CHRIS EARL
BORN OCTOBER 31 1961
The founder and managing director of Muso's Media and Australia's Band World, Chris Earl has a lifetime of experience in the community music scene in Australia.
He began on cornet with the Maryborough Combined Schools Band and was a member of this group when the Victorian Junior Brass Band Champions in 1974. Soon after joining the school band, he became a member of the Maryborough City Brass Band under bandmaster Jack Harris, and at that time one of the leading B Grade bands in Australia.
Although studying music, Chris decided on a career in journalism and by the age of 20 was editor of the tri-weekly Ararat Advertiser and won the Australia Day Council award for best news story in 1988.
His community involvement was essentially in music and festivals. He was named Maryborough's Young Citizen of the Year in 1980, was president of the Ararat Golden Gateway Festival for five years until 1986, a life member of that organisation and was interim chairman of the Ararat Regional Development Board.
Throughout the interegnum before returning to music full-time, Chris played with some of Australia's leading brass bands and achieved success as a player and director or small brass ensembles.
As a conductor, he is increasingly in demand. At the 2002 Australian National Championships he took Darebin to several appearances in the A Grade "frame" and later that year coached Victorian D Grade champions Wodonga and conducted Eaglehawk to third place in the state B Grade championship. He has directed bands in concert with 2000 BBC Young Musician of the Year semi-finalist David Childs and 2002 International Euphonium Player of the Year Riki McDonnell.
He was also founding conductor of Victorian Women's Brass and for the past three years has been chief instructor at the annual St Arnaud music camp.
Chris also adjudicates regularly at brass band competitions and eisteddfods thoughout Australia and is registered with the Victorian Bands' League.
Among appointments have been at Royal South Street (Ballarat) on three occasions, Victorian and Tasmanian solo championships (twice) and Western Australian brass and concert band championships. He positive approach to adjudication and assessment is seen as a great way to encourage developing young musicians.
He is available for appointment as an adjudicator.
He founded Muso's Media in 1992 (the first issue of Australia's Band World followed in April 1993) and has since played a key contributing role in the national band movement. Muso's Media has become the nation's leading brass music publisher with sales in Australia and New Zealand and now also throughout Britain and Europe.
Muso's Media has not just pioneered the rebirth of a quality Australian brass music publishing industry, but also has been at the forefront in the recording of compact discs by leading Australian brass and wind bands with Chris having five CDs to his name as a producer and two as co-producer.
He co-wrote Legends in Brass: Australian Brass Band Achievers of the 20th Century with Jack Greaves and regular contributes articles to brass magazines around the world and was a contributor of several entries to the Australian Companion to Music and Dance (Currency Press, ed John Whiteoak and Aline Scott-Maxwell).
Chris regularly contributes articles to overseas music journals on the Australian brass scene.
Currently, Chris is -
Musical director of Eaglehawk Brass
Artistic Director Brass on Bull
Director Goldfields Academy of Brass and Percussion
Victorian Bands' League Music Advisory Board chairman
National Band Council National Music Consultative Committee member
He is married to Narelle and they have two children James and Emily and their dog, Maestro.