Robert Davidson
Robert Davidson will craft a unique soundscape comprised of double bass with looping pedals to build up layers of sound, along with piano and electronic sounds.
Dr Davidson is a prolific composer, bassist, lecturer and founder and artistic director of Topology. He studied composition with Terry Riley in California before completing a composition PhD at the University of Queensland. He previously studied South Indian vocal music in Kerala, India. Davidson’s compositions are regularly performed, recorded and broadcast around the world, in venues including New York’s Lincoln Center, Sydney’s Opera House and London’s Barbican. All of Australia’s professional orchestras and many leading soloists and ensembles have commissioned and performed his works. With Topology he has released 14 albums, and has directed numerous artistic collaborations with creators of many varied cultural and stylistic backgrounds, including The Saints, Geoffrey Rush, Terry Riley, The Brodsky Quartet, Katie Noonan, Kate Miller-Heidke, Christine Anu, TaikOz, William Barton and many more. He has scored three documentary films: Memory Tree (Juniper/ABC), Joyride (Fifty Fifty/ABC, 2018), and Strong female lead (Northern Pictures/SBS, 2021).
Dr Davidson is the head of composition at the University of Queensland and his research is in artificial intelligence and music, music theory, collaboration, music literacy and music education.