This is a list of Australian musical composers.

Romantic

Isaac Nathan Isaac Nathan (179215 January 1864) was an English composer, musicologist, journalist and self-publicist, who has been called the "father of Australian music", having assisted the careers of numerous colonial musicians during his twenty year resi ...

(1790–1864) * Carl Ferdinand August Linger (1810–1862) *

Charles Sandys Packer Charles Sandys Stuart Shipley Packer (1810–1883), commonly referred to as Charles S. Packer, was an Australian classical music composer, born in Reading, Berkshire, England. He was a graduate of The Royal Academy of Music in London. Packer was c ...

(1810–1883) *

Francis Hartwell Henslowe Francis Hartwell Henslowe (1811–1878) was a British-born civil servant, business manager and composer who worked in England, Australia and India. Born in England, Henslowe was the son of Edward Prentis Henslowe (1772–1857) and Cecilia Maria ...

(1811–1878) *

William Vincent Wallace William Vincent Wallace (11 March 1812 – 12 October 1865) was an Irish composer and pianist. In his day, he was famous on three continents as a double virtuoso on violin and piano. Nowadays, he is mainly remembered as an opera composer of n ...

(1812–1865) *

Rosendo Salvado Rosendo Salvado Rotea OSB (1 March 1814 – 29 December 1900) was a Spanish Benedictine monk, missionary, bishop, pianist, composer, author, founder and first abbot of the Territorial Abbey of New Norcia in Western Australia. Salvado introduced ...

(1814–1900) * William Stanley (1820–1902) *

Charles Edward Horsley Charles Edward Horsley (16 December 1822 – 28 February 1876), English musician, was the son of William Horsley, and the grandson of John Wall Callcott. Horsley was depicted as the composer Auchester in Elizabeth Sara Sheppard's novel ''Charl ...

(1822–1876) * Frederick Ellard (1824–1874) * Siede, Julius (1825–1903) * Paolo Giorza (1832–1914) * William Robinson (1834–1897) *

George William Torrance George William Torrance (25 July 1835 – 20 August 1907) was an Irish composer, mainly of church music, who was resident in Australia for many years. Early life Torrance was born in Rathmines, Dublin, and became a choirboy at Christ Church Ca ...

(1835–1907) *

Frederick Augustus Packer Frederick Augustus Gow Packer (1839 – 1 August 1902), generally referred to as F. A. Packer but also Frederick Gow Packer, was an Australian composer of Anglican spiritual and romantic music. History Packer was born in Reading, Berkshire, of a ...

(1839–1902) * Joseph Summers (1839–1917) * Leon Francois Victor Caron (1850–1907) *

Moritz Heuzenroeder Moritz Heuzenroeder (15 July 1849 – 10 November 1897) was a pianist, composer and teacher of music born in Germany who had a substantial career in South Australia. History Moritz Heuzenroeder was born in Ottersberg the youngest son of Dr. Fer ...

(1849–1897) * MacCarthy, Charles William (1848–1919) * Guglielmo Enrico Lardelli (1850–1910) *

Alice Charbonnet-Kellermann Alice Ellen Lauentine Charbonnet (12 October 1858, Cincinnati, Ohio – 1 June 1914, Paris, France) was an Australian composer of romantic and classical music. Her father was a French judge, and her formative years were spent in a variety of c ...

(1850–1913) *

John Albert Delany John Albert Delany (6 July 185211 May 1907), usually referred to as John A. Delany, was an organist and composer in Sydney, Australia, a champion of choral music. He has been called "Australia's greatest musician" and "The Australian Gounod". H ...

(1852–1907) * Cawthorne, Charles Wittowitto (1854–1925) * Barnett, Neville George (1854–1895) * Hermann Rosendoff (1860–1935) *

John Lemmone John Lemmone (22 June 1861 – 16 August 1949) was an Australian flute player and composer who was largely self-taught and who at the age of 12, paid for his first flute with gold he had panned himself on the goldfields at Ballarat. He had an in ...

(1861–1949) * Mona McBurney (1862–1932) *

Georgette Peterson Georgette Augusta Christina Peterson (1863 – 19 April 1947) was a Hungarian-born composer, singer and pianist. Best known as Georgette Peterson, she conducted a choir of 1300 women at the 1907 Australian Exhibition of Women's Work. Life Ge ...

(1863–1947) *

Florence Maude Ewart Florence Maude Ewart (16 November 1864c.8 November 1949) was an English violinist, music educator and composer who lived and worked in Australia. Biography Florence Donaldson was born in Kentish Town, London, the daughter of accountant Frederi ...

(1864–1949) * Alfred Wheeler (composer) (1865–1949) * George Howard Clutsam (1866–1951) * Jack (Moolbong) Johnson (1868–1943) * Alfred Hill (1869-1960) * Alex Frame Lithgow (1870–1929) * Vince Courtney (unknown active 1907–1939) * Ernest Truman *

(1870–1900) * Johannes Heyer (1872–1945) *

Fritz Hart Fritz Bennicke Hart (11 February 1874 – 9 July 1949) was an English composer, conductor, teacher and unpublished novelist, who spent considerable periods in Australia and Hawaii. Early life Hart was born in Brockley, originally in the English ...

