Sir Jonathan Mills AO FRSE (born 21 March 1963) is an Australian composer and festival director. He was born and raised in Sydney and has dual Australian and UK citizenship. His work includes two

operas Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

, an

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

, a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...

, song cycles, concertos, and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small num ...

.Fowler, Prof Will, 28 June 2013
University of St Andrews, Laureation address: Sir Jonathan Edward Harland Mills
. Retrieved 23 April 2014 He has directed a number of arts festivals in Australia, and from 2006 to 2014 he was director of the

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially classical music) and the performing arts are ...

Biography

Jonathan Edward Harland Mills was born in Sydney on 21 March 1963.''The Guardian'', 3 August 2007
Profile: Jonathan Mills
Retrieved 23 April 2014 He has Scottish roots, his maternal grandfather having been a Scot from

Partick Partick ( sco, Pairtick, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and to t ...

, and he has dual Australian and British citizenship. His father, Frank Harland Mills AO (1910–2008), was a heart surgeon. He gained a

Bachelor of Music Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of presc ...

in composition from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...

in 1984, where he was associated with St Paul's College. He studied under

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 neighboring Australia as well as from the impulse to bring together aspects of Aborigin ...

.Phil Miller, 26 July 2012
Australia Unlimited, The Cultural Diplomat
Retrieved 23 April 2014 Mills was a research fellow and composer in residence at

RMIT University RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public university, public research university in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1887 by Francis Ormond, RMIT began as a night school offering cla ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

between 1992 and 1997. He graduated as Master of Architecture at RMIT in 1999, focusing on acoustic design and the role of sound in the built environment. Between 1998 and 2003 he was an adjunct professor at RMIT. Between 1988 and 2003 he was the artistic director of music festivals in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. These included the

Melbourne International Arts Festival Melbourne International Arts Festival, formerly Spoleto Festival Melbourne – Festival of the Three Worlds, then Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, becoming commonly known as Melbourne Festival, was a major international arts festi ...

, the Melbourne Federation Festival, the Melbourne Millennium Eve Celebrations, and the Brisbane Biennial International Music Festival (inaugural artistic adviser 1995–97). It was during these years that he composed ''Four First Songs'', a song cycle for radio on poems by Martin Harrison, and the ballet ''The Ethereal Eye'', which focussed on the architects who designed and built Canberra as the new capital of Australia. In 1999 came his first chamber opera, ''The Ghost Wife'', to a libretto by

Dorothy Porter Dorothy Featherstone Porter (26 March 1954 – 10 December 2008) was an Australian poet. She was a recipient of the Christopher Brennan Award for lifetime achievement in poetry. Early life Porter was born in Sydney. Her father was barriste ...

based on the short story ''The Chosen Vessel'' by Barbara Baynton, set in the Australian bush at the beginning of the twentieth century. The opera was premiered at the 1999 Melbourne Festival and had numerous productions in other capitals. It had its London premiere at the Barbican Theatre in November 2002, staged by OzOpera, under conductor Richard Gill. This was believed to be the first Australian opera with an Australian cast to have a London season.Robin Usher, "Scoring a first", ''The Age'', 11 November 2002, Review, p. 5 In 2001 he wrote ''Sandakan Threnody'', an

for tenor, choir, and orchestra. It is based on the real-life story of the 2,345 Australian and British prisoners of war who in 1945 were sent on a series of

death marches A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war or other captives or deportees in which individuals are left to die along the way. It is distinguished in this way from simple prisoner transport via foot march. Article 19 of the Geneva Conven ...

from the Japanese camp in

Sandakan Sandakan (, Jawi script, Jawi: , ) formerly known at various times as Elopura, is the capital of the Sandakan District in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the second largest city in Sabah after Kota Kinabalu. It is located on the Sandakan Peninsula and e ...

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java Isl ...

– only six would survive. It was revised and premiered as part of

Sydney Symphony Orchestra The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra that was initially formed in 1908. Since its opening in 1973, the Sydney Opera House has been its home concert hall. Simone Young is the orchestra's chief conductor and fir ...

's 2004 "Meet the Music" series at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century archit ...

