Dan Thorpe
Dan Thorpe is a Performer//Composer based in Adelaide, South Australia.
Influenced by everything from queer punk to American experimentalism, Dan Thorpe’s music “decimat[es] the boundaries of genre” [CutCommon, 2016]. His broad base of musical experience is reflected in a curious, experimental and genre defying compositional and performance output linked together by a love of storytelling and sense of irreverence for existing forms. As a composer, his work always has a focus on collaborative, open approaches to composition that stress the importance of performers’ creative input in musical expression. As a performer, his focus is on contemporary Australian repertoire, work by queer and women composers, and multi-instrumental improvisation.
In 2016, Dan played over thirty shows, spanning Australia, the US and Brazil. His album homecoming (three years later) was a finalist in the SA Music awards, he won a Major Commissioning Prize at the Soundstream Emerging Composers Festival, and he was named Emerging Artist of the Year by the Adelaide Critics’ Circle. He was one of the inaugural winners of the APRA AMCOS Art Music Fund, which commissioned his piece false cognate for bass flute & electric guitar/viola/electronics. He also took part in highSCORE Festival in Pavia, Italy, and released a tape – D I A P H R A G M – on 3BS Records.
As a composer, Dan’s work has been performed as part of highSCORE Festival [IT], Fresh Minds Festival [Tx, US], Æpex Ensemble’s Soundsystem Takeover [US, Mi], and he has had works premiered by Ensemble Offspring [AU, NSW], Soundstream Collective [AU, SA], the Australian String Quartet [AU], Kelsey Walsh [US, Ca/DE (Berlin)], and Conrad Tao [US, NY]. As a performer, he has performed around Australia and Internationally at iconic experimental venues (from Sydney’s Red Rattler to San Francisco’s Center for New Music), has self released an LP and EP, an EP on thiswaterfallisyours and a upcoming tape on 3BS records. He holds a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours (Sonic Arts/Composition) and a Master of Philosophy from the University of Adelaide.
As well as a career in the arts, Dan has been a freelance Digital Producer, coder and Social Media Manager for five years. He teaches a class on DIY Digital Production at the University of Adelaide, volunteers for peak youth mental health body headspace, and helped found both the South Australian Youth Mental Health Action Group and the Elder Conservatorium Students’ Association.
Website:
http://www.danthorpe.com.au/