Matthew Hindson

Biography

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".

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