‘Humbled and very pleased,’ are Australian composer Gerard Brophy’s feelings on being selected as the focus of the 2003 Royal Northern College of Music’s (RNCM) composer festival. For while Brophy is an acclaimed talent in both his home country and abroad, he also suffers from what could be described as the ‘who’s that’ syndrome – plaguing many artists outside their own country.
‘Let’s say that one of the greatest things about Australia,’ jokes Brophy, in regard to his country’s geographic isolation, ‘is also one of the worst.’