Christian Heim

Early life and education

Heim was born in Sydney and later lived in Brisbane. He studied under Peter Sculthorpe and has conducted and composed in Vienna, Paris and New York. Many of his works – mainly for orchestra, percussion and vocal ensembles – are of a spiritual or meditative nature and include Prayer Dances, Journey, and Transformation. He held academic posts at the University of Wollongong and the University of Newcastle. Most recently, his output has been for the theatre.

Heim gained his Bachelor of Medicine (honours) from the University of Newcastle in New South Wales in 2001 and was granted the right to practice psychiatry in Queensland on 15 February 2008. He received a Churchill Fellowship to research the therapeutic effects of music in clinical settings and his research concentrates on the arts/medicine interface.

Career

His findings on the effects of baroque music on dementia patients were published in Australasian Journal of Ageing in early 2004. They were described on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National program, The National Interest in July.

In July 2010, Heim directed, and provided the music, for an Australian theatrical rendition of Shadowlands, a play written by William Nicholson. Mardi Lumsden of JourneyOnline felt his " direction is an innovative adaptation ... with the introduction of live music, sculpture and mine." Whereas Caitlin Graham of Australian Stage opined that due to "some clumsy and fussy direction" it "falls short" whilst "The music and the sculpture are lovely and create a nice atmosphere ... but frankly the mime is just an awkward extra that takes away from the dignity of many of the scenes."

Heim delivered a lecture, "Baroque & the Brain Wave: can music help in dementia care?", in May 2014 to the Royal Society of New South Wales. The society's Anne Wood described that "What he has done is to take this music from the late 17th century through to the mid 18th century and explore its therapeutic use in dementia patients with the aim of producing more calming brainwaves."

In March 2016 he provided "An Afternoon with Chopin and George Sand", where he played piano in his portrayal of Chopin with Caroline Heim as Sand.