Eleanor Hovda was born in Duluth, Minnesota in 1940. She studied composition with Mel Powell, Kenneth Gaburo, and Karlheinz Stockhausen, and dance with Bessie Schonberg, Erick Hawkins, and Merce Cunningham. She holds an a B.A. from the American University and an M.F.A. from Sarah Lawrence College, and also studied at Yale and the University of Illinois. She has taught at Princeton, Wesleyan, Sarah Lawrence, and the American Dance Festival, and has served as Executive Director of the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council in Minnesota and as Composer Liaison at the Minnesota Composers Forum. Hovda currently works in New York.

Hovda's works have been performed extensively in the US and Europe by ensembles such as Boston Music Viva, California Ear Unit, Cassatt String Quartet, Bang on a Can, Zeitgeist, Kronos Quartet, Klangforum Vienna, Netherlands Wind Ensemble, and mant others. Her work has been featured at festivals worldwide. She has collaborated frequently with choreographers, composing works for dance, inlcuding the The Nancy Meehan Dance Co. and the White Oak Dance Project. Hovda also participates in workshops and residencies around the country.