BROPHY, GERARD Songs of the North^#
soprano, piano and winds

Born in Sydney in 1953, Gerard Brophy began his studies in the classical guitar at the age of 22. In 1976 he undertook four months of masterclasses with the Brazilian guitarist Turibio Santos and the next year he attended a composition seminar directed by Mauricio Kagel in Basle. He studied composition with Don Banks, Anthony Gilbert and Richard Toop at the NSW Conservatorium of Music and graduated as Student of the Year in 1982.

Gerard Brophy has been awarded numerous composition prizes including the inaugural NSW Premiers Composers Award, the 1985 Premio Casella, the 1988 Budapest Composers Award and the 1988 Barlow International Orchestral Award. His Linia for 12 instruments, Exu for amplified violin and orchestra, Orfeo for string orchestra and Shiver for mezzo-soprano and ensemble were selected for performance at the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) World Music Days of 1981, 1984, 1986 and 1991 respectively. His music has been performed at all the major festivals including the Asian Music Festival, Gaudeamus Music Week, Warsaw Autumn, Nuova Consonanza, Nuovi Spazi Musicali, Sonorities and the Zagreb Biennale.

Gerard Brophy has received Australia Council Fellowships, an Italian Government Scholarship and scholarships from the Accademia Musicale Chigiana di Siena and the Paris Conservatoire. His first composer fellowship enabled him to study with Franco Donatoni in Italy from January 1982 until September 1983. In June 1983 he graduated from the Accademia Nazionale di S.Cecilia, Rome with top honours. In 1983 he was assistant to Donatoni, as well as attending the composition class at the Accademia Chigiana.

Gerard Brophy's music has been performed and commissioned by some of the world's leading ensembles - including the Residentie Orkest, the St.Louis and Sydney Symphony Orchestras, ANUMADUTCHI, the Nash Ensemble, Nieuw Ensemble, Elision, Het Trio, Ensemble Modern, Chicago Pro Musica, Bang on a Can, Da Capo, 145 East, the ASKO Ensemble, Ensemble l'Itineraire, Duo Contemporain, de Ereprijs and 2E2M.

His music is regularly broadcast in Europe, Japan, the United States and Australia, and it has appeared in the major subscription series of the Chicago Symphony, Orchestra National de Lyon, Pompidou Centre and the Dutch Proms.


^# Especially written for the SOUTHERN CROSS SOLOISTS