(1874–1949) *

Louis Lavater ] Louis Isidore Lavater (2 March 1867 – 22 May 1953) was an Australian composer and author born in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, of Swiss-Swedish extraction. He published more than a hundred musical works, beginning in 1880 with the waltz '' ...

(1876–1953) * Reginald Stoneham, Reginald Alberto Agrati Stoneham (1879–1942) *

Frederick Septimus Kelly Frederick Septimus Kelly (29 May 1881 – 13 November 1916) was an Australian and British musician and composer and a rower who competed for Britain in the 1908 Summer Olympics. He joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during WWI and, aft ...

(1881–1916 killed in action) * Hooper Brewster-Jones (1887–1949) *

Percy Code Edward Percival "Percy" Code (3 July 1888 – 16 October 1953) was an Australian classical composer and musician, specialising in cornet and trumpet. He is best known for his compositions for brass band, including many solo works. Biography Perc ...

(1888–1953) * Horace Keats (1895–1945) * John (Jack) Sinclair Lumsdaine (1895–1948) * Walter Marwood Du Boulay (1898–1947) * Hugo Alpen (1842–1917) *

Thomas Bulch Thomas Edward Bulch (30 December 1862 – 13 November 1930) was an English-born Australian musician and composer. Biography Bulch was born in New Shildon, Durham, one of thirteen children, living at 48 Adelaide Street, New Shildon. His fath ...

(1862–1930) *

Roy Agnew Roy Ewing "Robert" Agnew (23 August 1891 – 12 November 1944) was an Australian composer, pianist, teacher, and radio announcer. He was described as "the most outstanding of the early twentieth-century Australian composers" by Morris Hinson.Hin ...

(1891–1944) * Stephen Moreno (1889–1953) * Walter James Redfern Turner (1889–1946) * Leo Paul Schramm (1892–1953) * Thomas Wood (1892–1950)

Modern/contemporary

* Mirrie Hill (1889–1986) *

Arthur Benjamin Arthur Leslie Benjamin (18 September 1893 in Sydney – 10 April 1960 in London) was an Australian composer, pianist, conductor and teacher. He is best known as the composer of ''Jamaican Rumba'' (1938) and of the '' Storm Clouds Cantata'', fea ...

(1893–1960) *

John Antill John Henry Antill, CMG, OBE (8 April 190429 December 1986) was an Australian composer best known for his ballet ''Corroboree''. Biography Antill was born in Sydney in 1904, and was educated and trained in music at Trinity Grammar School, Sydn ...

(1904–1986) * Charles Zwar (1911–1989) *

Peggy Glanville-Hicks Peggy Winsome Glanville-Hicks (29 December 191225 June 1990) was an Australian composer and music critic. Biography Peggy Glanville Hicks, born in Melbourne, first studied composition with Fritz Hart at the Albert Street Conservatorium in M ...

(1912–1990) * Alfred Hill (1869–1960) *

Dulcie Holland Dulcie Sybil Holland AM (5 January 1913 – 21 May 2000) was an Australian composer and music educator. Best known for her contributions to music education through her involvement with the Australian Music Examinations Board, Holland has in ...

(1913–2000) * Miriam Hyde (1913–2005) *

Peter Sculthorpe Peter Joshua Sculthorpe (29 April 1929 – 8 August 2014) was an Australian composer. Much of his music resulted from an interest in the music of countries neighbouring Australia as well as from the impulse to bring together aspects of Aborigi ...

(1929–2014) * John Carmichael (born 1930) *

Malcolm Williamson Malcolm Benjamin Graham Christopher Williamson, (21 November 19312 March 2003) was an Australian composer. He was the Master of the Queen's Music from 1975 until his death. According to ''Grove Music Online'', although Williamson's earlier co ...

(1931–2003) *

Betty Beath Elizabeth Margaret Beath, née Eardley, (born 19 November 1932) is an Australian composer, pianist, and music educator. Life and career Betty Beath was born in Bundaberg, Queensland, and began piano lessons at the age of three. She was twice a ...

(born 1932) *

Michael Brimer Michael Brimer (8 August 1933 – 7 March 2023) was a South African-Australian pianist, organist, conductor, composer, musicologist, and academic. Biography Brimer was born in South Africa and studied with Eleanor Bonnar, a pupil of Leopold Godow ...

(born 1933) *

Colin Brumby Colin James Brumby (18 June 1933 – 3 January 2018) was an Australian composer and conductor. Biography Brumby was born in Melbourne and educated at the Glen Iris State School, Spring Road Central School, and Melbourne Boys' High School. He s ...

(1933–2018) * Don Kay (born 1933) *

Larry Sitsky Lazar "Larry" Sitsky (born 10 September 1934) is an Australian composer, pianist, and music educator and scholar. Sitsky was the first Australian to be invited to the USSR on a cultural exchange visit, organised by the Australian Department ...

