Nicholas Vines (born

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, 1976), is an Australian composer currently based in Sydney. He is particularly active at home and in the United States. Interpreters of Vines’ work range from specialist new music ensembles to high school students. He has received prizes from the US, UK and Poland, as well as Australian honours such as APRA AMCOS Art Music Awards. His compositions are published by Faber Music, Wirripang and the Australian Music Centre. Three albums of his music are available commercially: ''Torrid Nature Scenes'' ( Stephen Drury & the Callithumpian Consort), ''Loose, Wet, Perforated'' (

Guerilla Opera Guerilla Opera is an opera company in Boston, Massachusetts founded in 2007 specializing in accessible contemporary chamber operas, several of which have been commissioned by the company. In 2010, its Artistic Directors were Mike Williams and Ru ...

) and ''Hipster Zombies From Mars'' (Ryan MacEvoy McCullough). While 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 ...

, Vines’s main teachers were

Anne Boyd Anne Elizabeth Boyd AM (born 10 April 1946) is an Australian composer and emeritus professor of music at the University of Sydney. Early life Boyd was born in Sydney to James Boyd and Annie Freda Deason Boyd (née Osborn). Her father died when ...

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 ...

and

Ross Edwards Ross Edwards (born 1 December 1942) is a former Australian cricketer. Edwards played in 20 Test matches for Australia, playing against England, West Indies and Pakistan. He also played in nine One Day Internationals including the 1975 Crick ...

. He later completed a PhD at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, studying with

Harrison Birtwistle Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include ''Th ...

Bernard Rands Bernard Rands (born 2 March 1934 in Sheffield, England) is a British-American contemporary classical music composer. He studied music and English literature at the University of Wales, Bangor, and composition with Pierre Boulez and Bruno Mader ...

Magnus Lindberg Magnus Gustaf Adolf Lindberg (born 27 June 1958) is a Finnish composer and pianist. He was the New York Philharmonic's composer-in-residence from 2009 to 2012 and has been the London Philharmonic Orchestra's composer-in-residence since the begin ...

Julian Anderson Julian Anderson (born 6 April 1967) is a British composer and teacher of composition. Biography Anderson was born in London. He studied at Westminster School, then with John Lambert at the Royal College of Music, with Alexander Goehr at Cambri ...

Lee Hyla Lee Hyla (August 31, 1952 – June 6, 2014) was an American classical music composer from Niagara Falls, New York. He received the Stoeger Prize from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, a Guggenheim Fellowship, two National Endowment ...

Mario Davidovsky Mario Davidovsky (March 4, 1934 – August 23, 2019) was an Argentine-American composer. Born in Argentina, he emigrated in 1960 to the United States, where he lived for the remainder of his life. He is best known for his series of compositions ca ...

Judith Weir Judith Weir (born 11 May 1954) is a British composer serving as Master of the King's Music. Appointed in 2014 by Queen Elizabeth II, Weir is the first woman to hold this office. Biography Weir was born in Cambridge, England, to Scottish parent ...

and

Michael Finnissy Michael Peter Finnissy (born 17 March 1946) is an English composer, pianist, and pedagogue. An immensely prolific composer, his music is "notable for its dramatic urgency and expressive immediacy". Although he rejects the label, he is often r ...

. Vines actively identifies with

transmodernism Transmodernism is a philosophical and cultural movement founded by Argentinian- Mexican philosopher Enrique Dussel.Cole, MikePsychology Press, 2008, p. 68 He refers to himself as a transmodernist and wrote a series of essays criticising the postm ...

. His compositional approach is rooted in the technical resources of the Western classical canon, while embracing sounds and ideas from an array of popular, experimental, Australian and non-Western traditions. This combination of rigour and pluralism gives rise to music at once vectored and kaleidoscopic. Vines has worked in both traditional and bespoke forms, producing some eighty-five compositions. His output includes three operas, a symphony, two string quartets, a piano quartet, and twelve preludes and twenty-one miniatures for piano, as well as many examples of ''

Gebrauchsmusik () is a German term, meaning "utility music", for music that exists not only for its own sake, but which was composed for some specific, identifiable purpose. This purpose can be a particular historical event, like a political rally or a militar ...

''. Vines is also a keen mentor of young composers. From 2007 to 2021, he ran the New Works Program for

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on Hu ...

’s Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice. His role with the Artology Fanfare Project (2014–21) is well-established and he has been intrinsic to numerous school-based Australian music seminars. Vines currently teaches at

Sydney Grammar School (Praise be to God) , established = , type = Independent, day school , gender = Boys , religious_affiliation = None , slogan = , headmaster = R. B. Malpass , founder = Laurence Hynes Halloran , chairman = ...

as the Senior Master of Academic Extension (Music). One of his initiatives is Composition Club, where he has taught his students about Peter Sculthorpe, video game soundtracks, Shostakovich, and Ava Max.

External links

Nicholas VinesAustralian Music Centre Biography

References

* https://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/artist/vines-nicholas (accessed 23/12/21) * https://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/article/insight-hipster-zombies-from-mars (accessed 23/12/21) 1976 births 21st-century classical composers Australian classical composers Australian male classical composers Harvard University alumni Harvard University faculty Living people 21st-century Australian male musicians 21st-century Australian musicians {{Australia-musician-stub