


Martin Cheney
Founder of AWO and Composer extraordinaire
Martin is a composer, music theatre lecturer, repetiteur, pit orchestra pianist, music director, and writer. He graduated from the Elder Conservatorium with First Class Honours in Music Education (Most Outstanding Graduate, 2009) and is currently awaiting the final examination of his thesis for a PhD in Composition. Martin joined the teaching staff of the Bachelor of Music Theatre in 2020.
Martin is primarily a composer of wind orchestra, choral and chamber works. He co-founded the Adelaide Wind Orchestra in 2012 in which he played soprano/alto saxophone until 2018. AWO has performed and recorded a number of Martin’s pieces, including Auguries of Innocence (with the Graduate Singers) in 2019, and the World Premiere of Tangent: symphony for wind orchestra in 2021.
Most recently, Martin was one of the mentor composers for the 2022 ReClassified music festival under the leadership of renowned Australian composer Anne Cawrse, alongside Rachel Bruerville and David John Lang. In 2023, he will be composing his first film score. Martin is represented in Australia by Matt Klohs Music and internationally by Murphy Music Press, LLC. Martin is also a published Arts writer and critic who publishes on his own website, Sharp Four Reviews, has by-lines at the Australian online film magazine FilmInk, and recently began contributing for CutCommon.
You can find some of Martin's work for purchase here: