Photo : Rosalind Hall
Ross Bolleter is primarily interested in improvisation, both as a solo player and in group work. Although he has composed some pieces formally, he feels little interest in having pieces recreated by other performers. In the last 10 years Bolleter has explored playing with ruined pianos, that is old pianos that have been found after having been left exposed to the action of time and weather, thus acquiring novel and unexpected musical possibilities.
27.06.2011 PERTH Concert @ The Bakery
Bolleter started his career by practicing improvised music with the flautist Tos Mahoney. He later went to study music, including theory, history and composition, at the University of Western Australia, between 1964 to 1967. This re-awoke his interest in the music of composers such as Anton Webern, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Pierre Boulez, whom he had studied as part of his course. He then went investigating non-conventional timbral and rhythmic possibilities of the prepared piano.
In 2009 he was invited to participate in Tasmania's Ten Days On The Island festival, and his ruined piano installations were very successful.
