The Music Academy Patron

Malcolm Gillies

Malcolm Gillies entered the kindergarten at Canberra Girls Grammar School in 1959, when his mother joined the School’s staff as a mathematics teacher. Malcolm later studied at Narrabundah High School and Canberra Grammar School, while learning violin from Vincent Edwards at the Canberra School of Music and piano with Claire Laws of Deakin. He was leader of the Canberra Youth Orchestra in 1971–72.

When seventeen Malcolm was accepted into the Royal College of Music in London, as a pianist, violinist and theorist. He gained a Cambridge BA in Music, and a London MMus and PhD in Theory and Analysis, along with an ANU BA in Classics, and in 2004 was awarded a higher Doctor of Music degree from the University of Melbourne for his publications in music history and aesthetics. He was Dean of Music at the University of Queensland, and a deputy vice-chancellor at the ANU before becoming the president of two London universities during 2007–14.

As a musician, his interests lie in music theory and analysis, history, musicology, aural training and criticism. He has published many studies about Béla Bartók and Percy Grainger, as well as education. Since 1997 he has been the editor of Oxford University Press’s Studies in Music Genesis, Structure and Interpretation series.

Malcolm is now an emeritus professor of London Metropolitan University and the ANU, and a member of the Order of Australia (AM). He is a passionate supporter of music “every day, and in every way”.