David Page (musician)

Roy David Page (1961 – 28 April 2016) was an Australian composer who was the music director of the Bangarra Dance Theatre. He was descended from the Nunukul people and the Munaldjali clan of the Yugambeh tribe from southeast Queensland.

Early life and education

Page was born in Brisbane, the eighth of twelve children, and grew up in Mount Gravatt. His father was Aboriginal/Chinese and his mother Maori, Spanish, Irish and Aboriginal.

Page embarked on a singing career as a teenager under the name "Little Davy Page", releasing a cover of the Neil Sedaka song Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen, and appearing on TV shows including Countdown and The Paul Hogan Show. He was the first Australian to be signed to Motown label Atlantic Records.

Page studied saxophone, voice and composition at the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music within the Elder Conservatorium of Music at Adelaide University.

Career

Page worked at NAISDA Dance College as music producer as well as bus driver and janitor. He joined the Bangarra Dance Theatre in 1991 as resident composer along with his brothers Stephen Page (choreographer) and Russell (dancer), turning it into a "global phenomenon." Page composed the scores for twenty-seven of Bangarra's works. He was appointed Artist-in-Residence in 2011. His last composition was for the company's work Nyapanyapa, which premiered in June 2016.

Page performed a one-man show of his life story, directed by his brother Stephen, called Page 8, at the Belvoir St Theatre in 1994 and then toured it in Edinburgh and London. He restaged it in 2014 for Bangarra's 25th anniversary. He performed in the Queensland Theatre Company's production of Mother Courage and her children in 2013, and the QTC and Sydney Festival production Black Diggers in 2014. Page appeared on screen in television shows Prisoner and Black Comedy, as well as a brief appearance in the 1997 film Oscar and Lucinda as an Aboriginal busker.

Page collaborated with Steve Francis on music for the 2000 Summer Olympics opening ceremony and the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival in 2000, and the Sydney Dreaming Festival in 2002. He composed music for the The Australian Ballet's Alchemy in 1997 and Amalgamate (with Elena Kats-Chernin) in 2007. Page composed music for various television programs including Heartland, Songlines, and Living Black. His film scores included Kanyini (2006), Hush (2007), and Jacob (2009). In 2015, he composed the music for his brother Steven's directorial film debut, Spear.

Awards and honours

Page won four Deadly Awards and was the inaugural winner of the Indigenous Artist Award for the Myer Foundation in 2000. He won the Green Room Award for Best New Australian Play in 2006 for Page 8. He won two Helpmann Awards for Best Original Score, for Mathinna in 2009 and for Belong (with Steve Francis) in 2011. The soundtrack for Heartland received an ARIA Award nomination for Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album in 1995.

Death

Page died on 28 April 2016 at the age of 55. His family declined to reveal the cause of death. A memorial was held at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre with tributes from Wesley Enoch, Christine Anu, Ursula Yovich and Dan Sultan, before he was buried in a private family ceremony.