Michael Easton
Born1954
Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England
Died(2004-02-06)6 February 2004 (aged 49)
London, England
Occupation(s)Composer, musician, music critic

Michael Easton (1954 – 6 February 2004) was a British composer, musician, and music critic. He was a co-founder of the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival in Victoria, Australia. Easton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, in 1954[1][2][3]

After being encouraged by Elizabeth Poston, he trained at the Royal Academy of Music with Lennox Berkeley (composition) and Norman Del Mar (conducting).[4][5]

Career

Easton worked in music publishing before moving to Melbourne, Australia in 1982, where in 1986 he became a freelance composer. His activities included arranging, performing (in a piano duo with Len Vorster) and writing and broadcasting on music. With Vorster and the English composer Michael Hurd he co-founded the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival in 1990.[6]

Easton and Michael Atkinson were nominated for the 1994 ARIA Award for Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album for their music to the Australian TV series Snowy. A Naxos CD issued in 1998 includes recordings of five of his orchestral works: Concerto on Australian Themes (1996), An Australian in Paris (1995), Beasts of the Bush (1995), the Concerto for Piano Accordion, Piano and Strings (1996, for Bernadette Conlon) and Overture to an Italianate Comedy.[7]

His other works include three symphonies, nine operas – including several children's operas, such as The Emperor's New Clothes (1993), and The Selfish Giant (1995) – and a successful musical, Dorothy Parker Says (1993).[6]

A Voice Not Stilled, a concerto for piano and orchestra on a fragment of music recovered from a victim of the holocaust, was premiered in July 2000. He scored the short comedy film The Moment of Accepting Life, shown at the 2001 Cannes International Film Festival.[4]

Death and legacy

Easton died at the age of 49 in London on 6 February 2004, one day after suffering a fall.[5]

As of 2023 the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival continues to be held annually.[8]

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony held by the Australian Recording Industry Association. They commenced in 1987.

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
1994 Snowy (with Michael Atkinson) Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album Nominated [9]

References

  1. ↑ "Michael Easton (1954-2004)". Naxos. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  2. ↑ "Michael Easton". Australian Music Centre. 5 February 2004. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  3. ↑ "Paris" (PDF).
  4. 1 2 "Michael Easton". Wise Music Classical. 6 February 2004. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Composer, critic dies after a fall", Sydney Morning Herald, 10 February 2004
  6. 1 2 Notes to Naxos 8.554368
  7. ↑ Naxos 8.554368 (1998)
  8. ↑ "About the Festival". Port Fairy Spring Music Festival. 15 August 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  9. ↑ ARIA Award previous winners. "History Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 12 July 2022.
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