BIOGRAPHY

Paul Kopetz is a graduate of The University of Melbourne, Monash University, The Victorian College of the Arts, and The Rotterdam Conservatorium. Over the years, he has worked as a free-lance clarinettist/bass clarinettist, composer/arranger, conductor and educator. His compositions and arrangements have been performed in the USA, Hong Kong, Japan, Holland, Italy, France, the Netherlands, China, Ukraine, Singapore and Poland. One reviewer has described Paul’s music as “an eclectic and emotive mix of poly-stylistic picture-painting where Contemporary Classical forms and Pop Music idioms complement each other through the good old tradition of fine craftsmanship”.
Since focusing on composition in 2009, Paul’s music has been awarded numerous prizes in composition contests around the world and has been commissioned locally and internationally. His works have been performed at festivals and in concerts by acclaimed Australian and overseas artists. His creative output includes music for chamber ensembles of various sizes and instrumentation, strings, choirs, wind orchestra, solo instruments, and voice.

Paul is currently working on the release of his first CD featuring compositions for wind quintet and voice. In December 2017, his first chamber opera ‘Tales of Scheherazade’ was premiered in Brisbane. He is a dedicated and passionate music educator, working with students of all ages and abilities. He is a woodwind examiner with the Australian Music Examination Board and Composer-In-The-Classroom with Musica Viva Queensland. Paul is a represented artist with Australian Music Centre.

Composer website: paulkopetz.com

FEATURED WORKS

Adagio For The Fallen, for String Orchestra

This work was written in memory of all the innocent victims who were brutally murdered in the 2015 Paris bombings.

Featured in Social Activism Waves playlist, March 2017

“Cicada” and “Lorikeet” from An Australian Backyard Suite, for soprano, clarinet, cello, piano & auxiliary percussion.

‘Cicada’ and ‘Lorikeet’ come from a 6-movement work titled An Australian Backyard Suite, which was composed by Paul Kopetz in 2011 to the poems by Brisbane poet Svyetlana Hadgraft. Originally scored for soprano, clarinet, cello, piano and auxiliary percussion, the suite sets out to colourfully describe various plants and animals synonymous with Aussie gardens. Since its premiere, An Australian Backyard Suite has been developed by Musica Viva into an educational show that has been performed at school around Australia by Brisbane-based Ensemble Entourage.

“I wish I could be a lorikeet for a day – soaring across the sky, fleeting from tree to tree. In his stunning livery of colours he is happily busy and always free.”

“A hazy Australian summer. A scorching stifling day. All creatures of water, bush, and sky are still, awaiting the coolness of sunset. All except one – the cicada. His relentless tune defies stillness and is stillness. His metronomic song drips from gum trees. His symphony of survival deafens our senses.”

Featured in Landscape Waves, February 2018