- Matthew Hindson
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Matthew John Hindson AM (born 1968) is an Australian composer.
Contents
Biography
Matthew Hindson was born in Wollongong in 1968. He studied composition at the Universities of Sydney and Melbourne with composers including Peter Sculthorpe, Eric Gross, Brenton Broadstock and Ross Edwards.
Hindson's works have been performed by ensembles and orchestras throughout his native Australia, including most of its professional symphony orchestras and chamber groups. Overseas, his compositions have been presented in New Zealand, Germany, France, Austria, the UK, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United States, Japan, Malaysia, Canada and Thailand, and have been featured at such key events as the 1994 and 2000 Gaudeamus Music Weeks[1] in Amsterdam, the 1997 ISCM Festival in Copenhagen and the 1998 Paris Composers Rostrum.
His music often displays influences of popular music styles within a classical music context, and, as a result, musical elements such as driving repeated rhythms and high dynamic levels are typically found in his works. Indeed, directness and immediacy are common features in much of his music. One of his most notable works, Speed (1996), was thought by some to be inspired by the 1994 hit film Speed; however, Hindson has denied this connection.
In 1999 Hindson was the attached composer to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Works written during this attachment include Boom-Box and In Memoriam: Amplified Cello Concerto (the latter was subsequently nominated for an APRA-AMC award for Best Orchestral Work of 2001). He was also the attached composer with the Sydney Youth Orchestra in the same year, for which he was commissioned to write a violin concerto. In 2002 he was the featured composer with Musica Viva Australia for which he has written a number of new commissions for Kristjan Järvi's Absolute Ensemble, baroque violinist Andrew Manze, the Australian oboe Virtuoso Diana Doherty and the Belcea String Quartet, and Duo Sol.
In May 2002, the Sydney Dance Company toured Australia to much acclaim with a new 90-minute production, Ellipse, choreographed by their Artistic Director, Graeme Murphy, and danced entirely to Hindson's music. Playing to packed houses, it broke box-office records for the SDC. They toured it to the USA in 2004.
In September 2003, Matthew was a featured composer at the Vale of Glamorgan Festival in Wales, during which fourteen of his works were performed by a variety of ensembles. He was the attached composer to The Queensland Orchestra in 2003/2004, one result of which was his Percussion Concerto, written for Dame Evelyn Glennie and premiered in Brisbane in 2006. In addition, his music was set to a full-evening dance presentation by Ballett Schindowski in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, in January 2004.
Other compositions include two works for The Orchestras of Australia Network. Future works include a flute concerto entitled House Music for American flautist Marina Piccinini, premiered with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in December 2006, and a piano trio. Matthew's music is published by Faber Music (UK). A disc of three of his orchestral pieces was recorded by Trust Records with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and released in August 2008.
As well as working as a composer, Matthew Hindson lectures in the Arts Music Unit and is Associate Professor and Chair of Composition at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He has recently co-authored a book entitled "Music Composition Toolbox", published by Science Press. Hindson is the artistic director of the Aurora Festival, a new festival of contemporary music based in Western Sydney which premiered in April 2006.
