(b. 1953)
Born in Sydney, Gerard Brophy (Australia in 1953) began his studies in the classical guitar at the age of twenty-two. In 1976 he participated in a four-month masterclass with the Brazilian guitarist Turibio Santos. The following year he attended a composition seminar directed by Mauricio Kagel in Basel. He then studied composition with Don Banks, Anthony Gilbert and Richard Toop at the NSW Conservatory of Music, graduating as Student of the Year in 1982.
Brophy has been awarded numerous composition prizes, including the inaugural NSW Premiers Composers Award, the 1988 Budapest International Composers Award and the 1988 Barlow International Orchestral Award. His Linia for twelve instruments, Exu for amplified violin and orchestra, Orfeo for string orchestra, and Shiver for mezzo-soprano and ensemble were selected for performance at the ISCM World Music Days of 1981, 1984, 1986 and 1991 respectively. His music has been performed at all the major festivals, including the Gaudeamus Music Week, Warsaw Autumn, Nuova Consonanza, Nuovi Spazi Musicali and the Zagreb Biennale. Gerard Brophy has received Australia Council Composer 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 in 1982-’83. In June 1983 he graduated from the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome with top honours. That same year he was assistant to Donatoni, as well as attending the composition class at the Accademia Chigiana. Gerard Brophy’s music has been commissioned and performed by some of the world’s leading ensembles, such as the St. Louis, Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestras, Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, Nash Ensemble, Het Nieuw Ensemble, Gruppo Musica d’Oggi, Het Trio, Chicago Pro Musica, Ensemble Octandre and Ensemble l’Itineraire. His music has been regularly broadcast in Europe, Japan, United States and Australia, and has appeared in the major subscription series of the Chicago Symphony, Orchestre National de Lyon, Pompidou Centre and in the Dutch Proms. On his return to Australia in late 1983, Gerard Brophy was appointed the inaugural composer-in-residence at Musica Viva Australia. This was followed by other residencies with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Queensland Conservatory and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble.
Web: http://www.peminfo.nl/gaudeamus/composerdetail.asp?composer=1883