Russell Bauer composer / arranger

Russell Bauer was born and raised in Queensland, Australia, and has made that state his home ever since. Learning piano from age 5, he went on to study composition under Peter Rorke at the University of Southern Queensland. Russell has written and arranged for orchestras, concert bands, television and radio, and in 2010 he composed an original musical titled “Houdini: The Man From Beyond”, with lyrics by renowned Australian poet, Dr Bruce Dawe. This musical was included in the Sydney Writer’s Festival in 2011.

Russell currently holds the Australian record for most hours playing a piano (37 hours) during which time he raised more than $6000 for his school band. He was Australia’s first ever National Memory Champion in 2002, and in the same year was awarded a National Excellence in Teaching Award. This award was bestowed upon Russell in recognition of an innovative practice-chart method designed to encourage young musicians to play their instruments regularly in the first three years of tuition.

Most recently, Russell and his son Toby have started making a series of musical parodies titled “When Mama Isn’t Home” which have received worldwide recognition through youtube.