Matthew Hindson was born in Wollongong, New South Wales in 1968. He studied composition at the Universities of Sydney and Melbourne with composers including Peter Sculthorpe, Eric Gross, Brenton Broadstock and Ross Edwards.
Hindson's works have been performed by ensembles and orchestras throughout his native Australia, including most of its professional symphony orchestras and chamber groups. Overseas, his compositions have been presented in New Zealand, Germany, France, Austria, the UK, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United States, Japan, Malaysia, Canada and Thailand, and have been featured at such key events as the 1994 and 2000 Gaudeamus Music Weeks in Amsterdam, the 1997 ISCM Festival in Copenhagen and the 1998 Paris Composers Rostrum.
His music often displays influences of popular music styles within a classical music context, and, as a result, musical elements such as driving repeated rhythms and high dynamic levels are typically found in his works. Indeed, directness and immediacy are common features in much of his music. One of his most notable works, Speed (1996), was thought by some to be inspired by the 1994 hit film Speed; however, Hindson has denied this connection.
In 1999 Hindson was the attached composer to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Works written during this attachment include Boom-Box and In Memoriam: Amplified Cello Concerto (the latter was subsequently nominated for an APRA-AMC award for Best Orchestral Work of 2001). He was also the attached composer with the Sydney Youth Orchestra in the same year, for which he was commissioned to write a violin concerto. In 2002 he was the featured composer with Musica Viva Australia for which he has written a number of new commissions for Kristjan Järvi's Absolute Ensemble, baroque violinist Andrew Manze, the Australian oboist Diana Doherty and the Belcea String Quartet, and Duo Sol.
In May 2002, the Sydney Dance Company toured Australia to much acclaim with a new 90-minute production, Ellipse, choreographed by their Artistic Director, Graeme Murphy, and danced entirely to Hindson's music. Playing to packed houses, it broke box-office records for the SDC. They toured it to the USA in 2004.
In September 2003, Hindson was a featured composer at the Vale of Glamorgan Festival in Wales, during which fourteen of his works were performed by a variety of ensembles. He was the attached composer to The Queensland Orchestra in 2003/2004, one result of which was his Percussion Concerto, written for Dame Evelyn Glennie and premiered in Brisbane in 2006. In addition, his music was set to a full-evening dance presentation by Ballett Schindowski in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, in January 2004.
Other compositions include two works for the Orchestras of Australia Network, a flute concerto entitled House Music for American flautist Marina Piccinini, premiered with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in December 2006, a Concerto for Two Pianos written for Pascal and Ami Rogé, and two ballets commissioned by Birmingham Royal Ballet for David Bintley. Matthew Hindson's music is published by Faber Music (UK). A disc of three of his orchestral pieces was recorded by Trust Records with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and released in August 2008.
As well as working as a composer, Hindson lectures in the Arts Music Unit and is Associate Professor and Chair of Composition at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He has recently co-authored a book entitled "Music Composition Toolbox", published by Science Press. Hindson is the artistic director of the Aurora Festival, a new festival of contemporary music based in Western Sydney which premiered in April 2006.
Matthew Hindson was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2006, for "service to the arts as a leading Australian composer and teacher of music, and through the wide promotion of musical works to new audiences".
Homage to Metallica, 1994/97Speed, 1996LiteSpeed, 1996Rave-Elation (Extended Mix), 1997RPM, 1996/98Rave-Elation (Schindowski Mix), 1997/2003Boom-Box, 1999In Memoriam: Amplified Cello Concerto, 2000Violin Concerto No. 1 (Australian Postcards), 2000- Wind Turbine at Kooragang Island
- Westerway
- Grand Final Day
