Barry Conyngham
Barry Conyngham, born in Sydney, has received numerous awards and fellowships for composition, among them Churchill, Harkness, Australia Council and Senior Fulbright grants. He holds an ARIA, two Sounds Australian Critics Awards and two Maggs Awards.
Australian composer Barry Conyngham studied with Peter Sculthorpe and Toru Takemitsu. He is Emeritus Professor at the University of Wollongong and at Southern Cross University, where he was Foundation Vice-Chancellor (1994–2000). He was the first musician to hold the Chair of Australian Studies at Harvard University (2000–2001), and has held Churchill, Harkness and Fulbright fellowships. In 1997 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia.
With premieres and performances across Japan, the Americas, Europe, the UK and Australia, he ranks among Australia’s most widely heard international composers. He has more than seventy published works and over thirty recordings, including performances by the London, New Zealand, Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras and ensembles from Japan, Europe, America and Australia.
Recent premieres include the orchestral Cala Tuent (2008) in Spain, Australia and Hong Kong, and the double-bass concerto Kangaroo Island (MD 3455) (2009) in the United States. 2011 brought Fallingwater for two bassoons and orchestra, Showboat Kalang for the Australia Ensemble, and Gardener of Time (MD 3455) for the Melbourne Symphony. In November 2012 his first Symphony, commissioned by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, was first performed at the Sydney Opera House.
In May 2014 Dry Spell…Deluge (MD 3455) was premiered in Vienna by Ensemble Reconsil, followed in August by ANZAC, a large reflection on war and national character for nine soloists and symphony orchestra.
Artist's website: conyngham.net
Barry Conyngham is featured on the following titles
Bushfire Dreams
Four marvellous works by Melbourne composers appear here in superb performances by the Ormond Quartet, resident at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music between 2016 and 2018. Lotte Betts-Dean joins them for Katy Abbott’s work.
Compositions by Barry Conyngham also appear on
Inspirations
They say there is nothing new under the sun. New works of art challenge this notion. In this piano recording by Ian Holtham, all the works, commissioned from his Melbourne composer colleagues, are responses to major works in the piano literature. Something new has arisen, phoenix-like, out of something old.
Graeme Murphy's Body of Work: A Retrospective
For 25 years the Sydney Dance Company under Graeme Murphy dominated Australian dance. Murphy made it a mission to commission new Australian scores; this disc gathers some of the most successful, issued to mark a national tour celebrating his work.
Awakening
Marshall McGuire is a formidable asset to Australia’s contemporary music scene, and the only harpist specialising in both baroque harp and all forms of modern music. This Tall Poppies disc remains a catalogue best-seller.
Christmas under Capricorn
The Australian Youth Orchestra, conducted by Graham Abbott, plays nineteen Christmas carols arranged for orchestra by Australian composers. Two carols appear in paired settings, inviting comparison. Listenable festive music, easy to give as a gift.