Rebecca Saunders is a British composer and classical violinist, born in London on December 19, 1967. She studied violin and composition at the University of Edinburgh, then studied with Wolfgang Rihm at Karlsruhe University of Music on a scholarship from 1991 to 1994. From 1994 to 1997, she continued her studies at the University of Edinburgh with Nigel Osborne.
Saunders was a guest composer at the Dortmund Concert Hall in 2005–2006, with the Saxon State Orchestra Dresden in 2009–2010, and at the Huddersfield Music Festival in 2010.
Her works include Mirror, mirror on the wall for solo piano (1994), Molly’s Song 3 — Shades of Crimson (1995), Quartet (1998), Albescere (2001), Vermilion and chroma (2003), and insideout, music for a choreographic installation by Sasha Waltz (2003). Later works include Choler, Miniata, Rubricate and Blue and Gray (2004–2005), a visible trace (2006), Soliloquy (2007), Company (2008), and still for violin and symphony orchestra (2011).
Her awards include the Busoni Composition Prize (1994), the Siemens Advancement Award (1996), the Hindemith Prize (2003), the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for chamber composition (2008), the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize (2019), the Mauricio Kagel Music Prize (2015), and the Sibelius Prize (2026).