Taran Carter

Taran Carter has been writing music since he realised that to be a pop star you either had to look good, sound good or write nice tunes. He chose the latter.

His music has been described as having a “quasi-populist vocabulary” and a “distinctive compositional voice, precociously adept at orchestration and form”. He has written, amongst other things, a percussion concerto, saxophone quartets, orchestral works, chamber works, pop songs and is always keen to experiment with new instruments such as power pole bells in Shadow Dancing for flute and power pole bells.

He has written music for film, television, theatre and in 1999 was asked to write two songs which the Australian Synchronised Swimming Team swam to at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. He has won many awards as a composer and a saxophonist, including the A.S.M.E. Victorian Young Composer’s Competition in 1998, the inaugural Art of Percussion Composition Competition in 2000, the Quip Quip Composition Competition in 2001 and the Percy Grainger Composition Competition in 2002.

In October 2001, Taran’s first opera, Busking Hugs (commissioned by Opera Australia), was performed. It sold out on all three nights.

Taran completed his Bachelor of Music at the Victorian College of the Arts in 2001 under tuition of Mark Pollard, Julian Yu and Johanna Selleck.

He is currently busy writing an educational music show, a piece for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and directing and composing for his contemporary/pop cross-over ensemble, Tehai.

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