Headbanger, 2001Rave-Elation, 2002A Symphony of Modern Objects, 2003Auto-Electric, 2003Concerto for Percussion, 2005An Infernal Machine, 2006House Music (Flute Concerto), 2006Flash Madness, 2006Kalkadungu (co-composed with William Barton), 2007Ictalurus Punctatus, 2008Dangerous Creatures, 2008Symphony No 2: e=mc2, ballet, 2009Energy, 2009Concerto for Two Pianos, 2011Faster, ballet, 2011Bright Red Overture for full orchestra, solo trumpet and didjeridu, 2013Returned Soldier, The Symphony No 3, 2014It is better to be feared than loved, for SATB chorus and orchestra, 2014Technologic 1–2 for string orchestra and percussion, 1998Whitewater for 12 solo strings, 1999–2000The Rave and the Nightingale for string quartet and string orchestra, 2001Balkan Connection string orchestra, 2003Gentle Giant, 2003Didjeribluegrass didjeridu, string orchestra and percussion, 2005Song and Dance, string orchestra, 2006Crime and Punishment double-bass and string orchestra, 2009Maralinga violin and string orchestra, 2009/arr.2011Bright Stars for string orchestra of mixed abilities, with piano, 2016Lucky Seven for 10 percussionists, 1995Siegfried Interlude No.4 – The Ride of the (Viola) Valkyries 8 violas, 1998Technologic 145, for chamber ensemble of 13 players, 1998Siegfried Interlude No.1 for brass ensemble, 1999Whitewater for 12 solo strings, 1999–2000Comin' Right Atcha, for amplified chamber ensemble of 8 players, 2002Comin' Right Atcha, for chamber ensemble of 14 players, 2002, 2006Spirit Song, for chamber ensemble of 5 players, 2003/2006Septet, for chamber ensemble of 7 players, 2009Beauty for cello and chamber ensemble of 6 players, 2009This Year's Apocalypse for chamber ensemble of 14 players, 2016Arrival for carillon, 2017Prelude and Estampie for viola and piano, 1986Four Score for 4 solo violins, 1992Little Chrissietina's Magic Fantasy for 2 violins, 1994DeathStench for amplified flute, amplified clarinet and piano, 1995Nintendo Music for clarinet in A and piano, 1995Five Movements for saxophone quartet, 1996GameBoy Music for clarinet and piano, 1997Two Marine Portraits for violin, viola and electronics, 1997Chrissietina's Magic Fantasy for violin and viola, 1998Ignition: Positive for trumpet or alto saxophone and piano, 1998Jungle Fever for cello or tenor saxophone and piano, 1998Night Pieces for oboe or soprano saxophone and piano, 1998Love Serenade for cello or bassoon and piano, 1998n-trance for solo harp, 1998Lament for viola and piano, 1996/2002Rush for guitar and string quartet, 1999Rush for oboe and string quartet, 1999/2001Siegfried Interlude No.2 for wind octet, or soprano saxophone and piano, or clarinet and piano, 1999Siegfried Interlude No.3 for 3 percussionists, 1999Always On Time for violin and cello, 2001Pulse Magnet for 2 pianos and 2 percussion, 2001Baroquerie, Sonata for Baroque Violin and Harpsichord, 2002Industrial Night Music (String Quartet No. 1), 2003Basement Art Guru and Other Pieces for solo violin, 2004Didjeribluegrass for didjeridu and string quartet, 2005Piano Trio, 2006Song of Life for solo violin, 2007The Metallic Violin for solo violin, 2007Light Music for wind quintet, 2007Video Game Dreaming for clarinet quartet, 2007The Metallic Violins for two violins, 2008Shakedown for amplified shakuhachi & CD, 2008Violin Concertino: Summer Stories for violin and piano, 2009Maralinga for violin and piano, 2009Funeral Windows for basset clarinet, 2009Big Heart for string quartet, 2009Mandalay for solo violin, 2009Septet for flute, horn and string quintet, 2009The Flash for solo xylophone, 2010Video Game Dreaming for saxophone quartet, 2010Light is both a particle and a wave for flute, clarinet in A, piano and string quartet, 2010Repetepetition for soprano saxophone and piano, 2011Remembering Dixie for violin and piano, 2012Song for Sophie for violin and piano, 2012Epic Diva for piano quartet, 2012The stars above us all for chamber orchestra, 2012Repetepetition for flute/piccolo and vibraphone, 2013Repetepetition for flute/piccolo and piano, 2013String Quartet No 2, 2013Rush for piano trio, 2015String Quartet No 3: Ngeringa, 2015String Quartet No 4 for string quartet and solo percussion, 2016Scenes from 'Romeo & Juliet' for saxophone quartet, 2016Funeral Oration for solo trumpet, 2016Lounge Music arrangement of 3rd movement of flute concerto House Music for clarinet and piano, 2016Odysseus and the Sirens, for flute and piano, 2017String Quartet No 5 (Celebration), 2017AK-47, 1993Moments of Plastic Jubilation, 2000Monkey Music for Toy Piano and Cymbal Monkey, 2009Big Bang for two pianos, 2013Visible Weapon for two pianos and electronics, 2013Pi, 1999Velvet Dreams, 1999The Blue Alice, 2000Heartland, 2001It is better to be feared than loved, for SATB chorus and orchestra, 2014Insect Songs, mezzo-soprano and guitar, 1998Central Australian Song for soprano and chamber ensemble of 5 players, 2009Saviour of the Heathens (Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland), solo tenor, cello and chamber organ, 2017Symphonic wind band
RPM, 2002Headbanger, 2003Requiem for a City (co-composed with Paul Mac), 2015