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Revision as of 07:29, 12 March 2011
Nigel Westlake (born 6 September 1958) is an Australian composer, performer and conductor.
Biography
Nigel Westlake's career in music has spanned more than 3 decades. He studied the clarinet with his father, Donald Westlake (principal clarinettist, Sydney Symphony Orchestra 1961-1979) and subsequently left school early to pursue a performance career in music. Nigel toured Australia and the world playing with ballet companies, a circus troupe, chamber music groups, fusion bands and orchestras to the cities of London, New York, Rome, Washington, Tokyo, Beijing, Paris, Amsterdam, Vancouver, Moscow, Hong Kong, Berlin, New Delhi and Singapore and many others.
His interest in composition dates from the late 1970's when he formed a classical/jazz-rock/world-music fusion band to play original music. During this time he started to receive offers to compose for radio and circus. Commissions for TV and film soon followed. In 1983 he furthered his studies of contemporary music in the Netherlands. From 1987 to 1992 he was a clarinettist with the Australia Ensemble resident at the University of New South Wales. In 1992 he joined guitarist John Williams's group 'Attacca' as a performer and composer for tours of the United Kingdom and Australia. Since then he has given his primary attention to composition.
His romantic score for the Beatrix Potter biopic Miss Potter won "Feature Film Score of the Year" & "Best Soundtrack Album" at the 2007 APRA / AGSC Screen Music Awards. The films Babe & Miss Potter were both international hits, being No. I at the box office in many territories around the world. His television credits include documentaries, telemovies, news themes & station idents.
Westlake's work has been widely performed and has earned numerous awards, including the Gold Medal at the New York International Radio Festival and numerous APRA and Screen Composer Guild awards for his film and concert music. The feature film Babe won the Golden Globe Award in 1996 for "best feature musical/comedy".
His conducting debut was with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in 1997. He has conducted concerts & recordings of his work with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney Youth Orchestra & in 2011 with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
His works have been performed by : John Williams, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, The Takacs Quartet, The Australia Ensemble, Michael Kieran Harvey, Synergy Percussion, Amsterdam Percussion Ensemble, Trilok Gurtu, New York Percussion Quartet, Craig Ogden, Slava Grigoryan, Leonard Grigoryan, Timothy Kain, Karin Schaupp, , Goldner String Quartet, Elektra String Quartet, Macquarie Trio, Sydney Symphony, Sydney Youth Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony, Tasmanian Symphony, The Queensland Orchestra, West Australia Symphony, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Saffire, Guitartrek, Ogden Tanner, The Seymour Group, Australian Virtuosi, The Academy of Melbourne, Simon Tedeschi, Ensemble Aark, Percadu, Rebecca Lagos, Catherine McCorkill, Schoenberg Ensemble, Berlin Philharmonie, 4-Mallity Percussion quartet. and conducted by : Kent Nagano, Paul Daniel, Richard Hickox, Markus Stenz, Ola Rudner, David Porcelijn, Yaron Traub, Jean Louis Forestier, Richard Gill, Brett Kelly, Benjamin Wallfisch, David Stanhope, Vladimir Verbitsky, Andrew Litton, Michael Christie & John Demain, Reinbert de Leeuw and Benjamin Northey.
His opus one, Omphalo Centric Lecture (1984) for percussion quartet has become one of the most frequently performed and recorded works in the percussion repertoire by groups in the USA, Japan, Europe and Australia. In 2004 Nigel Westlake was awarded the HC Coombs Creative Arts Fellowship at the Australian National University. In 2008 he was voted onto the board of APRA as Writer Director.
In 2008 he formed the Smugglers of Light Foundation in memory of his son Eli, focussed on the empowerment of storytelling through film and music in youth and Indigenous communities.
"Missa Solis - Requiem for Eli", composed for large symphony orchestra, chorus and solo treble receives premiere performances by the Melbourne Symphony and Sydney Symphony orchestras in 2011.
Filmography
- Candy Regentag (1989)
- Act of Necessity (1991)
- Antarctica (1991)
- Backsliding (1991)
- Babe (1995)
- Children of the Revolution (1996)
- Wild Australia: The Edge (1996)
- Babe: Pig in the City (1998)
- A Little Bit of Soul (1998)
- Solarmax (2000)
- The Nugget (2002)
- Horseplay (2003)
- Hell Has Harbour Views (2005)
- Miss Potter (2006)
- Stepfather of the Bride (2006)
Awards and nominations
APRA-AMC Classical Music Awards
The APRA-AMC Classical Music Awards are presented annually by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australian Music Centre (AMC).[1]
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Piano Concerto – Michael Kieran Harvey | Best Performance of an Australian Composition[2] | Nominated |
| Six Fish – Saffire Guitar Quartet | Instrumental Work of the Year[3] | Won | |
| Crystal Spheres – Solarmax film orchestra | Orchestral Work of the Year[2] | Nominated | |
| 2007 | When the Clock Strikes Me - Rebecca Lagos (soloist), Sydney Symphony | Best Performance of an Australian Composition[4] | Won |
| 2008 | Rare Sugar - The Australia Ensemble and Catherine McCorkill (clarinetist) | Best Performance of an Australian Composition[5] | Won |
| Glass Soldier Suite – Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Geoffrey Payne (cornet), Jean-Louis Forestier (conductor) | Orchestral Work of the Year[6] | Nominated
|
APRA-AGSC Screen Music Awards
The annual APRA-AGSC Screen Music Awards are presented by APRA and Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) for television and film scores and soundtracks.[7]
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Hell Has Harbour Views | Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie[8] | Won |
| 2007 | Miss Potter | Feature Film Score of the Year[9] | Won |
| Best Soundtrack Album[9] | Won | ||
| Stepfather of the Bride | Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie[9] | Won
|
References
- ^ "Classical Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 2 May 2010.
- ^ a b "2005 Finalists - Classical Music Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 17 May 2010.
- ^ "2005 Winners - Classical Music Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 17 May 2010.
- ^ "2007 Winners - Classical Music Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 2 May 2010.
- ^ "2008 Winners - Classical Music Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 29 April 2010.
- ^ "2008 Finalists - Classical Music Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 29 April 2010.
- ^ "Screen Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 2 May 2010.
- ^ "2005 Winners - Screen Music Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 17 May 2010.
- ^ a b c "2007 Winners - Screen Music Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 2 May 2010.
External links
- Nigel Westlake at IMDb
- Nigel Westlake discography at Discogs
- Rimshot Music
