Clive James Cotter (born 1948 in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

) is an Australian composer currently based in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. His career has largely been in music for theater, film, and radio. Cotter began his career as Music Director and resident composer for the Canberra Repertory Theatre and has collaborated extensively with Australian playwright

Dorothy Hewett Dorothy Coade Hewett (21 May 1923 – 25 August 2002) was an Australian playwright, poet and author. She wrote in a number of different literary styles: Modernist poetry, modernism, socialist realism, Expressionism (theatre), expressionism a ...

, most notably writing the music for the musical theater piece ''

The Man From Mukinupin ''The Man from Mukinupin'' is a musical play by Dorothy Hewett. It was commissioned in 1978 to mark Western Australia's sesquicentenary, and is her most popular and successful play. It is a romantic comedy in two acts covering the periods 1912 t ...

'' and for the children's play Golden Valley. Cotter also wrote the music for Merlinda Bobis' radio play "Rita's Lullaby", which won the

Prix Italia The Prix Italia is an international television, radio-broadcasting and web award. It was established in 1948 by RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana (in 1948, RAI had the denomination RAI – Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Capri and is honoured with th ...

in 1998. Cotter began his musical career playing trumpet in trad-jazz bands in Melbourne as a teenager. He moved to Canberra in the late 1960s with his family and continued performing in this tradition but gradually drifted towards more modern forms of jazz and rock and roll. He performed with the Canberra bands, The Bitter Lemons, The Firing Squad, Family Portrait as well as in more experimental collectives with musicians Colin Hoorweg, Dave Kain, Mitch Burns, Christian Wojtowicz and John Tucker. In the early 1970s, Cotter's increasing interest in contemporary music led him to studies with

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 ...

and

Don Banks Donald Oscar Banks (25 October 19235 September 1980) was an Australian composer of concert, jazz, and commercial music. Early life and education Jazz was Banks' earliest and strongest musical influence. He learned the saxophone as a boy in Aust ...

at the

Canberra School of Music The ANU School of Music is a school in the Research School of Humanities and the Arts, which forms part of the College of Arts and Social Sciences of the Australian National University. It consists of four buildings, including the main School of ...

. An Australia Council Young Composers Fellowship enabled him to discontinue his formal studies and take up the position of Music Director at Canberra Repertory Society, pursuing a more practical approach to compositional activities with the full support of his mentors. For the next twenty years, Cotter worked as a freelance composer in theatre, film and radio. In 1992, at the request of Larry Sitsky, he returned to the School of Music, then part of the Australian National University. Since that time, he has been a faculty staff member of the

ANU School of Music The ANU School of Music is a school in the Research School of Humanities and the Arts, which forms part of the College of Arts and Social Sciences of the Australian National University. It consists of four buildings, including the main School of ...

and is currently the Head of Composition. His students have included Marian Budos, Michael Sollis, Kate Moore, and Tim Hansen.Tim Hansen

Australian Music Centre The Australian Music Centre (AMC), founded as Australia Music Centre in 1974 and known as Sounds Australian in the 1990s, is a national organisation promoting and supporting art music in Australia. It operates mainly as a service organisation, a ...

. Retrieved 26 December 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cotter, Jim 1948 births Living people Australian male composers Australian composers Australian National University alumni Academic staff of the Australian National University