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Photo: Pia Johnson

Composer and Artist Mentor, Dr Katy Abbott is forensically curious about what makes us tick. As a musical master storyteller, her work explores the audience-performer-composer dynamic, often examining both macro societal connections and the intimate, 'one-to-one' relationships we hold with others and ourselves. Her music leads the listener through a narrative of sound, frequently exhibiting a cheeky humour and cleverly juxtaposing contemporary flavours within traditional settings.

Abbott's compositions are performed, published, and recorded worldwide. Her orchestral, choral and chamber works receive frequent performances, notably The Peasant Prince (the story of Mao's Last Dancer), Introduced Species (inspired by the North Pacific Garbage Patch), and the highly popular Punch and Glisten. Her music has been brought to life by most major Australian symphony orchestras and leading ensembles in Australia, including the Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland, Tasmanian, and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras, as well as Ensemble Offspring, Flinders Quartet, Syzygy Ensemble, and Halcyon.

In 2024, she served as the Composer-in-Residence for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

A significant pillar of her output is the Hidden Thoughts series, a collection of festival-scale works based on curated text and 'hidden' human experiences. This acclaimed set includes Hidden Thoughts: Do I Matter? (winner of the 2019 Paul Lowin Song-Cycle Prize), Hidden Thoughts: Return To Sender (amplifying the voices of Australians writing to asylum seekers), and Hidden Thoughts: Stories of Awe (for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra).

Abbott's accolades include the 2013 Boston Metro Opera 'Gold Medal for Art-Song' and the 2011 Albert H. Maggs Award for Composition. She was also the recipient of a two-year Australia Council for the Arts Fellowship. Her influence on the next generation of musicians is reflected in her numerous works featured on the AMEB, ANZCA, AGMS and VCE/HSC syllabi.

With over 30 years as an educator and mentor, Abbott brings a holistic approach to her creative practice. Following over a decade as a senior academic at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne, she now holds the position of Honorary Senior Fellow. Through her work as The Artists' Mentor, she supports established artists and arts leaders across disciplines to develop vibrant, long-term careers through her signature program, CATAPULT.

Abbott has five solo discs on the ABC Classics, Move Records: Sunburnt Aftertones, The Domestic Sublime, Famous, Punch, and The Peasant Prince. Her scores are published by Promethean Editions, Reed Music, Sing Score, and the Australian Music Centre.

Katy Abbott — current to January 2026