Camilla Hoitenga talks about Kaija Saariaho

” In 1982, Kaija Saariaho and I were each a participant at the International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt, Germany. We met in the first week while we were waiting in line for lunch at the cantine. I don’t remember what we spoke of, though Kaija remembers I spoke to her first. I remember she was a striking figure in a long black dress and long, flat, black shoes. (The rest of us were in shirts, jeans and sandals….). Be that as it may, I learned that she was a composer and she learned that I was a flutist. The composer-teachers of that first week were what we called the “French Contingency”, notably Gerard Grisey, Tristan Murail, and Michael Levinas, and we enjoyed visiting their courses and concerts and socializing with them afterwards. Kaija had just moved to Paris to study at IRCAM and I was also a big fan of Paris, so already we had our interest in this city and French culture in common.” Camilla Hoitenga