David Banney (born 1968,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Australia) is an Australian conductor,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and music educator. He is involved with various organisations and ensembles, including the Christ Church Cathedral, the

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

Music Festival, the Christ Church Camerata, and the Newcastle Cathedral College of Music. Banney is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Newcastle, Australia.

Career

Music

Banney is the director of music at Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle, and the conductor of the Christ Church Camerata. He is the

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

of the Newcastle Music Festival. Banney has conducted various ensembles in Australia, including the

Queensland Symphony Orchestra Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra in the state of Queensland. The orchestra is based in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's building in South Bank. The Orchestra is funded by private corporations, the ...

Canberra Symphony Orchestra Canberra Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is the professional orchestra of the Australian Capital Territory based in Canberra, the national capital of Australia. History Officially formed on 14 March 1950 and registered as an amateur ensemble, the C ...

Opera Queensland Opera Queensland is an opera company based in Brisbane, Queensland. The company was founded with funding from the Queensland State Government in 1981 under the name ''Lyric Opera of Queensland'' after the Queensland Opera Company was closed in D ...

Queensland Ballet The Queensland Ballet, founded in 1960 by Charles Lisner OBE, is the premier ballet company of Queensland, Australia and is based in Brisbane. Queensland Ballet is one of only three full-time, professional classical ballet companies in Australi ...

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is a South Australian performing arts organisation comprising 75 full-time musicians, established in 1936. Based in Adelaide, South Australia, the orchestra's primary performance venue is the Adelaide Town Ha ...

, and the

West Australian Symphony Orchestra The West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Perth, Western Australia. Its principal concert venue is the Perth Concert Hall. WASO also gives concerts at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre. , WA ...

. He has worked extensively with youth orchestras, including the

Queensland Youth Orchestras Queensland Youth Orchestras (QYO) is one of the state's organisations for orchestral training and performance and is based at the Old Museum Building, Brisbane, Old Museum building in Gregory Terrace, Bowen Hills, Queensland, Bowen Hills, Brisbane, ...

, the European Medical Students Orchestras, the Sydney Youth Philharmonic, and the Newcastle Strings Orchestra. As a composer, Banney has written for orchestra,

chamber ensembles Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

, and choirs.

Symmetry

In 2015, Banney completed a

PhD thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

entitled ''Symmetry and Symmetry Breaking in Music''. He has collaborated with other scholars for research, publishing with Giuseppe Caglioti on the subject of

thermodynamics Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed by the four laws of the ...

in music, and with Roger Smith on the subject of

symmetry breaking In physics, symmetry breaking is a phenomenon in which (infinitesimally) small fluctuations acting on a system crossing a critical point decide the system's fate, by determining which branch of a bifurcation is taken. To an outside observe ...

in the synchronisation of uterine muscle behaviour during human labour. In 2018, Banney was appointed an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Newcastle, where he taught the course "Einstein, Bach and the Taj Mahal: Symmetry in the Arts, Sciences and Humanities".

Awards

*Winner of the ABC Young Conductor of the Year Award (1995)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banney, David Australian conductors (music) Australian surgeons Living people 1968 births 21st-century conductors (music)