Robert Davidson is an Australian composer and lecture in music at the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

Education

He holds a Bachelor of Music from the

(UQ), a Graduate Diploma in Music from

Griffith University Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. Formally founded in 1971, Griffith opened its doors in 1975, introducing Australia's first degrees in environmental science and Asian ...

, and a PhD from the University of Queensland. He studied composition with

Terry Riley Terrence Mitchell "Terry" Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his music became notable for ...

in 1995 following studies with Philip Bračanin at UQ.

Musical career

He was a bassist in the

Opera Australia Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder ...

Sydney Symphony The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra that was initially formed in 1908. Since its opening in 1973, the Sydney Opera House has been its home concert hall. Simone Young is the orchestra's chief conductor and fir ...

and Queensland Symphony orchestras. Since 1997, Davidson has directed the post-classical quintet

Topology In mathematics, topology (from the Greek words , and ) is concerned with the properties of a geometric object that are preserved under continuous deformations, such as stretching, twisting, crumpling, and bending; that is, without closing ...

, with whom he plays

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

and occasionally sings. He is co-artistic direction of the organisation. Davidson's works focus on relationships between speech and music, often including video elements. His works have been commissioned and performed by numerous international artists, such as the Brodsky Quartet, Australian String Quartet,

Karin Schaupp Karin Schaupp (born 1972) is a German-born Australian classical guitarist. She has won APRA Music Awards and ARIA Music Awards. Early life Karin Schaupp was born in Hofheim am Taunus, Germany, in 1972. Her mother, Isolde Schaupp, was a teacher ...

, Southern Cross Soloists, Paul Dresher Ensemble (San Francisco), and Newspeak (New York). He has also collaborated with

Kate Miller-Heidke Kate Melina Miller-Heidke (; born 16 November 1981) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Although classically trained, she has generally followed a career in alternative pop music. She signed to Sony Australia, Epic in the US and RCA in th ...

Megan Washington Megan Alexanda Washington (born 7 January 1986) is an Australian musician and songwriter who has worked mononymously as Washington. Originally performing jazz music, her style shifted to indie pop and alternative rock. She has released three ...

Katie Noonan Katie Anne Noonan (born 2 May 1977) is an Australian singer-songwriter. In addition to a successful solo career encompassing opera, jazz, pop, rock and dance, she was the singer in the band George and remains the singer in the band Elixir; perf ...

TaikOz Taikoz is a taiko ensemble based in Sydney, Australia. Formed in 1997, they are credited with not only being an early Australian taiko ensemble, but for also broadly expanding interest in taiko performance in Australian society. History Taikoz ...

and Trichotomy. Some of his most well-known works using speech and music include "Not Now, Not Ever!" for choir with then prime minister of Australia Julia Gillard's 2012

Misogyny Speech The Misogyny Speech was a parliamentary speech delivered by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on 9 October 2012 in reaction to the opposition leader Tony Abbott accusing her of sexism. "Looking back, I think it was driven by a deep frustr ...

, and "Big Decisions", which tells of the Whitlam dismissal.

Academic career

Davidson is a senior lecturer in composition at UQ. He is also described as a UQ expert in speech intonation, music and language, popular music, contemporary art music, cross-genre music, and music performance. His research interests include the use of

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...

in music.

Recognition

Davidson was a finalist in the Art Music Awards in 2013 (Instrumental Work of the Year) and 2019 (Vocal/Choral Work of the Year).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Robert 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers Australian classical composers Australian male classical composers Living people 20th-century Australian male musicians 20th-century Australian musicians 21st-century Australian male musicians 21st-century Australian musicians 21st-century double-bassists Musicians from Queensland Musicians from Brisbane University of Queensland alumni Year of birth missing (living people)