Honours
Matthew Hindson was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2006, for "service to the arts as a leading Australian composer and teacher of music, and through the wide promotion of musical works to new audiences".[2]
Selected works
Orchestral
- Homage to Metallica, 1994/97
- Speed, 1996
- LiteSpeed, 1996
- Rave-Elation (Extended Mix), 1997
- RPM, 1996/98
- Rave-Elation (Schindowski Mix), 1997/2003
- Boom-Box, 1999
- In Memoriam: Amplified Cello Concerto, 2000
- Violin Concerto (Australian Postcards), 2000
- Headbanger, 2001
- Rave-Elation, 2002
- A Symphony of Modern Objects, 2003
- Auto-Electric, 2003
- Percussion Concerto, 2005
- An Infernal Machine, 2006
- House Music (Flute Concerto), 2006
- Flash Madness, 2006
- Kalkadungu (co-composed with William Barton), 2007
- Ictalurus Punctatus, 2008
- Dangerous Creatures, 2008
- Symphony No 2: e=mc2, 2009
- Energy, 2009
Ensemble
- Lucky Seven for 10 percussionists, 1995
- Siegfried Interlude No.4 – The Ride of the (Viola) Valkyries for 8 violas, 1998
- Technologic 1–2 for string orchestra and percussion, 1998
- Technologic 145, chamber ensemble of 13 players, 1998
- Siegfried Interlude No.1 for brass ensemble, 1999
- Whitewater for 12 solo strings, 1999–2000
- The Rave and the Nightingale for string quartet and string orchestra, 2001
- Comin' Right Atcha, amplified chamber ensemble of 8 players, 2002
- Comin' Right Atcha, chamber ensemble of 14 players, 2002, 2006
- Balkan Connection string orchestra, 2003
- Spirit Song, chamber ensemble of 5 players, 2003/2006
- Didjeribluegrass didjeridu, string orchestra and percussion, 2005
- Song and Dance, 2006
- Septet, 2009
- Central Australian Song chamber ensemble of 6 players, 2009
- Crime and Punishment double-bass and string orchestra, 2009
- Beauty cello and chamber ensemble of 6 players, 2009
Chamber music
- Prelude and Estampie for viola and piano, 1986
- Four Score for 4 solo violins, 1992
- Little Chrissietina's Magic Fantasy for 2 violins, 1994
- DeathStench for amplified flute, amplified clarinet and piano, 1995
- Nintendo Music for clarinet in A and piano, 1995
- Five Movements for saxophone quartet, 1996
- GameBoy Music for clarinet and piano, 1997
- Two Marine Portraits for violin, viola and electronics, 1997
- Chrissietina's Magic Fantasy for violin and viola, 1998
- Ignition: Positive for trumpet or alto saxophone and piano, 1998
- Jungle Fever for cello or tenor saxophone and piano, 1998
- Night Pieces for oboe or soprano saxophone and piano, 1998
- Love Serenade for cello or bassoon and piano, 1998
- n-trance for solo harp, 1998
- Lament for viola and piano, 1996/2002
- Rush for guitar and string quartet, 1999
- Rush for oboe and string quartet, 1999/2001
- Siegfried Interlude No.2 for wind octet, or soprano saxophone and piano, or clarinet and piano, 1999
- Siegfried Interlude No.3 for 3 percussionists, 1999
- Always On Time for violin and cello, 2001
- Pulse Magnet for 2 pianos and 2 percussion, 2001
- Baroquerie, Sonata for Baroque Violin and Harpsichord, 2002
- String Quartet No. 1 (Industrial Night Music), 2003
- Basement Art Guru and Other Pieces for solo violin, 2004
- Didjeribluegrass for didjeridu and string quartet, 2005
- Piano Trio, 2006
- Song of Life for solo violin, 2007
- The Metallic Violin for solo violin, 2007
- Light Music for wind quintet, 2007
- Video Game Dreaming for clarinet quartet, 2007
- The Metallic Violins for two violins, 2008
- Shakedown for amplified shakuhachi & CD, 2008
- Violin Concertino (Summer Stories) for violin and piano, 2009
- Maralinga for violin and piano, 2009
- Funeral Windows for basset clarinet, 2009
- Big Heart for string quartet, 2009
- The Flash for solo xylophone, 2010
- Video Game Dreaming for saxophone quartet, 2010
- Light is both a particle and a wave for flute, clarinet in A, piano and string quartet, 2010
Piano
- AK-47, 1993
- Moments of Plastic Jubilation, 2000
- Monkey Music for Toy Piano and Cymbal Monkey, 2009
Choral
- Pi, 1999
- Velvet Dreams, 1999
- The Blue Alice, 2000
- Heartland, 2001
References
External links
Categories:- 1968 births
- Australian composers
- Living people
- 20th-century classical composers
- 21st-century classical composers
- Members of the Order of Australia
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