Mark Pollard

Professor Mark Pollard is Professor in Music (Interactive Composition) and Head of Interactive Composition at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Melbourne. He also holds the position of Associate Dean (International) within the Faculty. As a composer, educator, and curator, his research spanning over 30 years covers a range of sound, cross-media, and cross-genre areas. Pollard completed a Master's degree at La Trobe University. He has fostered close bilateral connections through programs such as the New Colombo Plan and Universitas 21, securing competitive national grants that funded global projects for more than 200 Faculty students over the past decade. His work emphasizes offshore and regional intensive projects, student and staff exchanges, and study abroad opportunities to promote profound learning, collaboration, interdisciplinarity, and practice-led research.

Pollard's compositional style is eclectic, incorporating improvisation, jazz, pop, and indigenous musics of South East Asia. Key works include the Bass Clarinet Concerto (2003) for Harry Sparnaay, Electric Guitar Concerto (2007) premiered at the Darwin International Guitar Festival, Beating the Rusty Nail for violin and piano (2008) at the Perth International Arts Festival, Gunnai Dreaming for choir (2009) at the Parliament of the World's Religions, Silent Spring: five symphonic images (2012) for his University of Melbourne Doctor of Music submission, and The Heavenly Muzak Machine: six miniatures for vibraphone eight hands (2010) commissioned by Speak Percussion. Site-specific compositions feature prominently, such as Sounding the Earth for the Melbourne Museum, Sounding Out Andy for the National Gallery of Victoria, and Resonating Spaces projects at the Ian Potter Museum of Art (2013), Melbourne Zoo (2014), and internationally in Vancouver, Edinburgh, Beijing, Singapore, and the Cook Islands. His music has been released on nine compact discs, including A Handful of Rain, a collection of ambient works, and performed at major festivals like Warsaw Autumn and Tokyo Nova. Awards include the inaugural Jacobena Angliss Music Award (1983), Albert H. Maggs Composition Award first prize for View from the Beach (1992), Spivakovsky Composition Prize (1993), inaugural VCA Teaching Excellence Award (2001), VCA Incredible Colleague Award (2006), AMC/APRA Classical Music State Award (2008), and University of Melbourne Universitas21 Teaching Fellowship (2009). He has mentored composers such as Anthony Lyons and Andrián Pertout, delivered a keynote speech at the 2011 Conference for Inter-disciplinary Musicology in Glasgow, and served as guest composer-in-residence at Green College, Vancouver.

Professional Email: pollardm@unimelb.edu.au