Michael Norris (born 1973) is a New Zealand composer, music theorist and Senior Lecturer in composition at Victoria University of Wellington.
Early life and education Norris was born in 1973. He attended Logan Park High School and the University of Otago. He gained a BMus (Hons) from Victoria University and an MMus from the City, University of London in 1997.
Career Norris teaches composition, sonic art and post-tonal music theory at Victoria University. In addition to his compositions Norris is a software developer and music theorist and has authored several papers on harmonic theory. In the mid-90s Norris belonged to a group called the 1995ers whose "compositional reference point seems to have been the 1950s and ’60s avant-garde, with all of the political baggage that comes with this movement."
Norris, with other musicians and conductor Hamish McKeich, established the contemporary music ensemble Stroma in 2000. He was the University of Otago’s Mozart Fellow in composition in 2002.
In the 1990s Norris began to study taonga pūoro (traditional Māori instruments) with Richard Nunns. Mātauranga (Rerenga) was commissioned by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra to mark the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook's landfall in New Zealand. The orchestra, taonga pūoro and electronic music are woven together to symbolise the mixing of Māori culture and traditional knowledge with western culture.
Norris's compositions have been played by New Zealand performers and internationally with his work Sgraffito premiered at the Donaueschingen Festival in Germany in 2010.
Awards In 2003, Norris won the composition competition The Lilburn Prize, named in memory of composer Douglas Lilburn and the Composers Association of New Zealand Trust Fund award in 2011.
Norris has won the SOUNZ Contemporary Award at the APRA New Zealand music awards four times: in 2014 for Inner Phases, in 2018 for Sygyt, in 2019 for the Violin Concerto Sama and in 2020 for Mātauranga (Rerenga). He donated his prize money in 2020 to Haumanu, a group dedicated to the revival of taonga pūoro and performing. In 2026 he won the Te Manu Taki Tuauki o te Tau Best Classical Artist award at the Aotearoa Music Awards for Rerenga.
Selected works
Compositions Chrysalis (1996) – for flute and tape Scintilla (2002) – for large chamber ensemble Rays of the sun, shards of the moon (2003) – for symphony orchestra 14 islands (2005) – for flute/bass flute, prepared harp and unpitched percussion From the lonely margins of the sea (2005) – for piano and small orchestra Volti (2006) – for piano and orchestra Icons and artifice (2007) – for bass clarinet duo, ensemble and live electronics Sgraffito (2010) Inner Phases (2014) – for string quartet and Chinese instrument ensemble Piccled (2014) – for vocalising piccolo player Deep field: III (2016) – for flute and live electronics Sygyt (2017) – for orchestra, throat singer and optional live electronics Violin Concerto Sama (2018)
Mātauranga (Rerenga) (2019) – for orchestra, taonga pūoro and live electronics
Selected publications Norris, M., & Young, J. (2001). Half-heard sounds in the summer air: electroacoustic music in Wellington and the South Island of New Zealand. Organised Sound, 6(1), 21–28. doi:10.1017/S1355771801001042 Norris, M. (2003). Only in Wellington. New Zealand Listener, 4 Oct 2003; v.190 n.3308, 62. Norris, M. (2004). Working at the rock-face - Chris Watson. Canzona, v.25 n.46, 24–28. Norris, M. (2006). Tessellations and enumerations : generalising chromatic theories. Canzona, v.26 n.48, 87–95. Norris, Michael, & Adams, Christopher. (2006). Composition & pedagogy : a discussion. Canzona, v.26 n.48, 96–101. Norris, M. (2007). Tonal desires. Canzona, v.28 n.49, 58–67. Norris, Michael. Guidelines for Organising a Composition Competition. Composers Association of New Zealand
References
Further reading Smith, Charmian. (2001). Love for sound of music. Otago Daily Times, 2 Aug 2001, 20. Smith, Charmian. (2002). Harmony from the wilderness. Otago Daily Times, 13 Jun 2002, 33.
External links Michael Norris's website Interview with Michael Norris about Stroma, (2015) from NDHA Recording of Mātauranga (Rerenga) (2019) performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra