Ros Bandt
Rosalie (Ros) Edith Bandt (born 18 August 1951 in Geelong) is an Australian composer, sound artist, academic and performer. Biography. Bandt was born in Geelong, Victoria. Her father Lewis Bandt was a car designer and notable for designing the first ute. Described as one of the most individual presences in Australian music, Bandt is an internationally acclaimed sound artist, composer, researcher and performer. Since 1977 she has pioneered interactive sound installations, sound sculptures, and created sound playgrounds, spatial music systems, and some 40 sound installations worldwide. Trained as a school teacher, Bandt went on to study chance music  and completed her Masters in 1974 at Monash University with a thesis on the work of John Cage and later completed her PhD in 1983 also at Monash University. A pioneer of interactive sound sculpture in Australia she has exhibited in many Australian city and regional centres including her work "Sound Playground" in Brunswick, Melbourne in 1981. Making use of electronics, tapes and interactive playback systems, Bandt's compositions also feature environmental sounds and unusual instrument combinations. Bandt performs on a wide variety of instruments including recorders, psaltry, percussion and the tarhu. She is a founding member of ensembles LIME , Back to Back Zithers, La Romanesca, Carte Blanche and the Free Music Ensemble. Awards. Don Banks Music Award. The Don Banks Music Award was established in 1984 to publicly honour a senior artist of high distinction who has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to music in Australia. It was founded by the Australia Council in honour of Don Banks, Australian composer, performer and the first chair of its music board. Bandt was awarded the Cochrane Smith award for sound heritage in 2012 by the National Film and Sound Archive. In 2020 Bandt was awarded the Richard Gill Award for  Distinguished Services to Australian Music at the APRA Art Music Awards in recognition of her 40-year commitment to inter-disciplinary work.