Artistic Director
John Rotar
“I think choirs are a really amazing avenue to express what you can be as a modern and Australian composer. There is so much wonderful choral music being written in our country and I really love exploring that through The Australian Voices.”
- John Rotar, 2023
John Rotar is the Conductor and Artistic Director of The Australian Voices. Described by Limelight as a ‘talented and innovative composer’, John is a prolific composer and has had over 130 works performed by many leading arts organisations across Australia, Europe and North America. Aside from his conducting and composing work, John is also an active performer as a trombonist, bass, organist, and piano accompanist and holds the organist chair at the historic All Saints Church in the CBD of Brisbane.
John’s eclectic oeuvre spans from the ridiculous to the sublime; from folky Slovenian string quartets to Ambient Electronic Gregorian Chant and from Big Band Charts to large works for Symphony Orchestra. Across this varied body of work the music is characterised by a strong sense of attachment and commentary on the institutions and history of music; it is a music which is full of life and always strives to emotionally communicate to and resonate with those who are willing to listen.
Growing up in a musical family, John's passion for music started at an early age, after starting piano at age six John turned his hand to composition at eight and at twelve had his first orchestral work performed by the Bundaberg Youth Orchestra. Since then John has had over 130 works commissioned, recorded or performed, including by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Camerata - Queensland's Chamber Orchestra, the Australian Youth Orchestra, The Australian Voices, Southern Cross Soloists, Queensland Ballet Academy, Expressions Dance Company, Flinders String Quartet, Queensland Youth Orchestras, UQ Symphony Orchestra among many others. John has held compositional residencies with Queensland Youth Orchestras, Flinders String Quartet, The Australian Voices, Camerata - Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra as well as being the arranger and composer in residence with the Southern Cross Soloists since 2014.
Rotar’s work has also garnered such awards as the 2013 National Wagner Society Competition, 2015 Artology Fanfare Prize, 2015 Percy Briar Memorial Prize, 2016 Jean Bogan National Piano Composition Prize, 2017 UQ Composition Prize, 2018 Künstlerhaus Boswil International choral composition competition, 2021 Cybec 21st Century composers program, 2021 The ANAM Set Project, as well as being a finalist for the 2021 Queensland Music Awards, and numerous other awards and scholarships.
While not actively producing large numbers of decibels or scribbling on manuscript paper John can be found painting almost inappropriately vibrant abstract art on as large a canvas as he can find or zealously sipping on a glass of red wine.
