# David Hirschfelder

David Hirschfelder (born 18 November 1960, Ballarat, Victoria) is an Australian musician, film score composer and performer. As a musician he has been a member of Little River Band and John Farnham Band. He has composed film scores for many films, including Strictly Ballroom, Australia, The Railway Man, The Water Diviner and The Dressmaker. He was nominated for Academy Awards for his scores for Shine and Elizabeth.

## Musician

As a keyboardist, Hirschfelder has been a member of various groups including the jazz fusion band Pyramid, rock band Peter Cupples Band (1980), pop rockers Little River Band (1983–1986), Blowout, Dragon (1987, 1989), adult contemporary singer John Farnham's backing band (1986–1992), and jazz fusion supergroup CAB.
In 1980 Hirschfelder joined the Peter Cupples Band, Cupples had just left his soul-pop group, Stylus, and formed the rock group with Hirschfelder on keyboards, Virgil Donati on drums, Ross Ingliss on guitar and Robert Little on bass guitar. In October 1981 Peter Cupples Band released his debut album, Fear of Thunder. In 1982 Hirschfelder provided piano on Little River Band's album, Greatest Hits. Their next album, The Net had Hirschfelder on keyboards and as co-producer, with the band's line-up including Farnham on lead vocals, Beeb Birtles on guitars and vocals, Graeham Goble on guitars and vocals, Stephen Housden on guitar and backing vocals, Wayne Nelson on bass guitar and vocals, and Derek Pellicci on drums and percussion. He joined the group in September 1983, as they toured in the United States. Their 1984 album, Playing to Win saw Hirschfelder supplying guitar, piano, keyboards, synthesiser, programming and vocals. He also co-wrote the tracks, "When Cathedrals Were White", "Blind Eyes" and "Playing to Win". The latter two were issued as singles, with "Playing to Win" reaching the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1985 and Top 100 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. In mid-1986 the group issued No Reins which had Hirschfelder on piano, keyboards and co-writing "Paper Paradise".
After No Reins had been recorded, Hirschfelder left Little River Band to return to Australia and joined Farnham's backing band. In April–June 1986 Farnham recorded his album, Whispering Jack with Hirschfelder on keyboards, drum programs and co-writing "Going, Going, Gone". For touring in support of the album Farnham and Hirschfelder were joined on the Jack's Back Tour by Angus Burchill (or Burchall) on drums, Brett Garsed on lead guitar, and Greg Macainsh on bass guitar (Skyhooks). At that time, Jack's Back Tour was the highest-grossing tour by an Australian act. Hirschfelder remained with Farnham for the studio albums, Age of Reason (July 1988) and Chain Reaction (September 1990). Between these two albums he released his own, Welcome to the Nightclub of My Mind in 1989. In 1992 Hirschfelder left Farnham's backing band to concentrate on his score work for television and feature films. In 1999 he collaborated with David Hobson for the song cycle Inside This Room based on writings by Joseph Campbell and Paulo Coelho.

## Film composer

Hirschfelder's first score work was for the TV series, Skirts and Shadows of the Heart (both in 1990); Ratbag Hero followed in 1991.
He has composed scores for films including Strictly Ballroom (1992), Shine (1996), Sliding Doors (1998), Elizabeth (1998), Hanging Up (2000), Peaches (2004), Australia (2008), and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010).
He has worked numerous times with directors Ian Gilmour, Craig Monahan, Ann Turner, Roger Spottiswoode and Baz Luhrmann.
In 1999, the score for Elizabeth (composed for a 90-piece orchestra and a 40-piece choir) was nominated for an Oscar, and was honoured with a BAFTA award and an APRA award for Best Original Score. He also won the Best Score BAFTA in 1993 for Strictly Ballroom.
He composed for the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

## Selective filmography

| Year | Film | Directed by | Notes |
| 1990 | Skirts | Brendan Maher, Richard Sarell & Ian Gilmour | TV series |
| 1992 | Strictly Ballroom | Baz Luhrmann | |
| 1994 | Dallas Doll | Ann Turner | |
| 1996 | Shine | Scott Hicks | nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score |
| 1996 | Dating the Enemy | Megan Simpson Huberman | |
| 1998 | Sliding Doors | Peter Howitt | also orchestrator |
| 1998 | The Interview | Craig Monahan | |
| 1998 | Elizabeth | Shekhar Kapur | also conductor and orchestrator; nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score |
| 1999 | What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? | Ian Mune | |
| 2000 | Hanging Up | Diane Keaton | |
| 2000 | Better Than Sex | Jonathan Teplitzky | |
| 2000 | The Weight of Water | Kathryn Bigelow | also conductor |
| 2002 | Bootleg | Ian Gilmour | TV mini-series |
| 2003 | The Wannabes | Nick Giannopoulos | |
| 2004 | Standing Room Only | Deborra-Lee Furness | Short film |
| 2004 | Peaches | Craig Monahan | |
| 2004 | BlackJack | Peter Andrikidis, Ian Watson & Kate Woods | TV series, all episodes except pilot |
| 2004 | The Five People You Meet In Heaven | Lloyd Kramer | TV film; also conductor |
| 2006 | Aquamarine | Elizabeth Allen | also conductor |
| 2006 | Irresistible | Ann Turner | |
| 2007 | Shake Hands with the Devil | Roger Spottiswoode | Won Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Song at the 28th Genie Awards |
| 2008 | The Children of Huang Shi | Roger Spottiswoode | |
| 2008 | Salute | Matt Norman | documentary |
| 2008 | Australia | Baz Luhrmann | also harmonica musician |
| 2009 | The Blue Mansion | Glen Goei | |
| 2010 | I Love You Too | Daina Reid | |
| 2010 | Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole | Zack Snyder | Animated film |
| 2011 | Sanctum | Alister Grierson | |
| 2012 | Beyond Right and Wrong: Stories of Justice and Forgiveness | Lekha Singh, Roger Spottiswoode | documentary |
| 2013 | The Railway Man | Jonathan Teplitzky, based on a true story by Eric Lomax | historical drama |
| 2014 | Healing | Craig Monahan | drama |
| 2014 | The Water Diviner | Russell Crowe | historical drama |
| 2015 | The Dressmaker | Jocelyn Moorhouse | drama |
| 2016 | A Street Cat Named Bob | Roger Spottiswoode | drama |
| 2017 | A Few Less Men | Mark Lamprell | comedy |
| 2017 | Dance Academy: The Movie | Jeffrey Walker | drama |
| 2018 | In Like Flynn | Russell Mulcahy | drama |
| 2019 | Ride Like a Girl | Rachel Griffiths | drama |
| 2024 | Sleeping Dogs | Adam Cooper | crime, mystery, thriller |

## Discography
### Charting albums

List of albums, with Australian chart positions :
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
| Title | Album details | AUS |
| Inside This Room (with David Hobson) | Released: August 1999 Format: CD Label: Mushroom (MUSH33241.2) | 70 |

## Awards and nominations
### Academy Awards

* 1997 Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score nomination for Shine
* 1999 Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score nomination for Elizabeth

### ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
| 1993 | Strictly Ballroom | Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album | Nominated |
| 1999 | Elizabeth | Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album | Won |
| 1999 | The Interview | Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album | Nominated |
| 2000 | What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? | Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album | Nominated |
| 2001 | Better Than Sex | Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album | Nominated |

### APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
| 1998 | Shine | Best Film Score | Won |
| 1999 | Elizabeth | Best Film Score | Won |
| 2008 | Children of the Silk Road | Best Film Score | Won |