Holly Harrison

Holly Phillippa Harrison (born 1988) is an Australian composer based in Western Sydney.

Early life and education Harrison grew up in the Hawkesbury region West of Sydney. She was awarded a music scholarship to attend St Paul's Grammar School for trumpet performance. During high school she began playing drum kit, performing with rock, punk and post-rock bands.

Harrison graduated from Western Sydney University School of Music with a Bachelor of Music, First Class Honours, and was awarded the University Medal. She then went on to complete a Doctorate of Creative Arts in composition at Western Sydney University.

Career Harrison's music is frequently performed across Australia and internationally. In Australia she has worked with leading orchestras including Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, West Australian Symphony Orchestra and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, as well as chamber ensembles including Ensemble Offspring, Omega Ensemble, and Australian String Quartet. Internationally, she has collaborated with ensembles including Eighth Blackbird, Alarm Will Sound, Goldmund Quartett, Orkest de Ereprijs.

In 2017, Harrison's Lobster Tales and Turtle Soup featured in Eighth Blackbird's Australian Tour with Musica Viva Australia. Harrison was awarded the inaugural Sue W Chamber Music Composition Prize for the work and Eighth Blackbird was later awarded Performance of the Year at the APRA Music Awards of 2018 for their performance of Lobster Tales and Turtle Soup.

From 2020-2022 Harrison was composer in residence for the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, in that time Harrison had five works premiered by the orchestra and conducted by Norwegian conductor Eivind Aadland.

Harrison's Splinter for Wind Ensemble, originally written for orchestra, was premiered in 2021 by San Jose State University Wind Ensemble and has been performed across the US and Australia. Splinter was a finalist in the APRA Music Awards of 2021 for the large ensemble category. Her first original work for Wind Ensemble POUNCE was commissioned by a consortium led by conductor Lucas Peterson, the work was premiered in April 2023 and later that year was selected as a finalist in the NBA/William D. Revelli Memorial Composition Contest.

In 2022, Harrison was awarded the Western Sydney University Chancellor's Alumni of the Year Award at the annual University Alumni Awards.

Awards and nominations