, and was later performed at the Singapore, Brisbane and Melbourne Festivals. In 2005 it was awarded 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 ...

. Mills' father Frank Mills survived incarceration at Sandakan.University of Sydney
"Frank Harland Mills AO 1910–2008"
Retrieved 23 April 2014 In 2003 came Mills' chamber opera '' The Eternity Man'', commissioned as a Genesis Foundation Prize by Almeida/Aldeburgh Opera and premiered in London in July that year. It was based on the life of Arthur Stace. Mills revised it in 2007, and in 2008

Julien Temple Julien Temple (born 26 November 1953) is a British film, documentary and music video director. He began his career with short films featuring the Sex Pistols, and has continued with various off-beat projects, including '' The Great Rock 'n' Rol ...

filmed it for television with broadcasts by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

in 2008 and ABC Television in 2009 and funded by them. The film of ''The Eternity Man'' won various awards, including Best Experimental Film at Australia's 2008 ATOM Awards, the Judges Award for Best Work of the Year at the Queensland Australian Cinematography Awards and the Swiss

Rose d'Or The Rose d'Or ('Golden Rose') is an international awards festival in entertainment broadcasting and programming. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) first acquired the Rose d’Or in 1961, when it was created by Swiss Television in the lakesi ...

(2009). He was Vice-Chancellor's (Professorial) Fellow at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb n ...

, director of the

Alfred Deakin Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia. He was a leader of the movement for Federation, which occurred in 1901. During his three terms as prime minist ...

Lectures and an artistic advisor to the Melbourne Recital Centre (including

Elisabeth Murdoch Hall Melbourne Recital Centre is a venue for live music in Melbourne and welcomes over 200,000 visitors each year. The organisation programs and presents more than 500 concerts and events a year across diverse range of musical genres including classi ...

). In 2006 he was appointed director and chief executive of the

. His term was twice extended, and concluded at the end of 2014.Thomas, Ellen (15 June 2013), ''The Herald Scotland''
"Edinburgh festival chief delighted by knighthood
Retrieved 23 April 2014 In 2011 he was appointed international artistic adviser of the Arts Centre Melbourne till the end of 2012, in addition to his existing commitments in Edinburgh. He continues to reside in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, where he is working on a new opera based on Murray Bail's novel ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of Flowering plant, flowering trees, shrubs or Mallee (habit), mallees in the Myrtaceae, myrtle Family (biology), family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the Tribe (biology) ...

''.

Honours

In 2001 Jonathan Mills was awarded the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate ...

. In 2008 he was named an honorary doctor of the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built ...

. In 2010 he was appointed Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In the Queen's Birthday Honours (Australia) of 2011, he was appointed an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

, "for distinguished service to the performing arts as a composer and director of international festivals, through the promotion of cultural exchange, and to public debate". He was knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours (UK) of 2013. He was appointed Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture in 2013. He was awarded Gloria Artis - Medal for Merit to Culture, (Zasłużony Kulturze - Gloria Artis) of the Republic of Poland in 2013. In 2013 was awarded an honorary doctorate of letters by the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, and an honorary doctorate of arts by

.RMIT University
"RMIT recognises music and arts festival innovator"
Retrieved 23 April 2014 He is also an honorary doctor of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

.University of Edinburgh
Retrieved 23 April 2014 He was awarded an honorary doctorate of music by the University of Sydney in 2015.

Personal life

In March 2013 Mills entered into a civil partnership with his partner of seven years, Ben Divall, whom he had met in

.Phil Miller, ''The Herald Scotland'', 12 August 2013
"Sir Jonathan Mills on the Edinburgh International Festival, the referendum and getting hitched"
Retrieved 23 April 2014

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Jonathan 1963 births Living people British classical composers British male classical composers British opera composers Male opera composers Ballet composers British ballet composers Edinburgh Festival Australian arts administrators British arts administrators Musicians from Sydney LGBT classical composers LGBT musicians from Australia LGBT musicians from Scotland Australian Knights Bachelor Composers awarded knighthoods Officers of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Centenary Medal University of Sydney alumni RMIT University alumni RMIT University faculty Australian male classical composers Australian classical composers Prix Italia winners