Zane Banks

Last updated

Zane 'Moses' Banks
Born1986 (age 3738)
Origin Sydney, Australia
Genres classical
experimental
jazz
blues
rock
country
Occupation(s) guitarist
composer
Instrument(s) Electric guitar, classical guitar, acoustic guitar, banjo
Website zanebanks.com

Zane Banks (born 1986) is an Australian guitarist from Sydney, who plays both classical and electric guitars in a variety of musical genres. Banks premiered the 1-hour long solo electric guitar work, Ingwe, by composer Georges Lentz.

Contents

Biography

Zane Banks was born in 1986, and both his parents are music teachers. He attended Newtown High School of the Performing Arts. Subsequently, he completed a Bachelor of Music degree with First Class Honours on the classical guitar at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with Gregory Pikler and Phillip Houghton. He completed a Doctorate in Music [1] under the supervision of Richard Toop and Matthew Hindson. Banks is active within the Australian contemporary music scene and promotes the status of the electric guitar as a virtuosic concert hall instrument.

Zane Banks premiered the 1-hour long solo electric guitar work, Ingwe, by composer Georges Lentz. [2] Banks first performed Ingwe in its original version at the Rainy Days Festival for contemporary music at Philharmonie Luxembourg in December 2007 and has since performed the work at various international festivals (Melbourne Festival, Vale of Glamorgan Festival UK, Amsterdam Electric Guitar Festival) as well as recording it for Naxos Records.

Banks maintains a career as a performer in jazz, rock, blues, country and (mainly contemporary) classical music. He has performed with ensembles and at festivals, ISCM World Music Days Festival, Rainy Days New Music Festival, Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Melbourne International Arts Festival, Chronology Arts Ensemble, Sydney Conservatorium's Modern Music Ensemble, Eminence Symphony Orchestra and in his own bands The Vandemonians and Maharani Cantus.

In December 2011, Zane Banks was voted Best Newcomer in the 2011 Limelight magazine awards. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Sculthorpe</span> Australian composer (1929–2014)

Peter Joshua Sculthorpe 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 Aboriginal Australian music with that of the heritage of the West. He was known primarily for his orchestral and chamber music, such as Kakadu (1988) and Earth Cry (1986), which evoke the sounds and feeling of the Australian bushland and outback. He also wrote 18 string quartets, using unusual timbral effects, works for piano, and two operas. He stated that he wanted his music to make people feel better and happier for having listened to it. He typically avoided the dense, atonal techniques of many of his contemporary composers. His work was often characterised by its distinctive use of percussion. As one of the compositional pioneers of a distinctively Australian sound, Sculthorpe and his music have been likened to the role played by Aaron Copland in America's musical coming of age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raffaele Marcellino</span> Australian composer (born 1964)

Raffaele Marcellino is an Australian composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georges Lentz</span> Luxembourg-Australian composer

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 reclusiveness, he is also considered one of Australia's leading composers. His music is inspired by the starry night sky in the Australian Outback and by Aboriginal art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elder Conservatorium of Music</span> Australian conservatorium of music


The Elder Conservatorium of Music, also known as "The Con", is Australia's senior academy of music and is located in the centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It is named in honour of its benefactor, Sir Thomas Elder (1818–1897). Dating in its earliest form from 1883, it has a history in professional training for musical performance, musical composition, research in all fields of music, and music education. The Elder Conservatorium of Music and its forerunners have been parts of the University of Adelaide since the early 1880s. The current Director is Professor Anna Goldsworthy.

Carl Edward Vine, is an Australian composer of contemporary classical music.

<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.

Damien Ricketson is an Australian composer of contemporary classical music. He is best known for his innovative compositional practice and in his capacity as the co-founder and co-artistic director of Ensemble Offspring. He is currently an academic at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney of which he is also an alumnus.

Brett Dean is an Australian composer, violist and conductor.

Matthew John Hindson AM is an Australian composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piers Lane</span> Australian pianist (born 1958)

Piers Lane is an Australian classical pianist.

John Rodgers is a Brisbane-based Australian composer, improviser, violinist, pianist and guitarist.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Haynes (musician)</span> Australian clarinettist

Richard Elliot Haynes is an Australian clarinettist residing in Switzerland. He performs music spanning the 16th to 21st centuries worldwide, but predominantly music by living composers, in a multitude of contexts.

Laura Chislett is an Australian flute player. She performs contemporary repertoires including Brian Ferneyhough's Unity Capsule, James Dillon's Sgothan, Michael Finnissy's Sikangnuqa, Reza Vali's Song flute solo and Maurice Weddington's Deovolente. Her repertoire also includes neglected 20th-century works by Lili Boulanger, Willem Pijper, Augusta Holmès, and Jean Binet. Laura has performed as a guest soloist with orchestra/ensemble at major festivals, including the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, the Sydney Spring Festival, Insel Musik Berlin, the Pittsburgh International Music Festival and the Australian Chamber Orchestra performing Michael Smetanin's flute concerto Shakhmat/Supremat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John McAll</span> Pianist, composer, arranger, and producer

John McAll is an Australian pianist, composer, arranger and producer, with experience ranging from jazz, pop, blues, rock contemporary classical, afrobeat and theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian classical music</span> Genre of music of Australia

Australian classical music has developed from early years in the Australian colonies, until today. Today, each state has an orchestra and there are many major venues where classical music is performed.

Daniel Rojas is a Chilean-born Australian pianist and composer. Rojas' work as a composer and improviser draws upon indigenous, folk, popular and classical Latin American traditions.

Gordon Kerry is an Australian composer, music administrator, music writer and music critic.

Katy Abbott is an Australian composer. Abbott writes music for orchestra, chamber ensemble and voice. Her work reflects her interests in contemporary Australian cultures and often explores notions of home, place, humour and connection.

Claire Olivia Edwardes is an Australian classical percussionist, artistic director, composer and advocate for change in the classical music sector. Edwardes is the co-founder and artistic director of Ensemble Offspring, roles she shared with composer Damien Ricketson until his retirement from the group in 2015. In 2016, she won two APRA Art Music Awards, with one going to Ensemble Offspring for "sustained services to Australian music for 20 years", and Edwardes receiving an individual award "for performance, advocacy and artistic leadership”. She is the only Australian to have won the Luminary Art Music Award for an Individual 3 times. In 2019, Edwardes created and performed the music and dance theatre work RECITAL with dancer Richard Cilli and director Gideon Obarzanek for Dance Massive 2019. Edwardes composed the music and sound design for RECITAL in collaboration with Paul Mac. In 2011 and 2017, Edwardes was a member of the Australian World Orchestra. In 2015-216, Edwardes was the Vice President of the New Music Network. Edwardes has appeared on television as an occasional host of Play School, and as a panelist on Spicks and Specks. In 2021, Edwardes created The Australian Marimba Composition Kit and a comprehensive list of percussion works by female composers. Additionally, Edwardes has composed numerous works for solo waterphone. She is currently on staff as a percussion teacher at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

References

  1. Banks, Zane (8 September 2014). The electric guitar in contemporary arts music (Thesis).
  2. "Ingwe (night) (unaccompanied electric guitar) by Georges Lentz". Australian Music Centre. 14 October 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2010.
  3. "Limelight Awards 2011". Limelight. 4 December 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2011.