Graham Powning (1949-2020) was an Australian oboist and prolific composer born in Sydney. He trained at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music, studying flute with Victor McMahon, oboe with Guy Henderson and composition with Raymond Hanson. As a player he served as Principal Oboe in the Elizabethan Sydney Orchestra (now the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra) and taught at the New South Wales, Newcastle and Central Coast Conservatoriums; in 1983 he became the first Australian oboist to give a lecture-recital at the Florida Double Reed Convention. Powning composed more than 800 works, chiefly for woodwinds, including over a hundred trios for two oboes and cor anglais, two symphonies, concertos, overtures and more than fifty string quartets. He received the Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Medal in 1977 and died in February 2020.