Gillian Whitehead
Encyclopedia
Dame Gillian Karawe Whitehead, DNZM
(born 23 April 1941) is a New Zealand
composer
.
She studied at the University of Auckland
from 1959–62, and Victoria University of Wellington
in 1963, graduating BMus Hons in 1964. She then studied composition at the University of Sydney
with Peter Sculthorpe
from 1964–65, graduating MMus in 1966. That same year she attended a composition course given by Peter Maxwell Davies
in Adelaide and in 1967 travelled to England to continue studying with him. She worked in London composing and copying music for two years and then with the assistance of a New Zealand Arts Council grant worked in Portugal and Italy from 1969–70. For the next seven years she continued freelance composing, principally based in the UK. Her first opera Tristan and Iseult was composed in 1975 and premiered in 1978. From 1978–80 she was Composer in Residence for Northern Arts attached to Newcastle University. In 1981 she returned to Australasia to join the staff of the Composition School at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music
and was for four years Head of Composition there before taking early retirement in 1996.
She currently divides her time as a free-lance composer between Sydney and Dunedin, New Zealand. In 1999 her opera, Outrageous Fortune won the SOUNZ Contemporary Award and she was honoured with membership to the New Zealand Order of Merit
. In 2000 she became one of the inaugural Artist Laureates of the New Zealand Arts Foundation and is now a governor of the organisation. During 2000 and 2001 she was Composer in Residence at the Auckland Philharmonia and her major orchestral work, The Improbable Ordered Dance, written during the Residency won the 2001 SOUNZ Contemporary Award.
Whitehead has written a wide range of music including works for solo, chamber, choral, orchestral and operatic forces, most of them direct commissions from performers and funding organisations. A number of her works have been recorded for commercial release, including a CD of her chamber works by Waiteata Press and a recording of her opera, Outrageous Fortune.
In 2008 she was awarded DCNZM in the Queen's Birthday Honours, for services to music.
New Zealand Order of Merit
The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order established in 1996 "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rendered meritorious service to the Crown and nation or who have become distinguished by their eminence, talents, contributions or other merits."The order includes five...
(born 23 April 1941) is a New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
She studied at the University of Auckland
University of Auckland
The University of Auckland is a university located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest university in the country and the highest ranked in the 2011 QS World University Rankings, having been ranked worldwide...
from 1959–62, and Victoria University of Wellington
Victoria University of Wellington
Victoria University of Wellington was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a former constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It is particularly well known for its programmes in law, the humanities, and some scientific disciplines, but offers a broad range of other courses...
in 1963, graduating BMus Hons in 1964. She then studied composition at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
with Peter Sculthorpe
Peter Sculthorpe
Peter Joshua Sculthorpe AO OBE is an Australian composer. Much of his music has resulted from an interest in the music of Australia's neighbours as well as from the impulse to bring together aspects of native Australian music with that of the heritage of the West...
from 1964–65, graduating MMus in 1966. That same year she attended a composition course given by Peter Maxwell Davies
Peter Maxwell Davies
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, CBE is an English composer and conductor and is currently Master of the Queen's Music.-Biography:...
in Adelaide and in 1967 travelled to England to continue studying with him. She worked in London composing and copying music for two years and then with the assistance of a New Zealand Arts Council grant worked in Portugal and Italy from 1969–70. For the next seven years she continued freelance composing, principally based in the UK. Her first opera Tristan and Iseult was composed in 1975 and premiered in 1978. From 1978–80 she was Composer in Residence for Northern Arts attached to Newcastle University. In 1981 she returned to Australasia to join the staff of the Composition School at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music
Sydney Conservatorium of Music
The Sydney Conservatorium of Music is one of the oldest and most prestigious music schools in Australia...
and was for four years Head of Composition there before taking early retirement in 1996.
She currently divides her time as a free-lance composer between Sydney and Dunedin, New Zealand. In 1999 her opera, Outrageous Fortune won the SOUNZ Contemporary Award and she was honoured with membership to the New Zealand Order of Merit
New Zealand Order of Merit
The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order established in 1996 "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rendered meritorious service to the Crown and nation or who have become distinguished by their eminence, talents, contributions or other merits."The order includes five...
. In 2000 she became one of the inaugural Artist Laureates of the New Zealand Arts Foundation and is now a governor of the organisation. During 2000 and 2001 she was Composer in Residence at the Auckland Philharmonia and her major orchestral work, The Improbable Ordered Dance, written during the Residency won the 2001 SOUNZ Contemporary Award.
Whitehead has written a wide range of music including works for solo, chamber, choral, orchestral and operatic forces, most of them direct commissions from performers and funding organisations. A number of her works have been recorded for commercial release, including a CD of her chamber works by Waiteata Press and a recording of her opera, Outrageous Fortune.
In 2008 she was awarded DCNZM in the Queen's Birthday Honours, for services to music.