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Professor Larry Sitsky was a founding member of the Canberra School of Music, Australian National University, and has held various positions including Head of Composition studies, Head of Academic Studies and Head of Keyboard Studies.

In the field of composition Sitsky's approach has led to similarly diverse of achievements. He has written in numerous genres including opera, theatre, orchestral music, chamber music, solo and vocal music, and his works have been commissioned by many leading Australian and international bodies. As well as working with every orchestra in Australia, Sitsky has been commissioned by the Sydney International Piano Competition, the ABC, Musica Viva, the International Clarinet Society and the International Flute Convention.

Sitsky's collection of teaching pieces, Century, has been published by Currency Press. Numerous other works have been published by the New York based Seesaw Music Corporation with whom he has an open contract.

Sitsky has received numerous honours for his composition, as well as his research. Among others, he has won the A H Maggs Award twice, the Alfred Hill Memorial Prize, the first National Critics' Award, and the inaugural Australian Composer's Fellowship presented by the Music Board of the Australia Council. He has also been awarded an Order of Australia Medal, a Centenary Medal, Advance Australia award, and cultural ambassadorships to China, Russia, USA.

Sitsky's research has been supported by a number of Australian Research Council Grants. His areas of expertise include the music of Busoni, Rubinstein, Music of the twentieth century avant-garde, the repressed Russian avant-garde and 20th century Australian piano music. Many of Sitsky's writings on these topics have now become standard texts.

Sitsky's recording projects have focused on contemporary Australian composers, especially Roy Agnew. His own works are included in numerous anthologies and collections released on labels including ABC Classics, Tall Poppies and Jade CDs.

In recognition of Sitsky's various achievements, the Australian National University awarded Sitsky its first Higher Doctorate in Fine Arts in 1997, and in 2001 he was named Artist of the Year.

A biography of Sitsky was published in the USA in 1997, and in 2004 the National Library of Australia published a book by Jim Cotter titled Sitsky: Conversations with the Composer.

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Biography provided by the composer — current to November 2006