Christopher Sainsbury: Composer | Songwriter | Guitarist | Educator
"Surely this year's Australian musician of the moment"
(The Australian Music Centre's Resonate magazine May 2019)
Brief Introduction
Christopher Sainsbury composes in various genres, and his recent works include an opera The Visitors commissioned by Richard Mills for the Victorian Opera Company's 2023 season (with libretto by Jane Harrison), a string orchestra work String Talk commissioned by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra for July 2024, A Lithium Fascination commissioned by the UBC Future Minerals Working Group and Axiom Brass Chicago as part of The Heavy Metal Suite (a collaboration between 8 leading international composers), Singing Stone - a 2024 ABC Classic album featuring his music performed by Australian guitar great Ken Murray with Melbourne musicians including members of the Conservatorium Faculty of the University of Melbourne, and Ocean Song – an album of ambient surf music with the Random Earth Band which features legendary Australian guitarist Guy Strazz and Chris on guitars. Some early commissions include works for the Australian Chamber Orchestra (1987), for Australian flute elder Gordon Yemm (1987), as well as for the Central Coast Philharmonia (1988) – a group from his long-term home region. He highlights that it is meaningful for him to work with community groups of his home region, not just professional groups. See Bio for a more comprehensive list of composing engagements and credits.
Sainsbury is Associate Professor in Composition at the Australian National University (ANU) Canberra. He won the APRA National Luminary Award in 2020 for effecting change within the classical and new music industry through the Ngarra-burria First Peoples Composers program (see Ngarra-burria page), and a Classical:NEXT Innovation Award was awarded to the program in 2022 for innovation in practice. He was also winner of the (Boston) New England Philharmonic Orchestra's Open Call for Scores in 2010-11. Since the mid-1980s he has made a sustained contribution to Australian music through composing, performing and teaching. In more recent years he has strongly advocated for the commissioning and programming of First Nations composers, and also advocated for more programming of all Australian composers. “It’s so clear that your work and guidance have been invaluable to help the ABC forge a deeper engagement with Australian composers.” (Matthew Dewey – former Music Director, ABC Classic).
Listen now:
We Will 'C': a miniature to mark 20 years of performance collaboration between Erik Bosgraaf and Izhar Elias.
String Talk - excerpt, SSO, soloist Andrew Haveron.
Fish Hooked - Mark Xiao flute, and Edward Neeman piano.
Recent performances / releases / new commissions / events
CD Releases and other Recordings:
- Djagamara: Featured on Sally Walker and Emily Granger's CD release, Something Like This.
- In The Beginning, Fun!: for string quartet with marimba. CSO chamber players, Canberra.
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ABC Classic CD: Ken Murray
Singing Stone: The Music of Christopher Sainsbury
Performances by Ken Murray, Merindah Dias-Jayasinha, Laila Engle, Ensemble Three and Joel Brennan.
"Singing Stone is a stunning collection of Christopher Sainsbury's uniquely Australian compositions" (ArtsHub 2024)
Select Performances:
October-November 2024
- Antique Flight Stilled by Millenia, commissioned by CSO
- Interrupted Cadence, commissioned by ANAM for Reuben Johnson with Paavali Jumppanen
July 2024
- String Talk: Performed by SSO, conducted by Jaime Martin.
March-April 2024
- Guwara: Melbourne String Ensemble performances in Germany and the Czech Republic.
- A Lithium Fascination (The Heavy Metal Suite), commissioned by the University of British Columbia for Axiom Brass (Chicago).
2023
- Upon a High Rock Platform: Commissioned by Sydney’s Bel a cappella. An ‘Acknowledgement of Country’ work.
October 18 – 21, 2023
- The Visitors, opera commissioned by Richard Mills for the Victorian Opera Company. Libretto by Jane Harrison. Conducted by Phoebe Briggs.
“Composer Christopher Sainsbury is the master of the chorus.” (ClassikON, 2023)
Hear excerpts: - Red Sky
- Listen
- The Hanging
Featured CD's
Discover the Sainsbury solo guitar CD Anima, Ken Murray's Singing Stone - the Music of Christopher Sainsbury and Chris' project band Random Earth Band, as well as other CD's. Click the image to order. Hear examples on this site.
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