Masterclass in Film Music Composition with David Hirschfelder
Part of AACTA Screen Careers Expo
Sunday 11 February
1pm AEST
David Hirschfelder is recognised globally as one of Australia’s most distinguished screen-composers. In his 30-year career he has written the score or soundtrack to more than 80 film and television productions, and has received numerous local and international accolades.
David’s film credits include some of the most iconic Australian and international productions ever realised, including Strictly Ballroom (1992), Shine (1996), Sliding Doors (1998), Elizabeth (1998), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), Australia (2008), Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls Of Ga’hoole (2010), Happy Feet 2 (2011), The Railway Man (2013), The Water Diviner (2014), And The Dressmaker (2015) to name just a few.
His first ever film-score for Strictly Ballroom in 1992 won him the BAFTA Award for Best Original Film Score, three years later David received his first Oscar nomination and AFI award for the score to Shine; and two years later he received his second Oscar nomination, as well as second BAFTA award for his work on Elizabeth. David has received a total of 13 international awards and further 26 nominations for his work.
Some of the topics covered in this 2-hour masterclass include:
Composing for film vs composing for television
Collaborating with directors
Musical sound design of a score
How a draft sketch develops into a full orchestral score
Sources of inspiration
Thematic interpolation
Planting melodic seeds
How score is used to create irony, emotion, tension and humour
Join David for an on-stage discussion as he talks through his career and creative process step-by-step. A large range of clips will be presented on screen during the discussion to illustrate his method. These clips will include early drafts and rejected versions as well as the final music chosen, and show some of the challenges and paths one has navigate to create a finished score.
Featuring
David Hirschfelder
David Hirschfelder was raised in the country township of Ballarat, about 110 kilometres northwest of Melbourne Australia. After graduating from Ballarat Grammar School in 1976, he studied music at the University of Melbourne. Emerging as a keyboard prodigy in the late 70s, David formed the art-music quartet “Pyramid”, ultimately performing his compositions at the 1983 Montreux Jazz Festival.
From the mid-80s to early-90s, Hirschfelder became synonymous with many Australian landmark concerts and recordings, including “Whispering Jack” in 1987, the “Classic Jack” Tour in 1988 featuring John Farnham and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and the record-breaking “Jesus Christ Superstar” Arena Spectacular in 1992. Also in that same year, David’s debut film- score Strictly Ballroom garnered a BAFTA award. In 1996 David received an Oscar nomination for Shine; and in 1998 a further Oscar nomination, as well as a BAFTA award for Elizabeth.
David’s recent film-scores include The Railway Man (2013) which won AACTA and APRA awards, The Water Diviner (awarded FCCA 2014 Best Film Score), and The Dressmaker, receiving AACTA and APRA award nominations in 2015.
Other works include “Eternity” for orchestra, choir and 1000 tap-dancers (commissioned for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games Opening Ceremony), “Mixed Doubles” for string quartet (2004 Adelaide Fringe Arts Festival), and “No More Boomerang” (music composed to a poem by indigenous artist Oodgeroo Noonuccul) for soprano and string quartet, recorded and released in 2018 by Katie Noonan and the Australian String Quartet.
2023 saw the cinematic release of John Farnham: Finding The Voice, featuring David’s score and music-direction; an APRA Best TV score nomination for co-composition with son Samuel Hirschfelder for Netflix series Irreverent; a body of symphonic arrangements for Russell Morris’ nation-wide series of orchestral concerts; and the completion of David’s score for US/Australian co-production Sleeping Dogs, starring Russell Crowe and Karen Gillan, to be released early 2024.