Don Kay
Don Kay (born 1933) is a Tasmanian classical composer whose work ranges from symphony, opera and concerto to chamber, choral, vocal and piano music, often shaped by the island’s landscape, ecology and history.
Don Kay was born and educated in Tasmania before completing his music degree at the University of Melbourne. During his years in London (1959–64) he studied composition privately with Malcolm Williamson.
His compositions include two one-act operas, three concertos, a symphony, and vocal, choral, chamber, film and theatre music. In 1991 he was appointed a Member of the General Division of the Order of Australia for his service to the arts, particularly music composition.
Don Kay is featured on the following titles
Music of Don Kay
Chamber works for piano, flute and cello by Don Kay. Four of the six pieces were written for these performers, among them three piano sonatas receiving their premiere recordings.
Compositions by Don Kay also appear on
Move 50
Twenty-four Australian composers mark Move Records’ fiftieth year with short new works gathered on this commemorative disc.
Dancing to the Tremors of Time
A collection of music reflecting the art of Mona – eclectic, surreal and powerful. Michael Kieran Harvey performs new works for solo piano by seven Australian composers.
There is an Island
A tuneful, dramatic cantata by Don Kay on Tasmania’s early colonial history and the fate of the full-blood Tasmanian Aboriginal people, with Clive Sansom’s lyrics. Paired with George Dreyfus’s The Song of the Maypole.
The Sound of Rosny
The Australian Rosny Children's Choir and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra present songs from other lands, Chinese and Australian repertoire, and cantata movements by Vaughan Williams and Don Kay.