Bang on a Can

The Australian composer and violist Brett Dean studied in Brisbane before moving to Germany in 1984 where he was a permanent member of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for 15 years. Brett returned to Australia in 2000 to concentrate on his growing compositional activities, and his works now attract considerable attention, championed by conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Markus Stenz and Daniel Harding. One of the most internationally performed composers of his generation, much of Dean's work draws from literary, political or visual stimuli, including a number of compositions inspired by paintings of his partner Heather Betts.

Brett Dean began composing in 1988, initially working on film, radio and improvisatory projects. He became established as a composer in his own right through works such as Ariel's Music, a clarinet concerto which won an award from the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers, the piano quintet Voices of Angels (1996) and Twelve Angry Men (1996) for the 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic. In 2001 he won the Paul Lowin Song Cycle Prize for Winter Songs, and in 2002/3 was Artist in Residence with the Melbourne Symphony and Composer in Residence at the Cheltenham Festival.

Brett Dean performs throughout the world as soloist, chamber musician and conductor and has given numerous premieres of solo and chamber works by some of the leading composers of our time. He has also conducted ensembles such as the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Scharoun Ensemble Berlin and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.

Dean's most widely-known work is Carlo for strings, sampler and tape, inspired by the music of Carlo Gesualdo, which has received over 50 performances. Other scores include Beggars and Angels (1999) commissioned by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Pastoral Symphony (2001) written for Ensemble Modern, Testament (2003) for 12 violas of the Berlin Philharmonic and Eclipse (2003) for the Auryn String Quartet, commissioned by the Kölner Philharmonie. Last season the Melbourne Symphony/Stenz premiered Moments of Bliss, an orchestral precursor of his forthcoming opera Bliss, which was awarded 'Best Composition' at the 2005 Australian Classical Music Awards. A broad selection of his music has been recorded on labels such as ABC Classics and BIS records.

In April 2005, Brett Dean premiered his Viola Concerto in London as soloist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra - he will also perform this work with co-commissioners Los Angeles Philharmonic and Sydney Symphony in 2006/7. Recently, the Concertgebouw Orchestra premiered Parteitag, a specially commissioned work for the Holland Festival 2005 involving spatially disparate orchestral groupings and collaborating with video artist Cazerine Barry.

Highlights of the 2005/6 season include the world premiere by the Berlin Philharmonic of an orchestral work Komarov's Fall in March 2006. Dean will be Composer-in-Residence at the Perth Festival, including the premiere of a major new work for orchestra and chorus (co-commissioned by the BBC), and a chamber music feature. He also gives performances of his Viola Concerto with the Hamburg Philharmonic and Estonian National Symphony and performs in a special programme with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, including conducting his own Short Stories.

Looking ahead, Brett will write a violin concerto for Frank Peter Zimmermann, a work for the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and an opera Bliss, based on Peter Carey's novel of the same name.

Brett Dean is published exclusively by Boosey & Hawkes / Bote & Bock. He is represented by Intermusica.