Helen Gifford
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Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia
Helen Gifford | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Helen Margaret Gifford |
| Born | 5 September 1935 Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia |
| Occupation | Composer |
Helen Margaret Gifford OAM (born 5 September 1935) is an Australian composer. On Australia Day (26 January) 1996 she was appointed to the Medal of the Order of Australia, "in recognition of service to music as a composer". At the APRA Music Awards of 2016 she won the category "Distinguished Services to Australian Music".
Helen Gifford was born in Melbourne, Australia, of Scots and Cornish heritage. Gifford attended Tintern Junior School and Melbourne Girls Grammar, and then the University of Melbourne Conservatorium on a Commonwealth Scholarship. She studied with Roy Shepherd and Dorian Le Gallienne, graduating with a Bachelor of Music in 1958. She won the Dorian Le Gallienne Award in 1965, a Senior Composer's Fellowship in 1973, and served as composer-in-residence with the Australian Opera beginning in 1974. In the 1960s and early '70s, her music showed the influence of travel to India and Indonesia.[1][2] At the Australia Day Honours in 1996 she was appointed to the Medal of the Order of Australia, with a citation, "In recognition of service to music as a composer."[3] At the APRA Music Awards of 2016 she won the Art Music Award category, Distinguished Services to Australian Music.[4]
Helen Gifford is a represented artist of the Australian Music Centre.[5]
