Wise Music composer Richard Mills has received a post-nominal upgrade as part of the 2024 Australia Day Honours after being appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia.
Mills has been recognised for his distinguished service to the performing arts as a composer, conductor, and artistic director. He was first appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1999.
Renowned for his body of orchestral works Symphony of Nocturnes, Cello Concerto, Aeolian Caprices, iconic Australian ballet Snugglepot & Cuddlepie, Helpmann Award-winning operas Batavia and Love of the Nightingale, and for his re-orchestration of the ABC’s iconic news theme, Mills has remained one of Australia’s greatest champions of new music and nurturing Australian talent.
At Victorian Opera alone, Mills commissioned over 30 new operas including A Christmas Carol with score by Graeme Koehne, Lorelei with score by Jilian Langdon, The Riders with score by Iain Grandage, and The Grumpiest Boy in the World with score by Joseph Twist. Following on from Mills’ successful debut of opera The Butterfly Lovers in 2022, the world premiere of Mills’ fourth large-scale opera, Galileo, received high accolades at its Melbourne performance in December 2023.