Dance Australia was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of musician and composer David Page, age 55, on 28 April. Music director of Bangarra Dance Theatre, David had been with the company since his appointment as resident composer in 1991. He composed music for 27 of Bangarra’s repertoire works.
David trained as a musician at the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music (CASM) at Adelaide University, studying saxophone, voice and song. His professional achievements were diverse. In addition to his work for Bangarra, David composed for events such as the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival (2000) and the Sydney Dream Festival (2002), as well as for television and film.
David was nominated for the Deadly’s Sound Awards eight times, winning four of those awards. He received an ARIA nomination for his composition for television’s Heartland in 1996 and was the inaugural winner of the Indigenous Arts Award for the Sidney Myer Foundation in 2000. In 2006 he received the 2006 Green Room Award for his solo performance in Page 8 as the Best New Australian Play. David received a Helpmann Award for Best Original Score for Mathinna in 2009. Together with Steve Francis, he won a Helpmnann Award for Best Original Score for 2011’s Belong.
In 2014 David performed in the Queensland Theatre Company and Sydney Festival production Black Diggers and restaged his one-man show Page 8 at Bangarra’s Walsh Bay theatre as part of the company’s 25th anniversary. In 2015 David composed the music for Stephen’s directorial film debut, Spear.
Bangarra Dance Theatre has released the following statement: "The Bangarra clan is unbelievably saddened that our brother David Page is no longer with us. On behalf of Stephen, the Page family and Bangarra, we ask for your privacy and respect at this difficult time."
Stephen and the Page family have asked that no images or footage of David be used in line with cultural protocols.
At Dance Australia, our thoughts are with Stephen Page and his family, and all at Bangarra Dance Theatre.