George Dreyfus

George Dreyfus AM (born 22 July 1928) is an Australian contemporary classical, film and television composer.

However, due to the Nazi persecution of Jews, the family was forced to move to Berlin in 1935 and then left Germany entirely.

He and his brother arrived in Melbourne in July 1939 and began attending boarding school; his parents followed in December.

[3] A grant enabled him in 1955 to continue his studies at the Imperial Academy of Music in Vienna, where he was taught by Karl Öhlberger.

He has composed numerous film and television scores, including for The Adventures of Sebastian the Fox (1963), A Steam Train Passes (1974), Rush (1974), Dimboola (1979) and The Fringe Dwellers (1986).

It was the score for Rush which brought him wider recognition and saw him immortalised in the Trivial Pursuit board game.

In 2019, at the age of 90, Dreyfus disrupted the opening night of Rigoletto at the State Theatre in Melbourne when he attempted to use a megaphone from the front row to protest against the company for not having performed his work.

[14] It was founded by the Australia Council in honour of Don Banks, Australian composer, performer and the first chair of its music board.

A portrait of George Dreyfus by artist Brian Dunlop was entered in the 1995 Archibald Prize competition.

Dreyfus in 1972