Gordon Kerry

Last updated

Gordon Kerry (born 1961) is an Australian composer, music administrator, music writer and music critic.

Contents

Career

Kerry studied composition at the University of Melbourne under Barry Conyngham. He then worked for the Sydney Festival [1] and resided in Sydney for the next 16 years. [2] After the retirement of Fred Blanks, Kerry was invited to become a music critic for the Sydney Morning Herald . [3] In April 1997 he was appointed artistic administrator for Musica Viva Australia, [1] a post he held for 18 months but left as he had too little time to compose. He then became the organisation's musical adviser. [3] He also contributes pieces for Limelight and The Australian's Review of Books. [3]

Bright Meniscus was inspired by J. R. Rowland's poem "Canberra in April" and was premiered by the Canberra Symphony Orchestra in May 1997. [1]

In 2009, he was awarded the Ian Potter Established Composer Fellowship. His book New Classical Music: Composing Australia was published by UNSW Press in 2009. [4]

His Clarinet Concerto was commissioned by Symphony Australia and was premiered on 21 August 2002, with soloist Francesco Celata and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under Sir Mark Elder. It includes a short quotation from Kerry's "Fioritura", a short solo piece written for Celata. [5]

In 2012 he was Musica Viva Australia's Composer-in-Residence. [6]

On 16 May 2012, Kerry's opera Midnight Son was premiered at the Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, by Victorian Opera. Its libretto was by Louis Nowra, and it was directed by Nicki Wendt. The opera was based on the 2005 murder of Maria Korp by her husband Joe Korp's lover Tania Herman, and Joe Korp's subsequent suicide (it was originally to be called Korp). [7] Principal soloists were Antoinette Halloran and Byron Watson. [8] Although all the names were changed, members of the Korp family and victims of crime organisations criticised the production for lack of sensitivity. [9] [7]

His Violin Concerto "So Dreams Thy Sails" was commissioned by Andrew and Fiona Johnston, and scored for solo violin, harp, horns and strings. It was written as a homage to Kerry's father's 90th birthday, and was premiered on 30 October 2016, with soloist Helena Rathbone and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. [10]

His opera The Snow Queen (libretto by John Kinsella, based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen) was commissioned by Victorian Opera, and was premiered in Wodonga on 3 November 2017, conducted by Richard Mills. [11]

Since 2002 he has lived with his partner in Sandy Creek, overlooking Lake Hume [2] in northern Victoria, not far from Wodonga. [11]

Selected other works

Awards and nominations

APRA Music Awards


The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). [13] They include the Art Music Awards, which are distributed by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre (AMC). [14]

YearNominee / workAwardResultRef.
2018 "String Quintet No. 2" (Gordon Kerry) for Australian String Quartet and Pieter WispelweyWork of the Year – InstrumentalNominated [15] [16]
2021 Clarinet Quartet (Kerry) for Omega EnsembleWork of the Year: Chamber MusicNominated [17]

Related Research Articles

Diana Doherty is an Australian oboist, currently Principal Oboe with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melbourne Symphony Orchestra</span> Australian orchestra

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an Australian orchestra based in Melbourne. The MSO is resident at Hamer Hall. The MSO has its own choir, the MSO Chorus, following integration with the Melbourne Chorale in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peggy Glanville-Hicks</span> Australian composer and music critic

Peggy Winsome Glanville-Hicks was an Australian composer and music critic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Sitsky</span> Australian composer, pianist, and music educator

Lazar "Larry" Sitsky is an Australian composer, pianist, and music educator and scholar. His long term legacy is still to be assessed, but through his work to date he has made a significant contribution to the Australian music tradition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Australian Symphony Orchestra</span> Symphony orchestra from Perth, Western Australia

The West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Perth, Western Australia. Its principal concert venue is the Perth Concert Hall. WASO also gives concerts at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre. As of March 2012, WASO has a roster of 79 full-time musicians and presents over 170 performances per annum throughout the state. The orchestra has an affiliated WASO Chorus.

Richard John MillsDMus BA(Hons), is an Australian conductor and composer. He is currently the artistic director of Victorian Opera, and formerly artistic director of the West Australian Opera and artistic consultant with Orchestra Victoria. He was commissioned by the Victoria State Opera to write his opera Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (1996) and by Opera Australia to write the opera Batavia (2001).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ross Edwards (composer)</span> Australian composer

Ross Edwards is an Australian composer of a wide variety of music including orchestral and chamber music, choral music, children's music, opera and film music. His distinctive sound world reflects his interest in deep ecology and his belief in the need to reconnect music with elemental forces, as well as restore its traditional association with ritual and dance. He also recognises the profound importance of music as an agent of healing. His music, universal in that it is concerned with age-old mysteries surrounding humanity, is at the same time connected to its roots in Australia, whose cultural diversity it celebrates, and from whose natural environment it draws inspiration, especially birdsong and the mysterious patterns and drones of insects. As a composer living and working on the Pacific Rim, he is aware of the exciting potential of this vast region.

