Michael Smetanin

Michael Smetanin is one of the most distinctive figures among Australian composers. Born in Sydney in 1958 of Russian parents he completed undergraduate study in 1981 and then having been awarded an International Fellowship by the Music Board of the Australia Council and a Netherlands Ministry of Education and Science scholarship went to study with leading Dutch composer Louis Andriessen at the Royal Conservatorium in the Hague. While studying in Holland, Smetanin composed The Ladder of Escape for Harry Sparnaay’s “Het Basklarienetten Kollektief” which was premiered at the 1984 Salzburg Aspekete Festival in Austria and has become a classic work