Composer Profile

Patrick Brislan

(1940–)

Hometown: Sydney, New South Wales

Living in: Point Clare, New South Wales

Patrick Brislan entered the music profession in his teens, having studied the horn with Alan Mann at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Early in his career he was Principal Horn in the Australian Youth Orchestra, guest performer with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, a former member of the Queensland and Sydney Symphony Orchestras, and guest Principal Horn with the West Australian, Adelaide, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras. From 1970 to 1882 he was a member of the University of Adelaide Wind Quintet and in 1979 gained an MA in musicology from Flinders University. He has served elective positions, firstly as Director of the Elder Conservatorium from 1984 to 1987, and later as Associate Dean of Performing Arts from 1989 to 2000. Since retirement, he has remained a volunteer with the Australian Youth Orchestra for twenty years, and from 2019, Coast Opera Australia. He has written numerous articles, short stories, and a book entitled Heresies of Music: A diagnostic A–Z guide which presents a light-hearted alternate view of the many frolics, fantasies, and fictions accepted as facts that he has observed during a lifetime in music.

Horn Ensemble Works

Fanfare for the 100th AnniversarFanfare for the 100th Anniversary of the German Club of SA19864 horns
Fanfare for the Austrian Club ofFanfare for the Austrian Club of South Australia's 25th Anniversary19824 horns