Biography
Tainui
Dame Gillian Whitehead was born in Hamilton, New Zealand in 1941. She studied at the University of Auckland from 1959-62, and Victoria University of Wellington in 1963, graduating BMus Hons in 1964. She then studied composition at the University of Sydney with Peter Sculthorpe from 1964-65, graduating MMus in 1966. That same year she attended a composition course given by Peter Maxwell Davies in Adelaide and in 1967 travelled to England to continue studying with him. She worked in London composing and copying music for two years and then with the assistance of a New Zealand Arts Council grant worked in Portugal and Italy from 1969-70.
For the next seven years she continued freelance composing, principally based in the UK. From 1978-80 she was Composer-in-Residence for Northern Arts attached to Newcastle University (UK). In 1981 she returned to Australasia to join the staff of the Composition School at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and was for four years Head of Composition there before taking early retirement in 1996. She now divides her time as a free-lance composer between Sydney and Dunedin, New Zealand. In 1999 her opera, Outrageous Fortune, won the SOUNZ Contemporary Award and she was honoured with membership of the NZ Order of Merit.
In 2000 she became one of the inaugural Artist Laureates of the NZ Arts Foundation and is now a governor of the organisation. During 2000 and 2001 she was Composer-in-Residence at the Auckland Philharmonia and her orchestral work, the improbable ordered dance written during the Residency won the 2001 SOUNZ Contemporary Award. In 2003 she again won the Award for Alice, a major work for mezzo-soprano and orchestra which was also written for the Auckland Philharmonia. From 1998-2003 Gillian was President of the Composers’ Association of New Zealand.
Gillian Whitehead has written a wide range of music including works for solo, chamber, choral, orchestral and operatic forces, most of them direct commissions from performers and funding organisations. A number of her works have been recorded for commercial release, including a CD of her chamber works by Wai-te-ata Press and a recording of her opera, Outrageous Fortune. Her scores are available from the Australian and New Zealand Music Centres or from her agents who can be contacted through the Music Centres. In 2003 she was given a Dmus (honoris causa) by Victoria University of Wellington, and in 2007 the KBB Citation for outstanding services to New Zealand Music presented by CANZ.
In 2008 she became a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, one of New Zealand’s highest honours, and she was granted the title ‘Dame’ in 2009.
In March 2009 Gillian was invited to be an artist-in-residence for 12 months at the Henderson House – a Plischke designed house in Alexandra, Central Otago. In 2012 and 2013 Gillian had two CDs, Arapatiki and Alice, released under the Atoll label. In 2013 she held a James Wallace Arts Trust residency at the Pah Homestead.
2018 saw Gillian receive an Arts Icon Award, recognising her enormous contribution to New Zealand’s cultural landscape. Overseen by the Arts Foundation, there are only 20 of these awards in circulation at any time, the recipient holding the award for life. In 2021 she received a Ngā Tohu ā Tā Kingi Ihaka/Sir Kingi Ihaka Award, recognising her lifetime contribution to ngā Toi Māori.
[As an inaugural recipient of the Arts Foundation Laureate Awards in 2000, more information about Gillian Whitehead can be found on the Arts Foundation website.]
Composed (137)
for narrator, dancer and improvising trio (flute/saxophone, percussion, piano), 1h
for soprano and piano trio, arranged from original version for ensemble of 10 players, 40m
arranged for mezzo-soprano, recorders (two players), guitar, violin, bass viol, spinet
Arranged (1)
arranged for mezzo-soprano, recorders (two players), guitar, violin, bass viol, spinet
Recordings (27)
Resources (27)
Commentary or analysis
Review
Performances (15)
CMNZ presents NZTrio with __Horomona Horo__ in: __Toru Whā, Ka Rewa a Matariki | Three F...
__PROGRAMME:__ Frank Bridge (UK) | __Allegretto__ Gillian Whitehead (NZ) | __Te waka o te r...
CMNZ presents NZTrio with __Horomona Horo__ in: __Toru Whā, Ka Rewa a Matariki | Three F...
__PROGRAMME:__ Frank Bridge (UK) | __Allegretto__ Gillian Whitehead (NZ) | __Te waka o te r...
__PROGRAMME:__ Frank Bridge (UK) | __Allegretto__ Gillian Whitehead (NZ) | __Te waka o te r...
CMNZ presents NZTrio with __Horomona Horo__ in: __Toru Whā, Ka Rewa a Matariki | Three F...
CMNZ presents NZTrio with __Horomona Horo__ in: __Toru Whā, Ka Rewa a Matariki | Three F...
__PROGRAMME:__ Frank Bridge (UK) | __Allegretto__ Gillian Whitehead (NZ) | __Te waka o te r...
__This event has been postponed. We will update this page when more information is available.__ ...
Featuring: __Lilburn__ | Sonata for Violin and Piano __Whitehead__ | Tōroa __De Castro-...
__This event is postponed due to the current COVID-19 lockdown.__ ___ __Gemma New__ | conductor...
**Alexander Shelley** | Conductor **Gabriela Montero** | Piano __Gillian Whitehead__ | ...
**Alexander Shelley** | Conductor **Gabriela Montero** | Piano __Gillian Whitehead__ | ...
**Alexander Shelley** | Conductor **Gabriela Montero** | Piano __Gillian Whitehead__ | ...
**Gillian Whitehead** | ‘The Journey of Mataatua Whare’ (première) **Brahms** | Piano Concert...