A Coldstream resident has been bestowed with a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the General Division this King’s Birthday.
Kenneth Bruce Rowland AM, who goes by Bruce, was given the accolade for his ‘significant service to music as a composer, arranger and conductor’.
Mr Rowland said he wasn’t quite sure yet how to feel, but it came as quite a shock.
“I’m very flattered and it’s something that I’ve always admired, the idea of something rather like that, I just never ever thought it would actually be me and I got it through music, which is just what I do for a living, which is nice,” he said.
I got this basically for The Man from Snowy River I think but I don’t know, it was something, when I had the task to write the music for that, I wanted it to be really Australian,” he said.
“I wanted it to be really importantly Australian, because no one had ever done this, or if they had, they hadn’t really done it properly, they always treated it as being a little thing but it was never a little thing, it was a big thing, and I just loved doing it.”
While composing the award-winning score for The Man From Snowy River might have catapulted Mr Rowland’s career and be one of his most memorable productions, his list of work and accolades certainly isn’t short.
Awards-wise, Mr Rowland has received:
Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)’s International Achievement Award, Screen Music Awards, 2005.
APRA Best Score, The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello, Screen Music Awards, 2005.
APRA Best Score, Man from Snowy River II – Return to Snowy River, 1989.
APRA Best Score, Phar Lap, 1985.
APRA Best Score, The Man from Snowy River, 1984.
APRA Member, since 1962.
Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards Co-Winner, Best Original Music Score, Rebel, 1985.
AACTA Best Original Music Score, Phar Lap, 1983.
AACTA Best Original Music Score, The Man from Snowy River, 1982.
Mr Rowland said he thinks it’s important to have Australian creative arts out in the world and be reflective of Australia.
“Just to let the rest of the world know that we’re not just a sunburnt country, we do have a brain, we can think and we can deliver, I think that’s important,” he said.
“Particularly at the moment because it’s very quiet, there’s very little new projects happening that I’m aware of, now I don’t know if it’s a shortage of money or a shortage of impetus or what I don’t know, but I’ve never known it to be this quiet for this long,”
“Whether it’s going to brighten up, of course it always does, it’s always a bit like up and down in every situation like that but if there’s any big projects in the industry happening, you normally hear about it.”
Before working in film, Mr Rowland’s early work was in advertising and television, composing ‘The Go!! Show’ in the 1960s where he worked and toured with The Strangers, composing for children’s shows Magic Circle Club and Adventure Island and writing over 2000 advertising jingles.
Mr Rowland said moving on to motion pictures was what he always wanted to do, and encouraged aspiring creatives to have a go too, as even if you are in over your head, you’ll learn to swim quickly.
“It’s just a case of if you are in the right place at the right time, it’s as simple as that, (The Man From) Snowy River to me was wonderful, I really enjoyed it because I just had an opportunity to do what I thought was right for the film, and I did,” he said.
“When I did it, a lot of people thought ‘Oou made it all sound really big and huge’ and I said it is, we were just meek and wild Australians, and sometimes we don’t even think that what we’ve just achieved is important,”
“Some things like that are important, they’re not just folk tunes and folk songs, it’s an important part of our history, and no one had ever treated it like that before.
Mr Rowland’s other films, television series and live performances include:
The Cup, 2011.
Prey, 2007.
Flash, 1997.
Tidal Wave: No Escape, 1997.
North Star, 1996.
The Great Elephant Escape, 1995.
Andre, 1994.
Lightning Jack, 1994.
Tracks of Glory, 1994.
Gross Misconduct, 1993.
Fast Getaway, 1991.
Which Way Home, 1991.
The Last Apache, 1990.
Weekend with Kate, 1990.
Bad Baby Amy, 2002.
Ponderosa, 2001-2002.
Journey to the Center of the Earth, 1999.
Tribe, 1999.
Little Elvis Jones, 1997.
McKenna, 1994-1995.
Aladdin, 1994.
Anzacs, 1985.
All the Rivers Run, 1983.
Music Composer and Conductor, Main Title theme, The Man from Snowy River, Opening
Ceremony, Sydney 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
Australian Outback Spectacular, Village Roadshow, 2006-2014 and 2017.
The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular, 2002.
Chinois (Chinese Musical Stage Production), 1998.
