ABOUT

Susanna Ridler works as a composer, vocalist and producer for film, theatre, radio drama and contemporary music.

A poetic approach to storytelling and the search for atmospheric sonic landscapes connect her diverse musical worlds. Her work moves between contemporary composition, electronics, jazz, improvisation and art pop.

Electronic and jazz-oriented productions are released under the project name [koe:r], while her contemporary compositions and literary settings are published under her own name.

Susanna Ridler studied acting in Vienna as well as music and voice in Maastricht, Amsterdam and Los Angeles.

Computers and electronic sound generation became part of her musical vocabulary at an early stage. Through years of experimentation, she developed a distinctive artistic language that brings together acoustic instruments, voice and electronic sound worlds. Composition and sound design form the core of her artistic practice, while improvisation—shaped by her background in jazz—remains an important source of inspiration.

At the heart of her work lies the search for the emotional core of a text, a film or a theatrical scene.

“I always strive to illuminate the emotional core of a text, a film or a theatrical scene through my musical language. I set no limits for myself in this process. Any musical means—from sound and noise to a substantial yet accessible melody—is welcome if it serves the content.”

This artistic approach shapes her work for film, theatre and radio drama as well as her vocal, chamber and electronic compositions.

Her long-standing artistic engagement with the work of the Austrian writer Gert Jonke opened up new ways of exploring language as musical and vocal material. Among the resulting works is Geometry of the Soul – A Musical Homage to Gert Jonke, nominated for the German Record Critics’ Award in 2021.

Rolling Stone magazine described the album Susystems, released under her project [koe:r], as “straight into the realm of masterstrokes,” praising its refined dialogue between acoustic and digital sound aesthetics, featuring musicians including Peter Herbert and Wolfgang Puschnig.

Whether writing chamber music for the ensemble XXI. jahrhundert or creating literary settings with a computer-generated “Pocket Orchestra,” Ridler combines tradition and contemporary expression in a distinctive musical language.

As a vocalist and live performer, she integrates extended vocal techniques with electronic sound processing. “Emotion, expression and meaning are essential to me.”

Since 2008 she has released numerous productions on her label Electroland Records Vienna, including [koe:r] (2008), Tachycardia Remix EP (2009), Susystems (2012), and the three-part reissue of Geometrie der Seele, comprising Chlorophyllklang, Der Sprachkompononist and Radio Jonke, released in 2026 to mark what would have been Gert Jonke’s 80th birthday.

In 2025 she composed a large-scale musical adaptation of Helena Adler’s novel Fretten, commissioned by Festival Retz, which led to the creation of the ensemble VoCe Plus and the exploration of a new sonic language.

In the same year, she composed the score for the documentary film sich langsam nähern, directed by Maria Arlamovsky.

For Susanna Ridler, music unfolds in the space between word, sound and atmosphere—between stage, studio and cinema.