Featured Composer: Sean O'Boyle

New York based Australian composer and conductor, Sean O’Boyle, has conducted recordings and concerts with many leading Australian and international orchestras, including the Adelaide, West Australian, Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, Barrier Reef Orchestra, The Queensland Orchestra, Dortmund Konzert, Lexington Philharmonic, Auckland Philharmonia, Malaysian Philharmonic, BBC Concert Orchestra and Orchestra Victoria. His compositions have been performed and or recorded by all the major Australian orchestras; by European Orchestras including Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra & BBC Concert Orchestra and by North American orchestras including the Dallas, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra.

In 2002, he was featured exclusively at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) where his compositions were performed live for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In 2000, Sean composed the ABC’s Olympic theme for use during the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, and also performed for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

He has written and produced music for more than 100 CDs recorded in collaboration with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, including Till the End of Time (Adam Lopez) Fire and Water ( Jane Rutter & TQO), A Christmas Gift (Yvonne Kenny and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra), Perfect Strangers (Judi Connelly, Suzanne Johnston and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra), The Voice (Teddy Tahu Rhodes), Dreams are Forever (Riley Lee & the Queensland Symphony Orchestra), Beautiful Songs in My Life (Kate Ceberano & WASO) and an extensive range of children’s CDs including ARIA Award nominated George Meets the Orchestra, featuring Play School favourite, George Spartels and the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra, for Symphony of Lullabies with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and most recently Hush Little Baby. He has twice received the coveted ABC Golden Manuscript Award for his work as a composer.

Sean is no stranger to contemporary music and has written, conducted, directed and collaborated with many contemporary artists including; Adam Lopez, James Morrison, The Whitlams, Tommy Emmanuel, Kate Ceberano, Suzanne Kompass, David Campbell, Greg Moore and the electric string trio MASKE.

Sean has a keen interest in the music of indigenous Australians and in 2000 this took him to the Gulf of Carpenteria producing The Gulf Song, a collaborative performance piece with local children from the Gkuthaarn, Kukatj, Lardil, Kaidilt, Miniginna, Gangalidda, Garrawa, and Waanyi people. More recently he has collaborated with didgeridoo maestro, William Barton, in composing his Concerto for Didgeridoo & Orchestra. This concerto was ranked #32 in the ABC Classic FM “The Classic 100 Concertos”. It was ranked #87 in the 2011 ABC Classic 100 “20th Century”.

Composition projects include; The Song Bird & Space Encounters- for Opera Queensland, Aladdin – for Queensland Ballet, original jazz tunes for his seriously groovy jazz group Blackwood, ABC TV show Gardening Australia, ABC TV Documentary series New Eden and the release of his monumental work Riversymphony on ABC Classics.

In 2009 Sean wrote & arranged music for The Ashes – the greatest cricketing event in the world.
In 2010 Sean was appointed Music Director & Composer for his debut feature film “A Heartbeat Away”

Sean O’Boyle is a proud ambassador of the Australian Children’s Music Foundation, board member for Major Brisbane Festivals and Artistic Advisor to the Barrier Reef Orchestra.

Sean O'Boyle's piece, Morning Ramble, was premiered in PLEXUS: Heliosonic on 27 October 2014 at the Lithuanian Club Theatre, North Melbourne.

Morning Ramble (2014)

ram·ble
verb \ˈram-bəl\
: to walk or go from one place to another place without a specific goal, purpose, or direction
: to go from one subject to another without any clear purpose or direction

On a glorious morning our three instruments ramble through a sun-filled park. They start their separate ways occasionally crossing paths and mimicking each others rambling path.

Our intrepid ramblers do go from one subject to another, as all good conversations should be. Speaking over each other, sometimes expressing a similar view. They end by chasing the final strains of the melody and thus the ramble is over.