Biography
Michael Norris (b. 1973) is a Wellington-based composer, software programmer and music theorist. He holds composition degrees from Victoria University of Wellington and City University, London, and currently teaches composition, orchestration, sonic arts and post-tonal music theory at New Zealand School of Music | Te Kōkī at Victoria University of Wellington . He is recipient of the 2001 Mozart Fellowship, the 2003 Douglas Lilburn Prize, the 2012 CANZ Trust Fund Award and has been nominated for the SOUNZ Contemporary Award eight times, winning it in 2014 with Inner Phases , in 2018 with Sygyt, in 2019 with Violin Concerto 'Sama', and in 2020 with Mātauranga (Rerenga).
He has participated in composition courses featuring leading composers such as Peter Eötvös, Alvin Lucier, Christian Wolff and Kaija Saariaho, and has had performances from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Roberto Fabbriciani, Michael Houstoun, the New Zealand String Quartet, NZTrio, Richard Haynes, the Viennese Saxophonic Orchestra, Ensemble Offspring, Stroma, the Israel Contemporary Players and the Ensemble Pierrot Lunaire Wien.
In 2010, he was commissioned by the SWR (Sudwestdeutsche Rundfunk) to write a new chamber orchestra work, Sgraffito, which was premiered at the Donaueschinger Musiktage 2010 by the Radio Chamber Orchestra Hilversum, conducted by Peter Eötvös. Die Zeit reviewed Sgraffito as one of the highlights of the festival. In 2018, Orchestra Wellington premiered Michael’s Violin Concerto (Sama), conducted by Marc Taddei, with Amalia Hall as soloist, and in 2019, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra toured his work Mātauranga (Rerenga) for taonga puoro, live electronics and orchestra, conducted by Carlos Kalmar, with Alistair Fraser on taonga puoro.
Michael is also co-founder and co-director of Stroma New Music Ensemble, and has collaborated with a number of other artists including Daniel Belton and Ashley Brown. He is coordinator of the Creative New Zealand/Jack C. Richards Composer-in-Residence at the NZSM, serves on the boards of the Lilburn Residence Trust and Stroma New Music Trust, and is the Editor of Wai-te-ata Music Press.
Michael's programming work is also renowned. His 'SoundMagic Spectral' suite of real-time FFT-based audio effects have been used extensively in both industry and academia worldwide, and by artists such as Aphex Twin and Brian Eno.
Composed (62)
Recordings (15)
Resources (36)
Interview
Performances (2)
__Auckland and Wellington__ ---- Michael Norris | __Mātauranga__ Mozart | __Piano Concerto ...
Dvorak’s ‘New World’ is the centrepiece of Orchestra Wellington’s season finale. Featuring Concer...