Mary Finsterer

Mary Finsterer (born 25 August 1962) is an Australian composer.

Finsterer was born in Canberra in 1962; her siblings are the actors Anni Finsterer and Jack Finsterer. She graduated in 1987 with a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Melbourne. A recipient of the Royal Netherlands Government Award in 1993, she continued her studies in Amsterdam with Louis Andriessen, then returned to Australia and studied with , completing a Master of Music degree in 1995 at the University of Melbourne. She completed a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 2003. In 2006 she received a Churchill Fellowship for her continuing work in multimedia. Finsterer is married to the photographer Dean Golja.

Since 2007 Finsterer has completed a body of work that includes In Praise of Darkness, a major orchestral work for the Dutch ensemble ASKO│Schönberg in association with Tura Music, a violin duo for the acclaimed soloists Natsuko Yoshimoto and James Cuddeford, a string quartet for the Goldner String Quartet, a chamber work for the Sydney Soloists, and a number of works for her 2009 Composer in Residence position at the Campbelltown Performing Arts Centre.

Her orchestral fanfare Afmaeli, was the opening piece for the 70th Birthday celebrations of composer Louis Andriessen at the Holland Festival in 2009. In the same year Finsterer was the winner of the Paul Lowin Orchestral Prize for her new work In Praise of Darkness.

Finsterer has taught music and composition at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, the University of Montreal in Canada, the University of Wollongong, the Victorian College of the Arts, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the University of Sydney and the Australian Film, Television and Radio School where she became an Honorary Research Fellow in 2009. Finsterer is a Vice-Chancellor's Professorial Fellow at Monash University and in July 2014 was announced as the inaugural Chamber Music Australia Chair of Composition at Monash University. Her works have been performed internationally.

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