(born 1933) * Ann Carr-Boyd (born 1938) *

Philip Bračanin Philip Bračanin (born 26 May 1942) is an Australian composer and musicologist. Life Bračanin was born in Kalgoorlie, the son of Croatian immigrants. His early musical studies were with Miss Olive Ruane, and he graduated from the University of ...

(born 1942) *

Ross Edwards Ross Edwards may refer to: * Ross Edwards (cricketer) (born 1942), Australian cricketer *Ross Edwards (composer) Ross Edwards (born 23 December 1943) is an Australian composer of a wide variety of music including orchestral and chamber music ...

(born 1943) * Alison Bauld (born 1944) *

Barry Conyngham Barry Ernest Conyngham (born 27 August 1944) is an Australian composer and academic. He has over 70 published works and over 30 recordings featuring his compositions, and his works have been premiered or performed in Australia, Japan, North and ...

(born 1944) * George Palmer (born 1947) *

Brenton Broadstock Brenton Thomas Broadstock (born 12 December 1952) is an Australian composer. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia on Australia Day in 2014 for "significant service to music as a composer, educator and mentor". Biography From 1 ...

(born 1952) *

Carl Vine Carl Edward Vine, (born 8 October 1954) is an Australian composer of contemporary classical music. From 1975 he has worked as a freelance pianist and composer with a variety of theatre and dance companies, and ensembles. Vine's catalogue inclu ...

(born 1954) * Andrew Ford (born 1957) *

Elena Kats-Chernin Elena Davidovna Kats-Chernin (born 4 November 1957) is an Uzbek-born Australian composer and pianist, best known for her ballet ''Wild Swans''. Early life and education Elena Kats-Chernin was born in Tashkent (now the capital of independent Uz ...

(born 1957) *

Nigel Westlake Nigel Westlake (born 6 September 1958) is an Australian composer, musician and conductor. As a composer for the screen, his film credits include the feature films ''Ali's Wedding'', ''Paper Planes'', ''Miss Potter'', ''Babe'', '' Babe: Pig in the ...

(born 1958) *

Andrew Schultz Andrew Schultz (born 18 August 1960 in Adelaide, South Australia) is an Australian classical composer. He has, since 2008, lived in Sydney, New South Wales. He studied at the Universities of Queensland and Pennsylvania and at King's College Lond ...

(born 1960) *

Brett Dean Brett Dean (born 23 October 1961) is an Australian composer, violist and conductor. Early life Brett Dean was born, raised, and educated in Brisbane. He attended Brisbane State High School. He started learning violin at age 8, and later stu ...

(born 1961) *

Mary Finsterer Mary Finsterer (born 25 August 1962) is an Australian composer and academic. Life Finsterer was born in Canberra in 1962. She graduated in 1987 with a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Melbourne. A recipient of the Royal Netherlan ...

(born 1962) *

Deborah Cheetham Deborah Joy Cheetham Fraillon (born Deborah Joy Cheetham, 1964) is an Aboriginal Australian soprano, composer, and playwright. She leads Short Black Opera, based in Melbourne, which provides training and opportunities for emerging Aboriginal a ...

(born 1964) *

Georges Lentz Georges Lentz is a contemporary composer and sound artist born in Luxembourg in 1965 and that country's internationally best known composer. Since 1990, he has been living in Sydney, Australia. Despite his relatively small output and his reclusi ...

(born 1965) *

Constantine Koukias Constantine Koukias (born 14 October 1965) is a Tasmanian composer and opera director of Greek ancestry based in Amsterdam, where he is known by his Greek name of Konstantin Koukias. He is the co-founder and artistic director of IHOS Music The ...

(born 1965) *

Liza Lim Liza Lim (born 30 August 1966) is an Australian composer. Lim writes concert music ( chamber and orchestral works) as well as music theatre and has collaborated with artists on installation and video projects. Her work reflects her interests in ...

(born 1966) *

Katia Tiutiunnik Katia Tiutiunnik (born 19 March 1967 in Sydney, Australia) is an Australian composer, scholar and violist. She is of Russian, Ukrainian and Irish descent. Education Katia Tiutiunnik's high school education was completed at Our Lady of Mercy C ...

(born 1967) * David Banney (born 1967) * Damien Ricketson (born 1973) *

Julian Cochran 200px, Julian Cochran in 1998 Julian Cochran (born 1974) is an English-born Australian composer. Cochran's earlier works show stylistic influences from Impressionist music and his later works are more noticeably influenced by Classical music a ...

(born 1974) * Nicholas Vines (born 1976) * Michael Sollis (born 1985)

References

{{reflist

External links

* Pleskun, Stephen. (2012) ''A Chronological History of Australian Composers and Their Compositions: 1901–1945''. Xlibris Corp, Hobart.
Colonial Music list by Musicologist Graeme Skinner
Australian music history

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

Romantic

Modern/contemporary

See also

References

External links