Mary Finsterer
Encyclopedia
Life
Mary Finsterer was born in CanberraCanberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Australia, and graduated in 1987 with a Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree; the majority of work consists of prescribed music courses and study in applied music, usually requiring a...
degree from the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
. A recipient of the Royal Netherlands Government Award in 1993, she continued her studies in Amsterdam with Louis Andriessen
Louis Andriessen
Louis Andriessen is a Dutch composer and pianist based in Amsterdam. He teaches composition at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague...
, then returned to Australia and studied with Brenton Broadstock
Brenton Broadstock
Brenton Broadstock is an Australian composer.Brenton Broadstock - Australian Composer - was born in Melbourne, Australia. He studied History, Politics and Music at Monash University, and later composition and theory with Donald Freund at the University of Memphis in the USA and with Peter...
, completing a Master of Music
Master of Music
The Master of Music is the first graduate degree in Music awarded by universities and music conservatories. The M.Mus. combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization with graduate-level academic study in subjects such as music history, music theory, or music pedagogy...
degree in 1995 at the University of Melbourne. She completed a Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
degree in 2003. Finsterer is married to the photographer Dean Golja.
Finsterer has taught music and composition at Duquesne University
Duquesne University
Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit is a private Catholic university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened its doors as the Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost in October 1878 with an enrollment of...
in Pittsburgh, the University of Montreal in Canada, the University of Wollongong
University of Wollongong
The University of Wollongong is a public university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney...
, the Victorian College of the Arts
Victorian College of the Arts
The Faculty of the VCA and Music is a faculty of the University of Melbourne, in Victoria . VCAM is located near the Melbourne central business district, on two campuses, one - the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - on the Parkville campus of the University of Melbourne, and the other - the...
, the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music, 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...
and the Australian Film Television and Radio School
Australian Film Television and Radio School
The Australian Film, Television and Radio School is the Australian national centre for professional education and advanced training in film, television, radio and digital media. The School is an Australian Commonwealth government statutory authority...
where she became an Honorary Research Fellow in 2009. Her works have been performed internationally.
Finsterer has composed for films and electro–acoustic events for the Music Biennale Zagreb
Music Biennale Zagreb
Music Biennale Zagreb is an international festival of contemporary music in Zagreb, Croatia, organized by the Croatian Composers' Society. The Biennale, founded by Milko Kelemen and held every spring of the odd years since 1961, has become one of the most important festivals of contemporary music...
, Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne
Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne
Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne , based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, is one of the world's premier chamber orchestras specializing in contemporary classical music...
, Ensemble InterContemporain
Ensemble InterContemporain
The Ensemble InterContemporain is a French chamber orchestra, based in Paris at the Cité de la musique and IRCAM, which specialises in contemporary classical music....
, and Ictus Ensemble
Ictus Ensemble
Ictus Ensemble is a Belgian orchestra, founded by Jean-Luc Plouvierin 1994, specialising in Contemporary classical music...
for performance in Lille and Brussels. She worked as an orchestrator
Orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...
on the 2007 film Die Hard 4.0
Live Free or Die Hard
Live Free or Die Hard , is a 2007 American action film, and the fourth installment in the Die Hard series. The film was directed by Len Wiseman and stars Bruce Willis as John McClane. The name was adapted from the state motto of New Hampshire, "Live Free or Die"...
. In 2011, she finished her first opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, Biographica, to a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Timothy Daly.
Honors and awards
- "Let's Celebrate Oz Music" ABC Award 1989
- Albert H. Maggs Composition AwardAlbert H. Maggs Composition AwardThe Albert H. Maggs Composition Award is a commission-based Australian classical composition award given in order to "encourage and assist composers who might otherwise abandon their efforts for want of means"....
1990 for Catch - Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne's Forum 91
- Paris Rostrum Prize, 1992
- 'Music Lives!', Pittsburgh, 1992
- Composer-in-residence with Sydney Symphony OrchestraSydney Symphony OrchestraThe Sydney Symphony Orchestra , commonly known as the Sydney Symphony, is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney...
, 1992 - Royal Netherlands Government Award 1993
- Australia CouncilAustralia CouncilThe Australia Council, informally known as the Australia Council for the Arts, is the official arts council or arts funding body of the Government of Australia.-Function:...
Composer Fellowship, 1998 - Churchill Fellowship 2006 for work in the film industry
- Paul Lowin Orchestral Prize 2009 for In Praise of Darkness
Works
Selected works include:- Nextwave Fanfare (1992)
- Nyx (1996)
- Constans (1995)
- Omaggio Alla Pieta (1992)
- Catch (1992) (released on CD)
- Tract, for cello (1993)
- Ruisselant (1991)
- Sequi (2001)
- Achos (1999)
- Ether (1998)
- Kurz (2000)
- Pascal's Sphere (2000)
- Sleep (2002)
- Afmaeli (2009)
- In Praise of Darkness (2009)
- South SolitarySouth Solitary-Cast:*Miranda Otto ... Meredith Appleton*Marton Csokas ... Jake Fleet*Rohan Nichol ... Harry Stanley*Essie Davis ... Alma Stanley*Barry Otto ... George Wadsworth-Reviews:...
(2010), film score