Phoebe Bognár is an Australian-born flutist, performer, improviser and composer, based in Basel, Switzerland.

Known for their creative vibrancy and fluidity, Phoebe embraces a wide spectrum of artistic avenues and entities throughout their projects and practice. They investigate corporeality and the relationship between the self, the instrument, place, and each other; applying various flutes, instrument preparations and alterations, voice, objects, environments, and their own body. 

Phoebe is active as a performer in solo, ensemble and orchestral contexts and feels equally at home on stage with and without a flute. Phoebe has performed across the globe renowned venues including the Berlin Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie, KKL Luzern, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Theater Basel and Philharmonie Warsaw. They have performed in a wide range of Festivals notably in the Warsaw Autumn (PL); Lucerne Festival, Zeiträume Festival (CH), Berliner Festspiel, Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik, cresc… Biennale, Ultraschall Berlin, Acht Brücken (DE); Ultima Contemporary Music Festival (NO); Gaudeamus Festival (NL); Rainy Days Festival Philharmonie Luxembourg; Göteborg Arts Sounds Festival (SE) Sydney Festival & Queensland Music Festival (AU).

They are a member of the Freiburg-based contemporary music group Ensemble Aventure, a chamber ensemble founded in 1986 with an innovative approach to contemporary chamber music, education, and outreach. In addition, they have worked with numerous ensembles, including Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Recherche and the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra.

Phoebe delights in collaborating with other creatives and engaging in interdisciplinary projects. Their current projects include ongoing collaborations with composer Anna Sowa. Phoebe is invested into exploring different and new perspectives within the arts, through developing and performing new works and collaborating with composers and artists of various backgrounds and identities. They have performed numerous world-premiers to date including Liza Lim, Tyshawn Sorey, Thomas Adès, Bettina Skrzypczak, Hannes Seidl, Beat Furrer, Øyvind Torvund. They have also worked alongside composers on existing works including Kaija Saariaho, Sir George Benjamin, Unsuk Chin and Michael Gordon to name a few. Collaboration is at the core of their creative practice, and they work closely with creatives of various disciplines on works that reflect upon corporeality, identity, memory, ecology, and society.

Phoebe is also an experienced practitioner in music mediation and education projects across various ages and genres. Inviting all into the music-making process and empowering new ways to make music in everyday life is a deep passion of theirs. Through building DIY instruments, graphic scores, sound painting, field recordings and improvisation with everyday objects, Phoebe engages with communities to find their unique musical voice using their surroundings and imagination. They have led workshops and given concerts with Lucerne Festival, Tönstör, Gartenkonzerte series and Ensemble Aventure amongst others.

As a composer, Phoebe experiments with notation, employing graphic scores, aural scores and personalized click tracks, site-specific compositions, and installations. Their works have been played by various artists and ensemble in events and venues including the Center for New Music (USA), Theater Basel (CH), Darmstadt Ferienkurse (DE), KunstKulturKirche (DE), BuchBasel Festival (CH), Hochschule für Musik Basel (CH), Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University (AU) & Nief-Norf Summer Music Festival ‘Norf-Space’ (USA). They are a recipient of the APRA AMCOS Art Music Fund 2025, where they will write a new work for Melbourne-based Rubiks Collective.

Phoebe has received generous support from foundations and awards including Foundation Nicati-de Luze, Ian Potter Cultural Trust, Hirschmann Stipendium, Australia Council for the Arts , Arts Queensland, Create NSW for their studies and projects abroad. Phoebe is also a recipient of the Fritz Gerber Prize 2024, which is awarded by Michael Haefliger, the director of the Lucerne Festival, and the composer Heinz Holliger. In 2025, they were awarded second prize (ex aequo) in the Concours Nicati Interpretation Solo category. The jury awarded Phoebe on the basis of their “progressive courage and bold artistic choices. An excellent performer and interpreter, they conveyed an authentic and musically compelling and deeply embodied performance in every work, consistently seeking new forms of expression.”

In 2018, Phoebe completed their Bachelor of Music studies in flute performance at Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University under the tutelage of Virginia Taylor. They proceeded to study with the flutist, author and pedagogue Trevor Wye at his ‘Flute Studio’ in England. In 2022, they completed their Master of Arts majoring in Contemporary Music at Hochschüle für Musik Basel where they were part of the ensemble zone expérimentale, Sonic Space and Ensemble DIAGONAL. Following their studies in Basel, Phoebe won the flute position for the 2022-23 International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA), where they performed in various projects with Ensemble Modern and fellow academists in many concerts and festivals. In 2023, they were nominated by award-winning flutist Claire Chase for the first edition of the Density Fellowship, where they have presented selected Density commission works in their own projects. Other professional development opportunities include Darmstadt Fereinkurs (DE), the Bang on a Can Summer Festival (USA); the Musiikin Aika Time of Music Festival Academy (FI),the Australian Arts Orchestra Mentorship program (mentored by Aviva Endean) and the Ensemble Offspring Mentorship (mentored by Claire Edwardes).

Through art, Phoebe endeavours to weave new connections and understandings– to each other and the world we live in.

For use of this biography for press release and publicity please use the contact form provided. Biographies of varying lengths available at request.

Photos also provided on request.
Website photos taken by Reza Kaviani.

Phoebe acknowledges the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation as the first inhabitants and the Traditional Custodians of the lands where they were born, paying respect to Elders past, present and emerging, and their ongoing connection to country. Sovereignty was never ceded.