Editing Culture of Australia (section)

====Classical music====
[[File:Melba Rupert Bunny.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Portrait of [[Nellie Melba|''Madame Melba'']] by Rupert Bunny]]

The earliest Western musical influences in Australia can be traced back to two distinct sources: the first free settlers who brought with them the European classical music tradition, and the large body of convicts and sailors, who brought the traditional folk music of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The practicalities of building a colony mean that there is very little music extant from this early period, although some samples of music originating from [[Hobart]] and Sydney date back to the early-19th century.<ref name="Oxford">Oxford, A Dictionary of Australian Music, Edited by Warren Bebbington, Copyright 1998</ref>

[[Nellie Melba]] traveled to Europe in 1886 to commence her international career as an opera singer. She became among the best-known Australians of the period and participated in early gramophone-recording and radio-broadcasting.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url= http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A100464b.htm |title= Melba, Dame Nellie (1861–1931) Biographical Entry – Australian Dictionary of Biography Online |chapter= Dame Nellie Melba (1861–1931) |publisher= Adb.online.anu.edu.au |access-date= 29 January 2011}}</ref> The establishment of choral societies ({{circa}} 1850) and of symphony orchestras ({{circa}} 1890) led to increased compositional activity, although many Australian classical composers worked entirely within European models. Popular works such as [[Percy Grainger]]'s "[[Country Gardens]]" (1918) were heavily influenced by the folk music of other countries and by a conservative British orchestral tradition.<ref name="Oxford"/>

In the mid 20th century, as the desire to express a uniquely Australian identity in music developed, composers such as [[John Antill]]<ref>
{{cite web
 |url= http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/artist/antill-john
 |title= John Antill : Represented Artist Profile
 |publisher= Australian Music Centre |access-date= 29 January 2011
}}
</ref>
and [[Peter Sculthorpe]] drew influences from nature and Aboriginal culture, and [[Richard Meale]] turned to [[south-east Asia]]n music.<ref name="Oxford"/> [[Nigel Butterley]] combined his penchant for international modernism with his own individual voice.

At the beginning of the 1960s Australian classical music erupted with influences, with composers incorporating disparate elements into their work, ranging from Aboriginal and Southeast Asian music and instruments, to American [[jazz]] and [[blues]], and belatedly discovering European atonality and the [[avant-garde]]. Composers like [[Don Banks]] (1923–1980), [[Don Kay (composer)|Don Kay]], [[Malcolm Williamson]] and [[Colin Brumby]] (1933–2018) epitomise this period.<ref name="Oxford"/> In recent times composers including [[Liza Lim]], [[Nigel Westlake]], [[Ross Edwards (composer)|Ross Edwards]], [[Graeme Koehne]], [[Julian Cochran]], [[Georges Lentz]], [[Elena Kats-Chernin]], [[Richard Mills (composer)|Richard Mills]], [[Brett Dean]] and [[Carl Vine]] have embodied the pinnacle of established [[List of Australian composers|Australian composers]].

Well-known Australian classical performers include: sopranos [[Joan Sutherland|Dame Joan Sutherland]], Dame [[Joan Hammond]], [[Joan Carden]], [[Yvonne Kenny]], and [[Emma Matthews]]; pianists [[Roger Woodward]], [[Eileen Joyce]], [[Geoffrey Tozer]], [[Leslie Howard (musician)|Leslie Howard]] and [[Ian Munro (pianist)|Ian Munro]]; guitarists [[John Williams (guitarist)|John Williams]] and [[Slava Grigoryan]]; horn player [[Barry Tuckwell]]; oboist [[Diana Doherty]]; violinists [[Richard Tognetti]] and [[Elizabeth Wallfisch]]; cellist [[David Pereira]]; orchestras including the [[Sydney Symphony Orchestra]], the [[Melbourne Symphony Orchestra]], the [[Australian Chamber Orchestra]] and the [[Australian Brandenburg Orchestra]]; and conductors Sir [[Charles Mackerras]], and [[Simone Young]]. Indigenous performers like [[didgeridoo]]-player [[William Barton (musician)|William Barton]] and immigrant musicians like Egyptian-born [[oud]] virtuoso [[Joseph Tawadros]] have stimulated interest in their own music traditions and have also collaborated with other musicians and ensembles, both in Australia and internationally.