Associate Professor Thomas Reiner

BA (LaTrobe), MMus PhD (Melb)

Composition Coordinator

Email: thomas.reiner@monash.edu
Phone: (03) 9905 3228
Fax: (03) 9905 3241
Location: Room 112, Performing Arts Centre, Building 68, Clayton Campus

Biography

Thomas Reiner is an award-winning composer who has won prizes in the International Witold Lutoslawski Composers’ Competition, the ALEA III International Composition Competition at Boston University, and the International Boswil Composers’ Competition. Locally, he has received the Dorian Le Gallienne Award for Composition and the Albert H. Maggs Composition Award. In 2007 he was awarded the Dean’s Teaching Award for excellence in teaching.

His prolific compositional output consists of solo pieces, chamber works, orchestral compositions, works for music theatre, vocal works, concept pieces, electro-acoustic and electronic works. His music has been performed, broadcast and recorded in many countries, and by some of the leading exponents of contemporary music. Most of his works are published with the Australian Music Centre. Recordings of his music are released on several CDs and have received critical acclaim.

In 1996 he was awarded the Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Melbourne for his research into the semiotic nature of musical time. His book Semiotics of Musical Time was published in 2000 by Peter Lang Publishing in New York. He is the founder and artistic director of the Melbourne-based contemporary music ensemble re-sound, which over the years has made a substantial contribution to the presentation and promotion of Australian work.

Reiner writes “My music is concerned with questions of musical time, music semiotics, contemporary aesthetics and performance practice, dialectical thought, emotion, and beauty. I treat music as art and as such I believe that it must aspire to be free in every sense of the word. I also recognize, however, that postmodern thought poses a significant challenge to the concept of art and, by extension, to the concept of art music. This is reflected, to some extent, in my music’s inclusion of, and reference to, popular styles.”

Publications

	Venus' Song - new music for guitar 1 Venus' Song is a CD of new music for guitar performed by Gisbert Watty. It features two of Reiner's works: Fan-Fair (2000/2001) and Sweet-Spots, Version 2 (2006/2007). The CD is a release by the Italian music publisher Ars Publica.
	The Flowers CD - re-sound The Flowers is the most recent release of the contemporary music project re-sound. The CD presents works of four Australian composers, including several pieces by Thomas Reiner who is also the  executive producer of the CD.  Available from Move Records.
	Quiet on the Bridge CD - re-sound This is re-sound's fourth CD release. As with the group's previous recordings, this CD combines a range of contemporary styles and approaches, including electronic and electro-acoustic music, contemporary chamber and interactive computer music, indeterminate (open) works and improvisation.  Available from Move Records.
	KAPPA - CD - Trio Altrove 1.3 This recording brings together the Italian chamber group Trio Altrove 1.3 with six Australian composers of contemporary classical music.  Available from Move Records.
	Ephemeral Densities - CD - re-sound This recording focuses on new Australian work with the idea to integrate contemporary chamber music, computer music and popular electronic music.  Available from Move Records.
	Conversations CD - An electroacoustic work by composers and performers at Monash University The recording of conversations is one of the outcomes of a research project initiated by the School of Music in the Faculty of Arts at Monash University. Six composers have collaborated to produce this recording, performed by six performers.  Available from Move Records.
	Hard Chamber CD - Thomas Reiner A retrospective collection of chamber works by leading Melbourne contemporary composer, Thomas Reiner. Features soloists from Monash University and ensemble re-sound.  Available from Move Records.
	In C CD - re-sound This recording presents ensemble re-sound’s electroacoustic version of Terry Riley's minimalist classic In C.  Available from Move Records.
	re-sound CD - re-sound Ensemble re-sound’s first and self titled CD features chamber works by 20th-century composers. Eight tracks make up the CD's sonic journey through the music of our time—a journey that explores new sound worlds and challenges traditional views of what constitutes music.  Available from Move Records.
	Book - Semiotics of Musical Time - Thomas Reiner Semiotics of Musical Time investigates the link between musical time and the world of signs and symbols. It examines the extent to which musical time is a product of signs, sign systems, and sign-oriented behaviour.  Available through Amazon