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Photo: Peter Mathew

Dr Michael Kieran Harvey FAHA was born in Sydney in 1961 and began piano lessons at the age of three with his grandmother. He later studied with Alan Jenkins at the Canberra School of Music while attending the notorious Marist Brothers, Canberra - an experience that led him to become religion-free by his early teens. At eleven, he auditioned successfully for Yehudi Menuhin during one of Menuhin's Australian tours and was invited to study at his school in Surrey. Unable to afford the move to the UK, Harvey instead enrolled as a scholarship student at the Sydney Conservatorium High School (1974-79), studying under Gordon Watson. During this time, he developed a strong interest in jazz and rock, touring regional Australia as keyboardist with the school's big band under Geoff Bailey.

Harvey commenced his DSCM at the Sydney Conservatorium in 1980, again under Watson, completing it in 1988 after a period of study at the Liszt Academy, Budapest (1984-87), with Professor Sándor Falvai. In Budapest he gained experience in international piano competitions, becoming a finalist and recipient of the Debussy Medal at the Guilde Française competition in Paris (1985) and finalist in the inaugural Utrecht Liszt Competition (1986). His Sydney Opera House debut followed in 1988, after which he relocated to Melbourne and briefly taught at the VCA.

In 1993 Harvey became the first Australian to win a major international piano competition: the inaugural Ivo Pogorelich International Solo Piano Competition in Pasadena - the world's richest piano competition, featuring some of the most demanding repertoire. This success led to debuts at London's Wigmore Hall and Royal Academy, the Kennedy and Ambassador Centres in the USA, the Warsaw Autumn Festival, and other major international venues. Landmark performances of Messiaen followed, including Vingt Regards (Concertgebouw, Amsterdam 1997), Turangalîla on a new Stuart piano (QSO, 2001), the Australian premiere of Catalogue d'Oiseaux (2005), and Des Canyons aux Étoiles (SSO, 2005). Having established himself internationally, Harvey increasingly focused on promoting Australian composers and developing his own compositional voice, prioritising original creative work over repetition of the standard repertoire.

Harvey has premiered numerous new Australian and international concertos with every Australian symphony orchestra and more than 300 solo Australian keyboard works, many dedicated to him. His discography includes over 50 solo CDs across various labels. Since 1998 he has collaborated with Martin Wright of Move Records on The Michael Kieran Harvey Collection, an ambitious series spanning Liszt and major 20th/21st century composers (Ravel, Rachmaninov, Messiaen, Stravinsky, Carter) through to jazz, electronics, and alternative genres.

Also a composer, Harvey holds a PhD in composition. His works - often irreverent, genre-crossing, and experimental - have been performed across Europe, the UK, the Americas, Asia, and at major Australian festivals. Early works include Spindrift (1995), premiered at the Warsaw Autumn Festival; Play the Piano Drunk Until the Fingers Begin to Bleed a Bit (2002); Miles Away (2002); …until the fingers begin to bleed… (2002); and the large-scale Blood on the Spinifex (2003). Since moving to Tasmania in 2003, he has produced major cycles in collaboration with poet Dr Arjun von Caemmerer such as 48 Fugues for Frank (2010, Mona Foma; AMC/APRA Award 2011), Patañjali (2015, awarded AMC/APRA Instrumental Work of the Year 2016), the 90-minute Green Brain cycle (2018, Mona Foma), and Catalogue des Errances Bibliques (2019, ANAM). His monumental War Sonatas (Move Records) was nominated for the 2025 AMC/APRA Awards, and his Duo Sonata for clarinet and piano will premiere in 2026.

Harvey delivered the Peggy Glanville-Hicks Address in 2012, generating both acclaim and controversy for his critique of contemporary Australian art music. His awards include the Grand Prix at the Ivo Pogorelich Competition (1993), the Debussy Medal (1986), the Australian Government's Centenary Medal (2002), the AMC & APRA Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music (2009), and the Tasmanian State Award for Performance of the Year (2014, for Elliott Gyger's Inferno).

In 2006 the Michael Kieran Harvey Scholarship was established to foster innovation in Australian keyboard art music. Recipients include Cameron Roberts (2006), Ashley Hribar (2008), Zubin Kanga (2010), Aura Go and Adam Cook (2012), James Hullick (2014), Alex Rainieri and Nicholas Young (2016), Rohan Drape (2018), Anthony Pateras (2020), Ayesha Gough (2022), and Erik Griswold (2024).

Today, Harvey is a guest faculty member at the Australian National Academy of Music, Adjunct Professor at the University of Tasmania, and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

Michael Kieran Harvey — current to September 2025