Haydn Reeder

Born in Melbourne in 1944, Haydn Reeder is a composer, pianist, teacher and music publishing specialist. He holds a Bachelor of Music and a PhD from the University of Melbourne, and a Master of Arts from La Trobe University. Further piano and composition study followed at the Graz and Vienna Academies of Music in Austria; he later prepared contemporary scores for Universal Edition in Vienna and London. In that period he took master classes and consultations with musicians including Alfred Brendel, Harrison Birtwistle, György Ligeti and Pierre Boulez.

Composition, scholarship and teaching have run through his career together. From 1983 to 1989 he lectured in theory and composition at La Trobe University, and an APA Scholarship later supported the completion of his PhD in 2005. Awards include a prize in the 1976 Premio “Città di Trieste” for Attract and Repulse for orchestra, and Composer Fellowships from federal and Victorian bodies. With Australia Council assistance he has received commissions from ensembles and soloists in London and Australia, among them the Australian Sinfonia, Omega Guitar Quartet, West Square Electronic Music Association, Jochen Schubert, the Seymour Group, Flederman, Elision, Melbourne Windpower, the Song Company and the Melbourne Composers League.

His output spans chamber music, a chamber opera, and orchestral, vocal, choral and live-electronic works. In 1992 Games of Balance for harp and Celebration of the Mandala for seven trombones were finalists in the Fukui International Harp Music Competition in Japan and the Trombone Association Contest in the United States. Recordings have travelled widely: Masks (MD 3066) for piano was recorded by Larry Sitsky for Move Records, and Vienna Modern Masters issued Lark 2 for saxophone and orchestra with the Ruse State Philharmonic Orchestra in Bulgaria. Other chamber works have appeared on Melbourne Composers League CDs, in concert recordings on YouTube, and through TuneCore releases including ambivalaence I. Move’s later chamber survey Solos Duos Trios (MCD 666) gathers further solos, duos and trios written across several decades.

Since 2007 he has given duet concerts with his brother Max, and has accompanied soloists and school productions. He teaches piano, theory and composition, and works in music publishing as a copyist and proofreader. Across these roles he has made a sustained contribution to Australian music.