Cornelia Pesendorfer was born in Vienna, Austria and grew up in the small city of Eggenburg. She studied the Oboe at the Conservatory of Music and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Vienna. As a musician and an anthropologist she traveled the world to learn different cultures and music styles. She plays with Classical orchestras as well as jazz and cross over bands when she is not conducting the women choir „Die Chornissen“ based in Vienna and the Danube University choir based in the city of Krems Austria. She leads her own band called Sekelela, and the Band’s debut CD title „Afternoon in Matinangala“ was released in 2010. She is also a member of the trio BraZaMa.
Music
Since 2011: Conductor of the Campus Choir of the Danube University Krems
2010: Release of the CD „Afternoon in Matinangala“ of my own band SEKELELA
2009: Formation of the Vocaltrio BraZaMa together with Sheila Schmidhofer and Dana Tupinamba
2008: Formation of the band SEKELELA
Since 2001: Conductor of the Women’s choir „Die Chornissen“
Since 1999: Teacher of Oboe, Singing, Piano and Recorder
Since 1993: Musician in bands, orchestras and ensembles
Academic studies
2004: Master Studies for the Doctorate. Working title of the dissertation: Span of life in Tonga culture. Age-specific activities and their intracultural conceptualisations.
1994-03: Study of Cultural and Social Anthropology and Musicology at the University of Vienna, degree on the 18th of December 2003. Title of the diploma thesis: Kariba. Longterm consequences of forced resettlement in Zambia. Snapshots of the Tonga Culture during two fieldresearches 2000 and 2002.
1989-98: Study of the Viennese Oboe with Prof. Alexander Öhlberger and the piano with Prof. Karl Barth at the conservatory of music Vienna, Johannesgasse 4a, Diplom on the 18th of May 1998.
Fieldresearch
2009: Fieldresearch on the Tonga people in Zambia about informal and formal educational activities. Audio- und Videorecordings of Tonga-Music and Oral literature.
2007: Fieldresearch on the Tonga people in Zambia for the Phonogrammarchiv Vienna, the Austrian Audiovisual Research Archive. Numerous Audio- and Videorecordings of Tonga-Music and Oral literature.
2005: Fieldresearch for the Dissertation in Cultural and Social Anthropology about the Tonga people of the Gwembe-Valley in the Southern Province of Zambia and with Prof. Dr. Elizabeth Colson in Oakland, USA.
2002: Fieldresearch in Zambia about the forced resettlement of the Tonga people. Numerous Audio- and Videorecordings of the Tongapeople at Lake Kariba for the thesis in Cultural and Social Anthropology.
2000: Fieldresearch on the Tongapeople in Zambia. Acquisition of the Tongalanguage at the Institute for Cultural Research (Mukanzubo). Numerous Audiorecordings und ethnographical Videorecordings (Girlinitiation und Funeralceremony), which were archived at the Phonogrammarchiv of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
Lectures
2011: Lecture as part of „Workshop Psychotherapy: African, African, American and European Perspectives. Focus on Depression.“ Presentation about: Span of life in Tonga culture. Age-specific activities (Focus on Girl initiation, Death and its meaning and rituals) and their intracultural conceptualisations. At Sigmund Freud University Vienna.
2006: Project management of „Return to the Planet of the People“, an interdisciplinary synthesis of the arts, whereby music, theatre, film and science are connected. Performance on the 14th of October 2006 at Minoritenkirche Krems in the course of the festival named „Kontraste“.
2005: Organisation and Direction of the Symposium „Zambezi River Music. An encounter with the music of Southern Africa. Together with Prof. Dr. Gerhard Gensch at the centre for contemporary music at Danube-University Krems.
2005: Lecture as part of the Symposium „Zambezi River Music. An Encounter with the Music of Southern Africa at the Danube-University Krems entitled: „Tweende ku Zambezi – Ecology of the music-cultures and musical instruments along the Zambezi River.
2003: Lecture at the Phonogrammarchiv at the Austrian Acadamy of Sciences as part of the series „Fieldresearches in theory and practice“ in April 2003.
2003: Lecture at the Centre for Media in Vienna on the occasion of the series of conferences „Think Global“ in cooperation with the Institute for Cultural and Social Anthropology, University Vienna and Media Vienna on the subject „Black music and youth culture (Reggae, Rasta, HipHop)“ on 28th of November 2003.