- CHS 1965 – 1970
- Played in school cricket and basketball teams
- School Prefect 1970
- Lectured at the University of Melbourne from 1982 to 2007
- Became Professor of Music and Head of Composition; awarded a Doctor of Music Degree in 1987
- Prolific composer of symphonies, concertos and orchestral works that are performed around the world
- Awarded the Order of Australia for Significant Service to Music as a Composer, Educator and Mentor 2014
Brenton Broadstock began his education at Auburn Central and completed his secondary education at Camberwell High from 1965 to 1970. In his years at CHS, Brenton combined his love of music with his love of sport where he represented the school in cricket and basketball. He was a Prefect in 1970. His tertiary education was completed at Monash University, and his special interest in music theory and composition was sharpened with further study at the University of Memphis and with Peter Sculthorpe at the University of Sydney. Brenton lectured at the University of Melbourne from 1982 to 2007 and during this time he was awarded a Doctor of Music Degree in 1987. He eventually became Professor of Music and Head of Composition.
Brenton has composed a vast array of music for orchestras, brass bands, string quartets, piano, and solo and multiple instruments which have been acclaimed internationally, attracting multiple awards and prizes. Among these are four times Sounds Australian National Music Critics Awards and in 2011 the Australian Music Centre’s Victorian Award for Best Composition, Dark Side (Symphony #5). In 1991 he signed a contract with music publisher G. Schirmer (Music Sales).
Brenton’s compositions have also been performed at music festivals both throughout Australia and in such diverse places as Berlin, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Munich, and performed by orchestras in England, Germany, New Zealand, Canada, Russia, Sweden, Spain and China. In 2011 he completed a full-length version of his opera Fahrenheit 451. He has also composed major works for several brass bands in Australia, Europe and the United Kingdom. His work Winds of Change performed at the 2000 European Brass Band Championships is available on CD. His five symphonies performed by the Krasnoyarsk Symphony Orchestra (Russia) were recorded and the CD named as one of the Recordings of the Year 2007.
Brenton has also involved himself in the promotion of music through his involvement with the Australia Council, Arts Victoria, the Australia Music Centre, the Maggs Prize, the Australian National Academy of Music and many other boards, committees and competition panels. His book Sound Ideas, documenting 95 Australian composers, was published in 1995. Demonstrating Brenton’s broad command of all forms of music is his piece Jagged Tears, a computer-controlled interactive installation whichcan be heard each day on the Birrarung Marr walk.
Brenton received the prestigious Don Banks Award from the Australia Council in 1999 allowing him twelve months to compose and travel abroad to widen his musical experiences. In 2014 Brenton was Awarded the Order of Australia for “significant service to music as a composer, educator and mentor”.
“As a human being, I believe that I have a moral obligation to do what I can to improve the society I live in. The corollary of this, as a human being who is predominantly involved in the artistic expression of music composition, is that I am morally obliged to improve society through my art.” Updated 2020