Graeme Koehne

For other uses, see Koehne. Graeme Koehne (born 3 August 1956) is an Australian composer and music educator. He is best known for his orchestral and ballet scores, which are characterised by direct communicative style and embrace of triadic tonality. His orchestral trilogy Unchained Melody, Powerhouse, and Elevator Music makes allusions to Hollywood film score traditions, cartoon music, popular Latin music and other dance forms. He cites influences from "much-maligned and misunderstood" work by composers Les Baxter, Nelson Riddle, Henry Mancini and John Barry. Life and career edit: Koehne was born in Adelaide, South Australia. He completed his undergraduate and post-graduate studies at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide, studying composition with Richard Meale. In 1984, Koehne was awarded the Harkness Fellowship to work at the School of Music, Yale University. Here he studied with Louis Andriessen and Jacob Druckman. For two years of the fellowship he also took private lessons with Virgil Thomson in New York, whose influence is immediately discernible in the radically simplified, direct and anti-modern style of subsequent scores. He returned to Australia in 1986 and was appointed Lecturer in Composition at the Elder Conservatorium of Music. He gained national attention at the 1992 Adelaide Festival of Arts when he was awarded the Young Composers Prize for his orchestral work Rainforest. Around this time, Graeme commenced his long and fruitful collaboration with choreographer Graeme Murphy, which included a children's ballet based on Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant and the full-length work Nearly Beloved. As of 2005, Koehne is Head of Composition at the Elder Conservatorium of Music. Until recently he also chaired the Music Board of the Australia Council and was a Board Member of the Council. Honours edit: In 2001, Graeme Koehne was awarded the Centenary Medal. Works edit: Ballets edit: Nearly Beloved (1986; Sydney Dance Company), Nocturnes, 1914 (Australian Ballet), The Selfish Giant (1983; Sydney Dance Company), Tivoli (2001; Sydney Dance Company/Australian Ballet co-production), Chamber music edit: String Quartet, To His Servant Bach God Grants a Final Glimpse - The Morning Star (1989; also transcribed as organ trio), Concertos edit: InFlight Entertainment (2000, Oboe concerto), Orchestral edit: Rainforest (c. 1982), Unchained Melody (1991), Powerhouse (1993), Elevator Music (1997), Way Out West (2000), Sleep of Reason (2008), Awards and nominations edit: APRA Awards edit: 2009 Orchestral Work of the Year win for Tivoli Dances and nomination for Palm Court Suite both composed by Graeme Koehne and performed by Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra conducted by Richard Mills., Notes edit: ^ Elder Conservatorium, ^ It's an Honour, ^ Sydney Dance Company: Complete Repertoire, ^ "Winners - Classical Music Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 28 April 2010.

Source: Wikipedia

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