David Joseph is an Australian composer whose career spans orchestral, chamber and instrumental music, collaborations with major Australian and international ensembles, teaching, and a later professional life in law.
Born in Melbourne in 1954, David developed a musical career that would eventually see his works commissioned and performed by orchestras and ensembles across Australia and Europe. His compositions reveal a sustained interest in orchestral colour, texture, gesture, movement, landscape, memory and perception.
Today, recordings released through Move Records are bringing a significant body of his music back into circulation, offering listeners, musicians and conductors an opportunity to rediscover works written across several decades.
David’s formal studies began with Arts at the University of Tasmania in 1973 before he moved into music studies in Adelaide. The supplied biographical material records his studies at the Elder Conservatorium and his development as a composer, followed by postgraduate study. He later obtained a Master of Music from the University of Melbourne in 1996.
An important early international chapter came in 1982 when a fellowship from the Music Board of the Australia Council enabled David to travel to Spain and Italy. His career subsequently developed through commissions, performances and collaborations in Australia and Europe.
David also taught composition and orchestration at the University of Melbourne and the Victorian College of the Arts during the 1990s and 2000s.
Rather than being defined by a single form or subject, David’s catalogue moves across orchestral and chamber music while repeatedly returning to questions of colour, movement and perception.
This is particularly apparent in Dreams: Works for Small Orchestra. The Dream, The Haunting and The Memory form a loose triptych concerned with the subconscious and the ways in which the world may be experienced through sensation, imagination and recollection.
Other compositions take inspiration from very different sources. Scheherezade evokes an imagined Eastern fantasy, while Dialogues develops ideas inspired by natural sounds. The chamber works collected on Through Tropical Stars reveal another aspect of David’s writing and extend the recorded picture of his musical development.
Throughout his compositional career, David Joseph has worked with a wide range of orchestras, ensembles, conductors and soloists.
His music has been performed by or written in association with organisations including the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, Queensland Ballet, Zagreb Soloists, Collegium Musicum Zürich, Ripieno Kammerorchester and Hunter Orchestra.
These relationships have also brought David’s music together with distinguished performers and conductors.
The 1992 Chamber Concerto for Piano and Strings, for example, was written at the invitation of the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra’s then director Spiros Rantos and performed with pianist Michael Kieran Harvey. Scheherezade was written at the invitation of the Zagreb Soloists for the Muzički Biennale Zagreb in 1999, while Dialogues was written for violinist Urs Walker and the Ripieno Kammerorchester in Switzerland.
Throughout his compositional career, David Joseph has worked with a wide range of orchestras, ensembles, conductors and soloists.
His music has been performed by or written in association with organisations including the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, Queensland Ballet, Zagreb Soloists, Collegium Musicum Zürich, Ripieno Kammerorchester and Hunter Orchestra.
These relationships have also brought David’s music together with distinguished performers and conductors.
The 1992 Chamber Concerto for Piano and Strings, for example, was written at the invitation of the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra’s then director Spiros Rantos and performed with pianist Michael Kieran Harvey. Scheherezade was written at the invitation of the Zagreb Soloists for the Muzički Biennale Zagreb in 1999, while Dialogues was written for violinist Urs Walker and the Ripieno Kammerorchester in Switzerland.
David’s career followed an unusual path for a composer. In the early 2000s, he turned his attention towards law, completing legal studies at La Trobe University. He has practised as a lawyer in rural Victoria since 2006 and has run his own general practice in Benalla since 2008. His legal work has principally involved litigation, and he has also written articles concerning aspects of criminal law.
The change in profession did not erase his earlier body of musical work. Recent releases have instead created an opportunity for compositions and performances from different periods of his career to reach new listeners.
David’s formal studies began with Arts at the University of Tasmania in 1973 before he moved into music studies in Adelaide. The supplied biographical material records his studies at the Elder Conservatorium and his development as a composer, followed by postgraduate study. He later obtained a Master of Music from the University of Melbourne in 1996.
An important early international chapter came in 1982 when a fellowship from the Music Board of the Australia Council enabled David to travel to Spain and Italy. His career subsequently developed through commissions, performances and collaborations in Australia and Europe.
David also taught composition and orchestration at the University of Melbourne and the Victorian College of the Arts during the 1990s and 2000s.
Selected scores will be available to view through the Music & Works section of this website. For works where only sample pages are available, musicians, conductors and music organisations can enquire about access to the complete score.
For enquiries relating to performances, programming, commissions, recordings, licensing or other professional use of David Joseph’s music, please get in touch. David welcomes enquiries from artists interested in exploring his work.
For enquiries concerning David Joseph’s music, including compositions, selected scores, performances, recordings, commissions or other professional matters, please get in touch.
Email: david@djl.com.au
Discover recordings by David Joseph across orchestral, string and chamber music.