Alexander, Leni (1924—)

German-born Chilean composer. Born on June 8, 1924, in Breslau, Germany (today Wroclaw, Poland); lived in Hamburg, Germany, until 1939 when forced by Nazi racial and political persecution to flee with her family to Chile; continued her musical studies in Santiago, concentrating on piano and cello; began to study composition (1949); became Chilean citizen (1952); studied in France and Italy (1954–55); returned to France (1969).

Had Adolf Hitler not seized power in Germany in 1933, Leni Alexander would likely have had a successful musical career in one of Germany's great cities. Instead, she grew up in a refugee culture in South America and returned to Europe as a mature artist on the threshold of an international career. By her early 20s, Alexander had decided to become a composer, and she studied with some of Chile's finest teachers. But Europe always beckoned, and a scholarship from the French government in 1954 enabled her to study in Paris with such eminent composers as René Leibowitz and Olivier Messiaen. During this period, she studied as well with other members of the European avant-garde, the Italian composers Luigi Nono and Bruno Maderna. Returning to Chile, she reviewed her earlier work and attempted to incorporate her European experiences into her new compositions. By 1959, Alexander was receiving commissions to compose ballet scores and other works. A Guggenheim fellowship in 1969 enabled her to return to France for further study. Because of the bloody military coup in Chile in 1973, Alexander was to remain in Europe, dividing her time between Paris and Cologne. As a modernist, she did not expect her compositions to become popular, but many of them gained her respect from fellow composers and small but growing circles of listeners. Her work included preparing programs for Radio France and teaching.

John Haag , Associate Professor of History, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia