Don Kay AM & John Honey

Don Kay is a prolific Tasmanian composer of well over three hundred works, including operas, concertos, symphonies, and vocal, choral and chamber music. His works have been performed Australia-wide and internationally.  

He was born in Smithton Tasmania in 1933. He graduated with a Bachelor of Music from the University of Melbourne. He moved to London in 1959 and studied composition with Malcolm Williamson. Don returned to Tasmania and was appointed Lecturer of Composition and Music Education, Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music in 1967. He was elected Dean of Music, University of Tasmania 1989, and Head of the Conservatorium of Music in 1990. 

In 1991 Don was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia and in 2001 was awarded a Centenary Medal, both for his service to music. He retired in 1998 and has continued to compose full time.  

Since 2010 he has collaborated with librettist John Honey on major vocal works.  In his tenth decade Don continues to compose every day, and has recently completed an oratorio, The Nature of War. Don won the State Luminary Award for Tasmania in the Australian Art Music Awards 2024, for his contribution to music activity in Tasmania. 

John Honey is a Tasmanian-born screen director, screenwriter, novelist and librettist. His screen works in Australia and the USA include innovative children’s television programs, the feature film Manganinnie and television feature-length documentaries Inside the Secret Service and The Wing Will Fly.   He was awarded a Centenary Medal for service to Australian film and television.  

His novels, Paint, Threatened Species and Strings are set in contemporary Tasmania.  

Since 2010 John has worked in collaboration with distinguished Tasmanian composer Don Kay. Together they have created song cycles, cantatas and orchestral narratives. Their full-length opera The Bushranger’s Lover premiered with Yorta Yorta soprano Deborah Cheetham in the title role. Their major work inspired by the 2018-19 Tasmanian bushfires, Conflagration, premiered at the 2021 Festival of Voices. Their most recent large-scale work is The Nature of War, for orchestra, chorus and soloists. 

Click here to see a full list of Don Kay and John Honey’s collaborations.  

Image credit: Maria Honey