Brenton Thomas Broadstock (born 1952) is an Australian composer. He was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

on Australia Day in 2014 for "significant service to music as a composer, educator and mentor".

Biography

Broadstock was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. He studied history, politics and music at

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

and, later, composition and theory with

Don Freund Don Freund (born 1947, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American composer, pianist, and Professor of Composition at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. His over 100 performed works, include solo, chamber, and orchestral music, live pe ...

at the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

in the United States and with

Peter Sculthorpe Peter Joshua Sculthorpe (29 April 1929 – 8 August 2014) was an Australian composer. Much of his music resulted from an interest in the music of countries neighboring Australia as well as from the impulse to bring together aspects of Aborigin ...

at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

. The

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

awarded him the Doctor of Music degree in 1987. From 1982 to 2006 Broadstock was employed in the Faculty of Music, University of Melbourne, as Professor of Music and Head of Composition. During 2007 he was a Vice-Chancellor's Fellow at the university. In 2008 Broadstock's music was performed at the Opening Ceremony of the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

and in 2009 he was composer-in-residence with the

Melbourne Symphony 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. The MSO relies on f ...

, composing a multi-instrumental concerto, ''Made in Heaven'', for trumpeter James Morrison, a chamber concertino, ''Hall of Mirrors'', for trombonist Brett Kelly and a symphony for soloists, choir and orchestra, ''Tyranny of Distance'' which was premiered at the 2009

Melbourne International Arts Festival Melbourne International Arts Festival, formerly Spoleto Festival Melbourne – Festival of the Three Worlds, then Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, becoming commonly known as Melbourne Festival, was a major international arts festi ...

. Broadstock has won prizes for composition, including first prize in the 1981 Townsville Pacific Festival's National Composition Competition for his orchestral work ''Festive Overture''; two Albert H. Maggs Awards; two

APRA Music Award APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...

s for his orchestral works ''The Mountain'' and ''Toward the Shining Light''; first prize in the Hambacher Preis International Composers' Competition, West Germany, for his Tuba Concerto; and in 1994 he received the Paul Lowin Song Cycle Award, Australia's richest composition prize, for ''Bright Tracks'' for mezzo-soprano and string trio. His orchestral work ''Stars in a Dark Night'' (Symphony No. 2) received four Sounds Australian National Music Critics' Awards including Best Australian Orchestral Work in 1989 and was the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

's entry to the prestigious

International Rostrum of Composers The International Rostrum of Composers (IRC) is an annual forum organized by the International Music Council that offers broadcasting representatives the opportunity to exchange and publicize pieces of contemporary classical music. It is funded by c ...

in Paris in 1990. In 2001 he received the

Australian Music Centre The Australian Music Centre (AMC), formerly known briefly as Sounds Australian, is a national organisation promoting and supporting art music in Australia, founded in 1974. It co-hosts the Art Music Awards along with APRA AMCOS, and publishes '' ...

's Victorian Award for Best Composition – ''Dark Side'' Symphony No. 5, and in 2002 his ''Federation Flourish'' was nominated for an APRA/AMC Orchestral Work of the Year. In 1988-89 he was the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra's inaugural composer-in-residence. In 1997 he received the Jean Bogan Prize for his solo piano work ''Dying of the Light'' and in 1998 he received the Michelle Morrow Memorial Award for Composition and an Explorations Opera Project grant. In 1998 he spent three months in Italy on fellowships awarded by the Civitella Ranieri Foundation and a Bellagio Award from the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

. In November 2005 he returned to Italy as a fellow at the Ligurian Study Center in Bogliasco, Italy. In 1999 he received the prestigious

Don Banks Music Award The Don Banks Music Award was established in 1984 to publicly honour a senior artist of high distinction who has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to music in Australia. It was founded by the Australia Council in honour of Don Banks, ...

from the

Australia Council The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austra ...

for his contribution to Australian music, which enabled him to compose for most of that year, including visits to the USA (visiting professor of composition at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

), England and Russia. Five of his six symphonies were recorded by the

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk ( ; rus, Красноя́рск, a=Ru-Красноярск2.ogg, p=krəsnɐˈjarsk) (in semantic translation - Red Ravine City) is the largest city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yeni ...

Symphony Orchestra (Russia) conducted by Andrew Wheeler and released on the Etcetera label in 2000 and received excellent reviews in England and Australia. In 2004 Broadstock's solo piano work ''Torre di Forza'' was the test piece at the

Sydney International Piano Competition The Sydney International Piano Competition is a music competition, presented in Sydney and broadcast live throughout Australia and internationally. It is held every four years, over a three-week period in July–August, and is internationally r ...

, and in 2005

ABC Classics ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

released a CD of orchestral works performed by the

Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It is the smallest of the six orchestras established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). History The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestr ...

conducted by . His chamber opera based on

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...

's ''

Fahrenheit 451 ''Fahrenheit 451'' is a 1953 dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. Often regarded as one of his best works, ''Fahrenheit 451'' presents an American society where books have been personified and outlawed and "firemen" burn any that ar ...

'' was performed in German at

Oper Bonn Theater Bonn (also known as the Stadttheater Bonn) is the municipal theatre company of Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is an organization that produces operas, musicals, ballets, plays, and concerts. It operates several performance venu ...

, Germany, in April 2006. His music is available on over 45 commercial CDs worldwide. Since 2008 he has been a freelance composer and lives in Melbourne, Australia. His opera ''The Nurses at Vung Tau'' premiered in 2022 in Brisbane. Based on Annabell Brayley's 2017 book, ''Our Vietnam Nurses'', the opera deals with the experience an Australian nurse in

Vũng Tàu Vũng Tàu (''Hanoi accent:'' , ''Saigon accent:'' ) is the largest city of Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province in southern Vietnam. The city area is , consists of 13 urban wards and one commune of Long Sơn Islet. Vũng Tàu was the capital of the pr ...

and is meant as a tribute to Australian

women in the Vietnam War Women in the Vietnam War were active in a large variety of roles, making significant impacts on the War and with the War having significant impacts on them. Several million Vietnamese women served in the military and in militias during the War ...

Awards and honours

Don Banks Music Award

The

was established in 1984 to publicly honour a senior artist of high distinction who has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to music in Australia. It was founded by the

in honour of

Don Banks Donald Oscar Banks (25 October 19235 September 1980) was an Australian composer of concert, jazz, and commercial music. Early life and education Jazz was Banks' earliest and strongest musical influence. He learned the saxophone as a boy in Aust ...

, Australian composer, performer and the first chair of its music board. , - , 1999 , Brenton Broadstock , Don Banks Music Award , , - In the 2014 Australia Day Honours he was appointed a

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Broadstock, Brenton 1952 births Living people Australian male classical composers Australian opera composers Brass band composers APRA Award winners Musicians from Melbourne Members of the Order of Australia Winners of the Albert H. Maggs Composition Award