Michael Knopf

Dr Michael Knopf was born (1955) in the United States, and has lived in Australia for the past 43 years. His work as a composer (and performer) has embraced a wide representation of style and genre. His oeuvre includes works for solo instruments (mostly guitar and cello), choir, chamber ensembles and orchestra, including large oratorios.

His works have been performed in the USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, China, Germany and Portugal, and have also featured on national and local radio programmes in Australia. His symphonic works The Great Barrier Reef (1989/2024), Tchambreen (2017), and oratorio Cantillations (2010) have been premiered in Australia.

Knopf’s many compositions for guitar are of particular importance, composed with his own unique contemporary approaches that include 20th and 21st century compositional strategies and aesthetics, and also the use of traditional and poly-stylistic forms including works inspired and/or influenced by cultural or historical music.

This is evident in his 2006 collection Eclectic Fantasies for solo guitar, which led to a doctoral study producing a range of works for guitar, ensembles, choir and a guitar concerto.

His two Persian Pieces for Guitar (2010) and music for Zafron Road Ensemble (2010) use Persian Dastgah practices in conjunction with his own composer’s fingerprints to create new “poly-genre” music. This later work was awarded two Australian national prizes for fusion of Jazz and Classical music in performance and composition in 2010-11.

Michael’s recent work includes pieces for guitar duo, with Clouds and Mountains (2024) winning “Praise” at the 2024 Varia International Guitar Composition Competition.

Also recently produced is his magnum opus Once Around the Sun (2022), a collection of 365 works for classical guitar, including high level professional pieces, studies and encores.

Chamber music for guitar and other instruments is also an area of interest, with White Cloud at Night (2019) for guitar, soprano and flute exploring a varied atmosphere (haunting, playful, dramatic) in homage to Takemitsu and the Japanese zen spirit. Knopf’s interest in expressing the emotive experience of nature is a theme throughout his work. This includes his recent miniature Cliff and Moon for flute/soprano and guitar, which is an atmospheric work drawn on a remembered moon-rise after a concert performance.

Little Worlds for violin, clarinet and piano however, is a work that, though drawing some inspiration from nature, expresses Knopf’s understanding of art works as small but complete worlds open for human perception.

Knopf is currently focusing on creating new works for duos including for 2 guitars, harp and flute, harp and guitar, etc.