TARAN CARTER

Taran Carter's music has been described as having a 'quasi-populist vocabulary', 'a distinctive compositional voice, precociously adept at orchestration and form', and as 'not compromising in terms of inventiveness'. He has written music for orchestras and wind bands, two operas, seven musicals, two concerti (percussion & flute), many chamber works, pop songs, educational works and two songs to which the Australian synchronised swimming team performed at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

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Other highlights in Taran's career include the sold-out premiere season of his first opera, Busking Hugs, (commissioned and performed by Opera Australia) and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra commission and premiere of Moondani Music earning him the reputation of 'a name to watch'.

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Taran has a keen interest in music education and has created many works for student ensembles. Taran subsequently has several works included on the AMEB and ABRSM syllabi. It was as a school teacher that Taran met the author Scott Hatcher with whom he has since written several musical theatre works, including Sanctuary Springs and H2Oh! and the song-cycle Odes to the Baglady in A minor.

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In 2016 Taran composed a musical adaptation of Animal Farm co-written with one of Australia's most loved authors, John Marsden. It was premiered in December 2016 in Kyneton, Victoria. In 2017 Marsden and Carter premiered their second stage show together, Marco Polo.

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Other significant compositions include Mixed Precipitation, for grand organ and percussion commissioned by The Melbourne City Council, premiered by Brendon Lukin and Synergy Percussion.  the score to a circus production entitled The Cartographer's Dream, a work for Speak Percussion, called Murmur Points, and a work commissioned by Eltham High School, in memory of the victims of the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, entitled MOONDANI:Black.

 

Since Melbourne's COVID-19 lockdowns Taran has focused his energy on creating music for students, most notably the collections Unaccompanied minors and majors, Geography of the Clarinet, Geography of the Saxophone and Tesselétudes.