Richard Meale (b1932) is one of the towering figures of Australian composition. After initial music studies in piano, clarinet, harp, history and theory at the Sydney Conservatorium, Meale also studied non-Western music at UCLA, especially Japanese court music and Javanese and Balinese gamelan. His early works such as the Sonata for flute and piano (1960) introduced many of the methods of the international avant-garde to Australia, and Coruscations (1971) is a kind of culmination of these techniques.

During this period Richard Meale also played a crucial part in the propagation of avantgarde music in Australia as a pianist, lecturer and broadcaster and conductor as well as composing. His style after Viridian (1979) and and String Quartet No. 2 (1980) showed a marked change of direction, becoming more exclusively lyrical and embracing a frank tonality. From 1969 to 1988 he was Reader in Composition at the music faculty of the University of Adelaide. In 2000, Meale was conferred Doctor of Letters honoris causa by the University of New England.