Login

Enter your username and password

Photo: Ella English

Influences, styles: Indigenous Australian Culture, Indigenous music

Troy Russell is a Biripi-Gamillaroi composer whose music weaves contemporary classical expression with deep cultural storytelling. Drawing on his lifelong connection to Country and community, Russell's work moves fluidly between chamber, orchestral, vocal, and cross-disciplinary forms, creating sound worlds that are both intimate and expansive.

His compositions have been commissioned and performed by leading Australian ensembles, including the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Offspring, Bach Akademie Australia, River City Voices, and small chamber groups across the country. Recent works include Stolen (CSO, "Other Worldly"), an evocative meditation on the histories of the Stolen Generations for strings, piano, and soprano; Motorways, a cinematic reflection on travel and Country; and a growing catalogue of folk-influenced ballads and narrative-driven chamber pieces.

Russell's practice is grounded in storytelling-drawing from family history, Aboriginal resilience, and the landscapes of eastern New South Wales. His work often incorporates voice, guitar, and narrative elements alongside classical instrumentation, creating hybrid forms that speak to both tradition and innovation. He is particularly interested in projects that bring First Nations perspectives into new artistic and technological spaces, including extended-reality performance through his interdisciplinary XRBT project.

A composer, educator, filmmaker, and cultural practitioner, Russell continues to develop new works that centre Aboriginal stories within Australia's contemporary music landscape.

Troy Russell — current to December 2025