Celebrate Australian Music With This Quiz

Australia Day is just around the corner! Take this quiz and see how much you know about some of the nation’s musicians:

1. Match these Australian musicians with the cities in which they were born

Who: Peter Sculthorpe, Nigel Westlake, Joan Sutherland, Peggy Glanville-Hicks, Elena Kats-Chernin.

Where: Melbourne, VIC; Perth WA; Tashkent, Uzbekistan; Launceston, TAS; Sydney, NSW.

2. Name four conductors of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra

3. What instruments do/did the following play:

a) Richard Charlton b) Brett Dean c) Ian Grandage d) Sir Charles Mackerras e) Nigel Westlake

4. Name these works:

a) This opera  composed by Richard Mills premiered in Melbourne in May 2001. The cast included Bruce Martin and Emma Matthews. It is based on historical events.

b)  Composed by Peter Sculthorpe in 2004, it is a choral – orchestral work which includes the didgeridoo.

c) Nigel Westlake was commissioned to write this symphonic work for an IMAX movie of the same name.

d) This violin concerto by Brett Dean won the 2009 Grawemeyer Award, It includes excerpts from letters by Brahms, van Gogh, Hugo Wolf and Ned Kelly.

5. Name these musicians:

a) This  conductor played a large part in reviving the operas of  Janacek.

b) This Sydney born composer, pianist and organist worked for a time as a night club pianist in London  prior to being appointed Master of the Queen’s Music in 1975.

c) This Perth born musician played the cornet and studied science before taking to composition. In 1978, he wrote the music for Poppy, the first full length Australian dance work, presented by the Sydney Dance Company.

Sources: The Australian Music Centre and Oxford Music Online.