Brett Dean is an Australian composer, violist and conductor.

Nigel Westlake 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 City, Children of the Revolution and The Nugget. He also composed the theme for SBS World News.

Andrew Ford is an English-born Australian composer, writer and radio presenter, known for The Music Show on Radio National.

Liza Lim is an Australian composer. Lim writes concert music as well as music theatre and has collaborated with artists on a number of installation and video projects. Her work reflects her interests in Asian ritual culture, the aesthetics of Aboriginal art and shows the influence of non-Western music performance practice.

Ian Munro is an Australian pianist, composer, writer and music educator. His career has taken him to over 30 countries in Europe, Asia, North America and Australasia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Dean (clarinetist)</span> Australian clarinetist, composer, conductor

Paul Dean is an Australian clarinetist, composer and conductor

Mary Finsterer is an Australian composer and academic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">APRA Music Awards of 2011</span>

The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2011 are a series of related awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Art Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards of 2011 was the 29th annual ceremony by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) to award outstanding achievements in contemporary songwriting, composing and publishing. The ceremony was held on 21 June 2011 at CarriageWorks in Sydney, Australia. The Art Music Awards were introduced in 2011 to replace the Classical Music Awards and were distributed on 3 May. They are sponsored by APRA and the Australian Music Centre (AMC) to "recognise achievement in the composition, performance, education and presentation of Australian music". The Screen Music Awards were issued on 14 November by APRA and Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) at the City Recital Hall, Sydney which "acknowledges excellence and innovation in the genre of screen composition".

Kristian Chong is an Australian concert pianist who has performed extensively throughout Australia, the UK, and in China, France, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, USA, and Africa.

Genevieve Lacey is an Australian musician and recorder virtuoso, working as a performer, creator, curator and cultural leader. The practice of listening is central to her works, which are created collaboratively with artists from around the world. Lacey plays handmade recorders made by Joanne Saunders and Fred Morgan. In her collection, she also has instruments by David Coomber, Monika Musch, Michael Grinter, Paul Whinray and Herbert Paetzold.

Paul Stanhope is an acclaimed Australian composer, conductor and music educator, known for his choral and instrumental music.

Sally Greenaway is a composer and pianist based in Canberra, Australia.

Lachlan Skipworth is an Australian composer based in Perth, Western Australia.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Bernadette Cruise, "A remarkable year for a Sydney composer", The Canberra Times , 11 April 1997, Arts & Entertainment, p. 11
  2. 1 2 3 Robin Usher, "Hills once more alive with opera", The Age , 6 January 2004, A3, p. 7
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Jo Litson, "Take a deep breath", The Weekend Australian , 27–28 March 1999, Review, p. 19
  4. ↑ Plexus. Retrieved 28 December 2017
  5. ↑ "Going solo", ABC radio 24 Hours , August 2002, p. 76
  6. ↑ Musica Viva Australia Blog. Retrieved 28 December 2017
  7. 1 2 Karl Quinn, "Too soon? Dark opera based on Korp case ready for opening night", The Age, 15 May 2012, p. 5
  8. ↑ Xenia Hanusiak, "Notes from a lethal love affair", The Age, 12 May 2012, Life&Style, p. 25
  9. ↑ Gina McColl, "Opera based on notorious murder", The Age, 13 Aug 2011, p. 5
  10. ↑ "A 90th birthday commission", Limelight , October 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2017
  11. 1 2 3 "The Icewoman cometh", Limelight , November 2017, p. 25
  12. ↑ James Wade, ‘Where Words Cannot Reach’: An Interview with Gordon Kerry. Retrieved 28 December 2017
  13. ↑ "APRA History". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 20 September 2010. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
  14. ↑ "Classical Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 28 September 2010. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
  15. ↑ "Art Music Awards Full List of Winners". Australian Music Centre (AMC). Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  16. ↑ "Performance of the Year". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) | Australian Music Centre (AMC). 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  17. ↑ "Winners & Finalists". APRA AMCOS | Australian Music Centre (AMC). 9 September 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021.

External sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.