Felix Werder

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Felix Werder (born Berlin, Germany 1922) is an Australian based composer of classical and electronic music; also a noted critic and educator.

He studied Fine Arts and Architecture in London before arriving in Australia in 1941. He was interned at a camp in Tatura in Australia during World War II. In 1943 he wrote his first symphony.

The son of a distinguished liturgical composer, he has composed all his life; he has an international reputation and is one of Australia's most performed composers. His published and recorded music includes symphonies, chamber music for all combinations, solo concerti, choral works and operas.

Werder lives in Melbourne and his teaching included influential courses in electronic music and sound synthesis. He received the Order of Australia in 1976, the Stamitz Performance Prize (1984), the Australia Council Fellowship (1986), and the Arts Guild of Germany Composition Prize and the Stamitz Prize, in 1988.

He formed the performance ensemble Australia Felix which toured Europe, and included Bruce Clarke. For many years, during the 1960s and 1970s, he wrote music criticism for the Melbourne newspaper The Age.