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Publishers:

Bergmann Edition Denmark (music for guitar solo, chamber music with guitar and selections from Once Around the Sun for guitar. )

United Music Publishing, England (guitar pieces, chamber music, other solo instrumentals, choral, etc .)

Born in Minnesota, USA (9 October 1955), Michael Knopf studied composition, guitar and jazz performance at Wichita State University. He immigrated to Australia in 1982. His compositions range from contemporary art music for solo guitar, chamber music, choral pieces and Jazz, and include large choral and orchestral works, solo works and chamber music. His compositions have been performed in Australia, Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan, China, and Switzerland.

Knopf received his Doctorate of Musical Arts in composition from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music Griffith University in 2011. His thesis was 'Style and Genre Synthesis in Music Composition', and his composition folio featured small and large-scale works demonstrating his unique approach to polystylism and polygenre composition. One of the outcomes of the study was an emergent taxonomy for composing cross-genre music.

His work is often inspired by, or conveys, a sense of the numinous but many pieces are made in exploration of musical idea and others are influenced by science and nature.

Michael's Magnum Opus is Once Around the Sun (2022) for guitar, a collection of 365 new works for his instrument of choice. Some of these are expanded for two guitars.

His Eclectic Fantasies for solo guitar from 2006 are stand-out pieces demonstrating his multi-style and poly-genre approaches.

In 2009 Michael Knopf composed Cantillations for choir and ensemble, commissioned and premiered by St Peter's Lutheran College under the direction of Graeme Morton. His unique compositional voice in Be Silent and Know was featured at the Festival of Church Music at St. John's Cathedral in Brisbane 2010.

His guitar concerto with small orchestra entitled The New Earth,exemplifies Knopf's deep commitment to a new repertoire for the classical guitar which draws upon his eclectic experience as guitarist and composer.

Performing mainly on a 7-string classical guitar, Knopf has developed a unique style combining classical, jazz and flamenco performance techniques and idioms. He also explores musical worlds in what he calls 'spontaneous composition' - the act of improvising and developing themes to create musical forms in the moment, giving birth to pieces poetic in approach and keen in its musicality.

His composition and recording Esfahan performed by Knopf and his ensemble Zafron Road Project won first prize in the Allan Zavod Cassical Jazz Performer's Award from Monash University in 2010. His Guitar Concerto The New Earth was awarded the sister prize in composition from Melbourne University in 2011.

Michael has written new works for PLEXUS trio (Melbourne, 2013-14), for the Southern Cross Soloists, for the Queensland Youth Symphony and contributed twice to 15 Minutes of Fame in New York City. His work Cirrus, Wind and White for mandolin and guitar has been performed in European guitar festivals and in other venues by the Mare Duo. His guitar duo, Clouds and Mountains was awarded "praise" at the 2024 Varia International Guitar Festival.

Currently he is an associate artist with the Stairwell Project - Musicians in Hospitals in Brisbane, Australia, providing live music for patients, staff and visitors in clinical spaces. He also initiated a series of "reflection recitals" in conjunction with St John's Cathedral in Brisbane (2020-2023) as a community service, aiming to provide a calming and healing experience within the cathedral's remarkable acoustics. In such events, a wide repertoire is engaged including traditional guitar pieces, Bach, original compositions and improvisations.

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Michael Knopf — current to April 2025