Carl Vine facts for kids

Carl Edward Vine is a famous Australian composer. He was born on October 8, 1954. He writes contemporary classical music, which is a type of classical music from our time.

Since 1975, Carl has worked as a pianist and composer. He has created music for many different groups, including theatre and dance companies. Carl has written a lot of music! This includes eight symphonies, thirteen concertos, and music for movies, TV shows, and plays. He also creates electronic music and many smaller pieces for different instruments.

From 2000 to 2019, Carl was the main artistic leader for Musica Viva Australia. This is a big organization that brings chamber music to people. He also led the Huntington Estate Music Festival and the Musica Viva Festival in Sydney. In 2005, he won the Don Banks Music Award, which is a very important award for musicians in Australia. In 2014, he was given another special honor called the Officer of the Order of Australia (AO). This was for his amazing work as a composer, conductor, teacher, and leader in the arts. He also helps young musicians. Today, Carl teaches music composition at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Carl's Musical Journey

Carl Vine grew up in Perth, Western Australia. He started playing the cornet (a brass instrument like a trumpet) when he was only 5 years old. When he was 10, he began learning the piano. As a teenager, he was very interested in the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen. This led him to explore a style of music called Modernism until the mid-1980s.

He first studied physics at the University of Western Australia. Then, he changed to studying composition. In 1975, he moved to Sydney. There, he worked as a freelance pianist and composer. This meant he worked for himself, creating music for various theatre groups, dance companies, and other music groups.

Carl became well-known in Australia for writing music for dance. He created music for 25 different dance shows! In 1979, he helped start a music group called "Flederman". This group performed many of Carl's own pieces. From 1980 to 1982, he taught electronic music composition at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music in Brisbane.

Carl's music collection is huge. It includes eight symphonies and thirteen concertos. He has also written music for films, television, and plays. Even though he mainly writes modern classical music, he has done some very different things. For example, he helped arrange the Australian national anthem. He also wrote music for the closing ceremony of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

From 2000 to 2019, Carl was the Artistic Director of Musica Viva Australia. This is the biggest group in the world that promotes chamber music. In this role, he also led the Huntington Estate Music Festival starting in 2006. And he led the Musica Viva Festival in Sydney from 2008. In 2005, he received the Don Banks Music Award. This is the highest honor the Australia Council for the Arts can give to a musician.

In 2012, his second piano concerto was played for the first time by Piers Lane and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Also, the Australian Chamber Orchestra performed his special song for a solo singer, The Tree of Man. This song was inspired by a novel by Patrick White.

In the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours List, Carl was given the title of Officer of the Order of Australia (AO). This was for his great work in the performing arts. He was recognized as a composer, conductor, teacher, and artistic director. He was also honored for helping and guiding new performers.

Carl lives in Sydney and continues to write music. In 2016, his trombone concerto called Five Hallucinations was played for the first time by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Since 2014, Carl has also been teaching composition at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Carl's Music

Carl Vine has written many different kinds of music. Here are some of the main types:

Symphonies

Symphonies are large pieces of music usually for a full orchestra. Carl has written eight of them!

• Symphony No. 1 MicroSymphony (1986)
• Symphony No. 8 The Enchanted Loom (2018)

Concertos

Concertos are pieces where one or more solo instruments play with an orchestra. Carl has written thirteen concertos for different instruments.

• Percussion Concerto (1987)
• Piano Concerto No. 2 (2012)
• Five Hallucinations (concerto for trombone and orchestra) (2016)

Other Orchestra Music

These are other pieces written for a full orchestra.

• Celebrate Celeberrime (1993) (an orchestral fanfare, like a short, loud piece)
• The Tree of Man (2012) (a cantata for a soprano singer and string orchestra)

Chamber Music

Chamber music is written for a small group of instruments, usually one player per part.

• String Quartet No. 6 (Child's Play) (2017)
• Inner World (solo cello with pre-recorded electronics) (1994)
• Endless (for guitar and string quartet) (2023)

Piano Music

Carl has written many pieces just for the piano.

• Piano Sonata No. 1 (1990)
• The Anne Landa Preludes (solo piano) (2006)
• Piano Sonata No. 4 (2019)

Dance Music

Carl is well-known for writing music for dance performances.

• Poppy (1978)
• The Tempest (1991)
• The Silver Rose (2005)

Theatre Music

He has also composed music for many plays.

• The Dreamers (play – 1975)
• Signal Driver (play by Patrick White – 1982)
• The Master Builder (play by Ibsen – 1991)

Film and Television Music

Carl has created music for movies and TV shows too.

• The Dunstan Documentaries (TV) (1982)
• Bedevil (1993)
• The Battlers (TV) (1994)

Recordings

You can listen to Carl Vine's music on these recordings:

• Carl Vine: The Complete Symphonies, played by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
• Carl Vine – Chamber Music Volume 1
• Carl Vine: The Piano Music

Awards and Honors

Carl Vine has received many awards for his contributions to music:

• In 1970, he won First Prize in the Australian Society for Music Education Composers' Competition (Under 18).
• In 1983, he received the Adams Award for his outstanding music for dance in Australia.
• In 1993 and 1994, he won Australian Guild of Screen Composers Awards for his film and TV music, including for the film Bedevil and the TV series The Battlers.
• In 2000, the Australian government gave him the Centenary Medal for his contribution to Australian society.
• He won several APRA-AMC Classical Music Awards for his works, including Piano Sonata No. 1 (2002) and Symphony No. 7 (2009).
• In 2005, he received the prestigious Don Banks Music Award from the Australia Council for the Arts, recognizing his outstanding and long-lasting contribution to Australian music.
• In 2010, the University of Western Australia gave him an honorary Doctor of Music degree.
• In 2014, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), a high national honor.
• In 2011, he was given the Sir Bernard Heinze Memorial Award for his outstanding contribution to music in Australia.