Felix Werder

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Felix Werder (born Berlin, Germany 24 February 1922) is an Australian based German composer of classical and electronic music; also a noted critic and educator.The son of a distinguished liturgical composer, he has composed all his life; he has an international reputation and is one of Australia's most performed composers. His published and recorded music includes symphonies, chamber music for all combinations, solo concerti, choral works and operas.^[1]

Contents 1 Biography 2 Operas 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Biography

Werder studied Fine Arts and Architecture in London before arriving in Australia in 1941 on the Dunera. He was interned at a camp in Tatura in Australia during World War II. In 1943 he wrote his first symphony. During the 1960s and early 1970s, Werder wrote seven operas which were popularly received. His opera, Private, was commissioned for television by ABC and was broadcast in 1969. He has also written works for Deutsche Oper Berlin and Opera Australia among others.^[2]

Werder lives in Melbourne and his teaching included influential courses in electronic music and sound synthesis. He received the Order of Australia in 1976, the Stamitz Performance Prize (1984), the Australia Council Fellowship (1986), and the Arts Guild of Germany Composition Prize and the Stamitz Prize, in 1988 and an honorary doctorate in Music from The University of Melbourne.

He formed the performance ensemble Australia Felix which toured Europe, and included Bruce Clarke, Merlyn Quaife, Brian Brown, Alex Grieve, Judy Easton, Tony Conolan and Kevin Makin. For many years, during the 1960s and 1970s, he wrote music criticism for the Melbourne newspaper The Age.

[edit] Operas

• Kisses for a Quid (1961)
• The General (1966)
• Agamemnon (1967)
• The Affair (1969)
• Private (1969)
• The Vicious Square (1971)
• The Conversion (1973)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Outline of a composer seminar given by Felix Werder on 28 August 2004
• Werder biography 2002