Richard John Mills AO FAHA[1] (born 14 November 1949) is an Australian conductor and composer.
He studied in London with Edmund Rubbra at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and worked as a percussionist in England and for the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.
He was engaged to conduct Opera Australia's first complete production of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen in the State Theatre, Melbourne, in 2013, the bicentenary of the composer's birth.
The Sir Bernard Heinze Memorial Award is given to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to music in Australia.
[19] It was founded by the Australia Council in honour of Don Banks, Australian composer, performer and the first chair of its music board.