Andrián Pertout was born in Santiago, Chile, 17 October, 1963, and lived in Gorizia, Northern Italy for several years before finally settling in Melbourne, Australia in 1972. Over the years he has worked as a film composer, performer, producer, arranger and writer. In 2007, he completed a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree at the University of Melbourne on Tweddle Trust, Australian Postgraduate and Melbourne Research scholarships, studying composition under the guidance of Brenton Broadstock.
Composition awards include the Betty Amsden Award – 2005 3MBS FM National Composer Awards, First Prize in the 2004 ISU Contemporary Music Festival/Louisville Orchestra Composition Competition (Indiana, USA), Judges’ and Audience Prize of the 2003 Oare String Orchestra Third International ‘Music for Strings’ Composing Competition (Faversham, UK), 2002 Michelle Morrow Memorial Award for Composition, and the 2002 Zavod Jazz/Classical Fusion Award.
Commisioned works have been written to accompany over 20 documentary and short films, television programs, as well as commercials, computer games and stage productions. Highlights of this part of Andrián's career include composing for documentary films such as East Meets West (1984), Ibrahim (1984), The Murray River Quest (1985), Hope Street (1987) and The Australian Ballet (1990).
Andrián's music has received performances at festivals such as the ISCM World Music Days 2005 (Zagreb, Croatia), 33e Festival d'Automne á Paris (Paris, France), Indiana State University 38th Annual Contemporary Music Festival, (Terre Haute, USA), XIII and XV Festival de Música Contemporánea Chilena (Santiago, Chile), and the 22nd and 26th ACL Conference & Festival (Seoul, Korea and Wellington, New Zealand). His music has also been performed in Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Brazil, Cuba, Colombia, Peru, China, Croatia, Hong Kong, France, USA, Belgium, Chile, Italy, Slovenia, Canada, Republic of Macedonia, UK, Netherlands, Austria, Korea, and Australia by orchestras and ensembles that include the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, The Louisville Orchestra (USA), The Foundation Orchestra (USA), Orquestra Petrobrás Sinfônica (Brazil), La Chapelle Musicale de Tournai (Belgium), Oare String Orchestra (UK), Ónix Ensamble (Mexico), Ensamble Contemporáneo (Chile), Quinteto CEAMC (Argentina), Sonemus Ensemble (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Sori Ensemble (Korea), Omni Ensemble (USA), and the Ensemble für neue musik zürich (Switzerland).
His music has been published by Reed Music (Melbourne, Australia), Rhythmscape Publishing (Brisbane, Australia), Red House Editions (Melbourne, Australia) and the SCI or Society of Composers Inc. (New York, NY, USA). CDs have been released by Albany Records (Albany, NY, USA), Pueblo Nuevo/Laim/Cech (Santiago, Chile), Reed Music (Melbourne, Australia), Kostas Metaxas Recordings (Melbourne, Australia), Capstone Records (Brooklyn, NY, USA), Harmonia Classica (Vienna, Austria), Australasian Computer Music Association (Melbourne, Australia), and Agenda Edizioni Musicali (Bologna, Italy).
As a writer, Pertout has published over 400 articles in music publications, such as Juke Magazine, Mixdown, Australian Musician, On the Street Melbourne, Music Trader, Spanish Herald, Drum Scene, Beat Magazine, 3rd Magazine and the Sunday Herald Sun), reviewing new musical technology, compact disc and book releases, as well as conducting interviews with prominent national and international artists. Some of the artists interviewed include Herbie Hancock, Steve Reich, Joe Satriani, Mark Levine, Joe Zawinul, José Feliciano, Steve Vai, Mark Snow, Alf Clausen, Jimmie Vaughan, Mike Stern, Tom Coster (USA), Karaikudi R. Mani (India), Rick Wakeman, Fairport Convention (UK), Paco Peña (Spain), Hossam Ramzy (Egypt), Sepultura (Brazil), and Inti-Illimani, Isabel Parra, Illapu (Chile), among many.
He is a member of the Australian Music Centre, Fellowship of Australian Composers, Melbourne Composers' League, Australasian Computer Music Association, SCI (Society of Composers Inc., USA), Asociación Nacional de Compositores de Chile, CECH (Comunidad Electroacústica de Chile), and the Just Intonation Network.