Matthew Hindson

Matthew John Hindson AM (born 12 September 1968) is an Australian composer.

Biography Matthew Hindson was born in Wollongong, New South Wales, in 1968. He studied composition at the Universities of Sydney and Melbourne with composers including Peter Sculthorpe, Eric Gross, Brenton Broadstock and Ross Edwards.

Hindson's works have been performed by ensembles and orchestras throughout his native Australia, including most of its professional symphony orchestras and chamber groups. Overseas, his compositions have been presented in New Zealand, Germany, France, Austria, the UK, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United States, Japan, Malaysia, Canada and Thailand, and have been featured at such key events as the 1994 and 2000 Gaudeamus Music Weeks in Amsterdam, the 1997 ISCM Festival in Copenhagen and the 1998 Paris Composers Rostrum.

His music often displays influences of popular music styles within a classical music context, and, as a result, musical elements such as driving repeated rhythms and high dynamic levels are typically found in his works. Indeed, directness and immediacy are common features in much of his music. One of his most notable works, Speed (1996), was thought by some to be inspired by the 1994 hit film Speed; however, Hindson has denied this connection.

In 1999 Hindson was the attached composer to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Works written during this attachment include Boom-Box and In Memoriam: Amplified Cello Concerto (the latter was subsequently nominated for an APRA-AMC award for Best Orchestral Work of 2001). He was also the attached composer with the Sydney Youth Orchestra in the same year, for which he was commissioned to write a violin concerto. In 2002 he was the featured composer with Musica Viva Australia for which he has written a number of new commissions for Kristjan Järvi's Absolute Ensemble, baroque violinist Andrew Manze, the Australian oboist Diana Doherty and the Belcea String Quartet, and Duo Sol.

In May 2002, the Sydney Dance Company toured Australia to much acclaim with a new 90-minute production, Ellipse, choreographed by their Artistic Director, Graeme Murphy, and danced entirely to Hindson's music. Playing to packed houses, it broke box-office records for the SDC. They toured it to the US in 2004.

In September 2003, Hindson was a featured composer at the Vale of Glamorgan Festival in Wales, during which fourteen of his works were performed by a variety of ensembles. He was the attached composer to The Queensland Orchestra in 2003/2004, one result of which was his Percussion Concerto, written for Dame Evelyn Glennie and premiered in Brisbane in 2006. In addition, his music was set to a full-evening dance presentation by Ballett Schindowski in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, in January 2004.

Other compositions include two works for the Orchestras of Australia Network, a flute concerto entitled House Music for American flautist Marina Piccinini, premiered with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in December 2006, a Concerto for Two Pianos written for Pascal and Ami Rogé, three ballets written for David Bintley - two commissioned by Birmingham Royal Ballet and one by Sarasota Ballet, and a Soprano Saxophone Concerto - written for Amy Dickson. Matthew Hindson's music is published by Faber Music (UK). A disc of three of his orchestral pieces was recorded by Trust Records with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and released in August 2008.

As well as working as a composer, Hindson lectures in the Arts Music Unit and is Associate Professor and Chair of Composition at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He has recently co-authored a book entitled "Music Composition Toolbox", published by Science Press. Hindson was from 2004 to 2010 the artistic director of the Aurora Festival, a new festival of contemporary music based in Western Sydney. In 2017, Maralinga (2009/arr.2011) had its US premiere performance at the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, in the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, in the summer series.

Honours Matthew Hindson was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2006, for "service to the arts as a leading Australian composer and teacher of music, and through the wide promotion of musical works to new audiences".

Selected works

Stage works Symphony No 2: e=mc2, ballet in one act, 2009 Faster, ballet in one act, 2011 A Comedy of Errors, ballet in two acts, 2022 Imposter (after Mozart), ballet in one act, 2022

Orchestral Homage to Metallica, 1994/97 Speed, 1996 LiteSpeed, 1996 Rave-Elation (Extended Mix), 1997 RPM, 1996/98 Rave-Elation (Schindowski Mix), 1997/2003 Boom-Box, 1999 In Memoriam: Amplified Cello Concerto, 2000 Violin Concerto No. 1 (Australian Postcards), 2000 Wind Turbine at Kooragang Island Westerway Grand Final Day Headbanger, 2001 Rave-Elation, 2002 A Symphony of Modern Objects, 2003 Auto-Electric, 2003 Concerto for Percussion, 2005 An Infernal Machine, 2006 House Music (Flute Concerto), 2006 Flash Madness, 2006 Kalkadungu (co-composed with William Barton), 2007 Ictalurus Punctatus, 2008 Dangerous Creatures, 2008 Symphony No 2: e=mc2, one-act ballet, 2009 Energy, 2009 Concerto for Two Pianos, 2011 Bright Red Overture for full orchestra, solo trumpet and didjeridu, 2013 Returned Soldier, The Symphony No 3, 2014 It is better to be feared than loved, for SATB chorus and orchestra, 2014 Concerto for Soprano Saxophone & Orchestra, 2019 Big Steel, 2022

String orchestra Technologic 1–2 for string orchestra and percussion, 1998 Whitewater for 12 solo strings, 1999–2000 The Rave and the Nightingale for string quartet and string orchestra, 2001 Balkan Connection string orchestra, 2003 Gentle Giant, 2003 Didjeribluegrass didjeridu, string orchestra and percussion, 2005 Song and Dance, string orchestra, 2006 Crime and Punishment double-bass and string orchestra, 2009 Maralinga violin and string orchestra (named after the 1950s British nuclear test site in the Australian outback), 2009/arr.2011 Bright Stars for string orchestra of mixed abilities, with piano, 2016 Atomic Tangerine for string orchestra, or string ensemble, 2017 Nothing is Forever, for string orchestra, 2018

