Iva Davies - this year's Australia Day Ambassador 12 January 2006

Australian music icon, Iva Davies, creator of some of Australia’s most recognised popular music, is this year's Australia Day Ambassador for the City of Ryde.

"The City of Ryde is delighted that Iva has accepted the role of Ambassador of this year's Australia Day celebrations," said Derek McCarthy, Ryde Manager Community Relations and Events.

“Iva is a musician of world renown and the creator of some of Australia’s most recognised popular music.  Residents will know many of his seminal works from the group ICEHOUSE, including Great Southern Land, Hey Little Girl and Electric Blue,” Mr. McCarthy said.

Iva Davies broad musical accomplishments also include a number of contemporary ballet scores (Sydney Dance Company) and award winning music for film (Razorback, Peter Weir’s Master and Commander:  Far Side of the World, The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant).  Highlights include A Royal Command Performance, an official theme for the 2000 Olympic Games and the centre-piece of Sydney Millennium celebrations performed with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra on the steps of the Sydney Opera House. 

Iva Davies will give his Australia Day address at the official ceremony at Ryde Civic Hall on Thursday 26 January from 2pm and will make an appearance at the Family Concert at North Ryde Common later in the day.

-ENDS-
Iva Davies biography attached.
Media Enquiries:  Lee Kirkland, Media Officer, City of Ryde T 9952 8083, M 0434 306 444

BIOGRAPHY - Iva Davies A.Mus.A (dist) Composer

Iva Davies is an Associate in Music Australia (Distinction) and a formally trained classical musician (oboe, piano and composition).

Iva’s first serious musical training was during high school.  His outstanding potential as an oboist won him the first of a number of consecutive scholarships to the NSW State Conservatorium of Music where he continued tertiary studies in the Performer’s Diploma Course.

His parallel interest in popular music and his ability as a guitarist/singer/ composer led to the formation of the Australian musical group Icehouse (formerly known as Flowers).

As leader and founder of Icehouse he achieved substantial success both locally and internationally over a period of twenty years.  Icehouse produced, roughly thirty local hit songs including Hey Little Girl, Crazy, Electric Blue, Touch the Fire and Great Southern Land, a number of European and American Top 20 hits (including international Number 1s).  Album sales are presently approaching two million in Australasia alone.

His music and songs are often described as ‘cinematic’ in nature and are characterised by haunting atmospheres, by transparent beauty, and often dark and forbidding brooding.

As a composer/songwriter, Iva Davies has written over one hundred published songs and several contemporary ballet scores (for Sydney Dance Company).  His first film score was the soundtrack music for Russell Mulcahy’s thriller Razorback, which won an AFI nomination and an APRA Award in 1986.

For Sydney’s Millennium Eve Celebration, Iva was invited to transform Great Southern Land into a 40-minute composition, drawing together composers and musicians from all over the world to produce a complex collaborative work.  In the minutes before midnight when the clock turned from 1999 to 2000, Great Southern Land was performed on the northern forecourt of the Sydney Opera House.  It was broadcast internationally to 2.5 billion television viewers.

Recently he was invited by Director Peter Weir to compose the score to Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. This film, which stared Russell Crowe, was a 2004 multiple Academy Award Winner. The score was awarded an ASCAP award in Hollywood last year.

His most recent project was the film score to The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant, the largest budget movie for television ever produced here. The movie has already achieved seven AFI nominations.

Iva continues to write, perform and record music for the select, challenging projects he is invited to contribute to. He has recently been described in the press as the “Godfather of Australian electronic music”.

Last Updated: 12 January 2006