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Hildegard Westerkamp, born in Osnabrück, Germany in 1946, emigrated to Canada in 1968 and became a prominent figure in the field of acoustic ecology. After completing her music studies in the early seventies, she shifted her focus from music to the broader cultural context of the acoustic environment, emphasizing intense listening. A composer, educator, and radio artist, Westerkamp's work has centered on environmental sound since the mid-seventies. She taught Acoustic Communication at Simon Fraser University from 1981 to 1991 and has conducted soundscape workshops internationally. As a founding member of the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology (WFAE) established in 1993, she served as the editor of The Soundscape Newsletter from 1991 to 1995 and is currently on the editorial committee of Soundscape—The Journal of Acoustic Ecology. Westerkamp's compositions explore various aspects of the acoustic environment, including urban, rural, and wilderness soundscapes, as well as the voices of diverse communities. She has created film soundtracks, sound documents for radio, and hosted programs like Soundwalking and Musica Nova on Vancouver Co-operative Radio. Her works often integrate environmental sounds with the poetry of Canadian writer Norbert Ruebsaat, and she has written her own texts for performance pieces that combine spoken text and tape. Notable projects include site-specific works such as the Harbour Symphony (1986) and École polytechnique (1990). In her

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