Burkhard Dallwitz

Burkhard Dallwitz (born 1959) is a German-born composer based in Melbourne, Australia. He was born near Frankfurt and began ten years of classical piano training at the age of eight. By thirteen he was writing songs and music, and from fifteen, Burkhard wrote, arranged and performed for various musical groups.

In 1979 Burkhard fulfilled his dream of traveling to Australia. There he studied music at Melbourne’s Latrobe University. He majored with Honours in Composition, and studied Advanced Composition under the tutelage of Professor Keith Humble. Since 1984, Burkhard has worked as a composer for feature films, television and commercials.

In 1996 he released his first CD recording of original instrumental works called "Worlds Apart".

He won two Screen Music Awards from the Australian Guild of Screen Composers (1993 & 1996), and was also nominated in 1998 & 2000.

In 1999, Burkhard and Philip Glass were awarded the Golden Globe for Best Original Score in a Motion Picture for The Truman Show. The score also won The Chicago Film Critics’ Award and the ASCAP Film and Television Award, and the soundtrack reached number two on the Billboard chart.

In 2001 he won the APRA award for Best Television Theme for the Sydney Olympics in 2000. The world-renowned 385-voice Mormon Tabernacle Choir performed and recorded his 2002 theme for the Salt Lake Winter Olympics. In 2004 he won the APRA-AGSC (Australian Guild of Screen Componers) Screen Music Award 'Best Music For A Television Series' for "CrashBurn". Burkhard has several soundtrack albums out in general release.

Burkhard lives in Elsternwick with his wife Rebecca and daughter Carlotta. He works on Australian, European and U.S. film and television productions.

Most recently Burkhard has worked on the Nine Network Australia television series Underbelly where he wrote the theme and the original musical score. He also composed the theme for the Seven Network's coverage of the Beijing 2008 Olympics (in addition to the 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006 compositions).