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Photo: Martin Brady

Damien is a Sydney-based composer, artistic director and academic. Seeking a music for the body rather than the brain, his work is characterised by unusual instrumentations, open forms and is often multisensory in nature integrating sound with other media.

From 1995-2015 Ricketson was the co-founder and Co-Artistic Director Ensemble Offspring, a unique arts company dedicated to adventurous new music through whom much of his music has been performed. From 2015-2019 he was the Program Leader of Composition at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney.

Ricketson completed a Bachelor of Music at the Sydney Conservatorium where he studied with composers such as Bozidar Kos, Richard Toop and Martin Wesley-Smith prior to studies at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague with renowned Dutch composer Louis Andriessen. He holds a PhD from the University of Sydney where he currently teaches.

Many of Ricketson's more substantial works have been show-length staged productions including: The Howling Girls (2018), an opera co-created with director Adena Jacobs exploring trauma and the voice presented by Sydney Chamber Opera; The Secret Noise (2014), a hybrid music-dance work; and Fractured Again (2010), a multimedia production both presented by Ensemble Offspring.

Ricketson has received awards including the international Music Theatre Now Prize (2018) and 'Vocal/Choral Work of the Year' in the 2019 Art Music Awards for The Howling Girls, as well as the 'Instrumental Work of the Year' in the 2015 Art Music Awards for The Secret Noise. His works have featured in the Sydney and Melbourne festivals, toured repeatedly to China and represented 'Oceania' in the Tokyo Festival.

Damien Ricketson — current to January 2020