Ensemble Lucky Seven for 10 percussionists, 1995 Siegfried Interlude No.4 – The Ride of the (Viola) Valkyries 8 violas, 1998 Technologic 145, for chamber ensemble of 13 players, 1998 Siegfried Interlude No.1 for brass ensemble, 1999 Whitewater for 12 solo strings, 1999–2000 Comin' Right Atcha, for amplified chamber ensemble of 8 players, 2002 Comin' Right Atcha, for chamber ensemble of 14 players, 2002, 2006 Spirit Song, for chamber ensemble of 5 players, 2003/2006 Septet, for chamber ensemble of 7 players, 2009 Beauty for cello and chamber ensemble of 6 players, 2009 This Year's Apocalypse for chamber ensemble of 14 players, 2016 Arrival for carillon, 2017 Trumpet Concerto for solo trumpet and chamber ensemble of 7 players, 2018–20

Chamber music Prelude and Estampie for viola and piano, 1986 Four Score for 4 solo violins, 1992 Little Chrissietina's Magic Fantasy for 2 violins, 1994 DeathStench for amplified flute, amplified clarinet and piano, 1995 Nintendo Music for clarinet in A and piano, 1995 Five Movements for saxophone quartet, 1996 GameBoy Music for clarinet and piano, 1997 Two Marine Portraits for violin, viola and electronics, 1997 Chrissietina's Magic Fantasy for violin and viola, 1998 Ignition: Positive for trumpet or alto saxophone and piano, 1998 Jungle Fever for cello or tenor saxophone and piano, 1998 Night Pieces for oboe or soprano saxophone and piano, 1998 Love Serenade for cello or bassoon and piano, 1998 n-trance for solo harp, 1998 Lament for viola and piano, 1996/2002 Rush for guitar and string quartet, 1999 Rush for oboe and string quartet, 1999/2001 Siegfried Interlude No.2 for wind octet, or soprano saxophone and piano, or clarinet and piano, 1999 Siegfried Interlude No.3 for 3 percussionists, 1999 Always On Time for violin and cello, 2001 Pulse Magnet for 2 pianos and 2 percussion, 2001 Baroquerie, Sonata for Baroque Violin and Harpsichord, 2002 Industrial Night Music (String Quartet No. 1), 2003 Basement Art Guru and Other Pieces for solo violin, 2004 Didjeribluegrass for didjeridu and string quartet, 2005 Piano Trio, 2006 Song of Life for solo violin, 2007 The Metallic Violin for solo violin, 2007 Light Music for wind quintet, 2007 Video Game Dreaming for clarinet quartet, 2007 The Metallic Violins for two violins, 2008 Shakedown for amplified shakuhachi & CD, 2008 Violin Concertino: Summer Stories for violin and piano, 2009 Maralinga for violin and piano, 2009 Funeral Windows for basset clarinet, 2009 Big Heart for string quartet, 2009 Mandalay for solo violin, 2009 Septet for flute, horn and string quintet, 2009 The Flash for solo xylophone, 2010 Video Game Dreaming for saxophone quartet, 2010 Light is both a particle and a wave for flute, clarinet in A, piano and string quartet, 2010 Repetepetition for soprano saxophone and piano, 2011 A Vision in Jade for two violins, 2011/rev.2020 Remembering Dixie for violin and piano, 2012 Song for Sophie for violin and piano, 2012 Epic Diva for piano quartet, 2012 The stars above us all for chamber orchestra, 2012 Repetepetition for flute/piccolo and vibraphone, 2013 Repetepetition for flute/piccolo and piano, 2013 String Quartet No 2, 2013 Rush for piano trio, 2015 String Quartet No 3: Ngeringa, 2015 String Quartet No 4 for string quartet and solo percussion, 2016 Scenes from 'Romeo & Juliet''' for saxophone quartet, 2016 Funeral Oration for solo trumpet, 2016 Lounge Music arrangement of 3rd movement of flute concerto House Music for clarinet and piano, 2016 Odysseus and the Sirens, for flute and piano, 2017 String Quartet No 5 (Celebration), 2017 Champagne Fanfare, for two flutes, 2017 After Bach, for string quartet, 2018 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, for violin and cello, 2018 After Bach, for two baroque violins and viola da gamba, 2018 Violin Sonata No 1 - 'Dark Matter', for violin and piano, 2018 Heroes, for solo soprano saxophone, 2020 Hey, for solo snare drum, 2020 Andante Amoroso, for violin and viola, 2021

Piano AK-47, 1993 Moments of Plastic Jubilation, 2000 Monkey Music for Toy Piano and Cymbal Monkey, 2009 Big Bang for two pianos, 2013 Visible Weapon for two pianos and electronics, 2013 La Salsa Sensuale, 2020

Choral Pi, 1999 Velvet Dreams, 1999 The Blue Alice, 2000 Heartland, 2001 It is better to be feared than loved, for SATB chorus and orchestra, 2014 Electric Rain, for SAB chorus & symphonic wind band, 2019 da-bi-du, for unaccompanied SSATBarB voices, 2019

Vocal Insect Songs, mezzo-soprano and guitar, 1998 Central Australian Song for soprano and chamber ensemble of 5 players, 2009 Saviour of the Heathens (on "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland"), solo tenor, cello and chamber organ, 2017

Symphonic wind band RPM, 2002 Headbanger, 2003 Requiem for a City (co-composed with Paul Mac), 2015 Electric Rain'', for SAB chorus & symphonic wind band, 2019