Helen Gifford

Helen Gifford
Helen Gifford 1966 (Camberwell Studio, Burke Rd)

Helen Gifford’s long and distinguished career is marked by awards, prizes, commissions, and extensive national and international critical acclaim. Among her many notable honours are a Senior Composer’s Fellowship (1973), Composer-in-Residence to the Australian Opera (1974), an Edward H. Green Foundation grant (1994), the Medal of the Order of Australia in recognition of service to music as a composer (1996), and the APRA/AMCOS Art Music Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music (2016).

In 1995, an Australia Council Composer Fellowship supported the completion of Point of Ignition, a setting of six poems by the Australian poet Jessica Aldridge (1920–2020) for mezzo-soprano and orchestra.

She received her Bachelor of Music from the University of Melbourne, and in 1996, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by Monash University.

Available Works