- Ross Bolleter
Ross Bolleter (born 1946,
Subiaco, Western Australia ) is an Australian avantgardecomposer andimproviser notable for his experimentation onruined piano s. He has been a member ofThe Blackeyed Susans and he is a co-founder of theWARPS Music label.Career and music
Bolleter started his career by practicing improvised music with the flautist
Tos Mahoney . He later went to study music, including theory, history and composition, at theUniversity of Western Australia , between 1964 to 1967. This re-awoke his interest in the music of composers such asAnton Webern ,Karlheinz Stockhausen andPierre Boulez , whom he had studied as part of his course. He then went investigating non-conventional timbral and rhythmic possibilities of theprepared piano . In the last 10 years Bolleter has explored playing with "ruined pianos", that is old pianos that have been found after having been left exposed to the action oftime andweather , thus acquiring novel and unexpected musical possibilities.Bolleter is primarily interested in improvisation, both as a solo player and in group work. Although he has composed some pieces formally, he feels little interest in having pieces recreated by other performers.
For living, Bolleter plays the piano in restaurants and bars, and works as a piano teacher. He is married with three sons.
Discography
*"My Nallan Void on Austral Voices" (New Albion, 1990)
*"The Country of Here Below Tall Poppies" (1994)
*"Crow Country" (Pogus, 1999)
*"Left Hand of the Universe" (WARPS 1997)
*"The Night Moves on Little Feet" (WARPS 1997)
*"Piano Dreaming" (WARPS 2002)
*"Pocket Sky" (WARPS 2004)
*"Spring in Iraq" (with A. Cormican) (WARPS 2004)
*"Paradise Café" (Sunset Ostrich 2004)
*"Secret Sandhills and satellites" (Emanem, 2007)Books
*"Fostering Creative Improvisation at the Keyboard" (1985)
*"All the Iron Night" - a book of poems and stories, many dealing with musical themes (Smokebush Press, West Australia, 2004)
*"The Well Weathered Piano" (WARPS Publications, 2005)External links
* [http://warpsmusic.com/ WARPS music] , the label co-founded by Bolleter specialized in ruined pianos.
* [http://www.rainerlinz.net/NMA/22CAC/bolleter.html An artistic history of Bolleter (outdated)]
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