Willy Redstone

French-Australian composer, music director, songwriter (b. Paris c.1883 - d. Sydney, Australia 30 Sept., 1949) After graduating from university in Paris, where he studied mathematics, Latin and Greek, Willy Redstone initially pursued a career as an engineer before studying music at the Paris Conservatoire. While still a student his light opera Le Trou d’Almanzor (1907) became a hit and led to much work as both composer and conductor in Paris and in London during the 1910s. Brought to Australia by Hugh J. Ward in 1922 to oversee "The O’Brien Girl" he remained in Australia, carving out a career as music director, songwriter, and theatre and film score composer. He also conducted the first symphony orchestra broadcast on radio in Australia (1928), and worked for the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) from 1932 until his death. Redstone was reportedly a nephew of French composer Gounod. One of his early theatrical hits in Australia was a 1924 musical comedy adaptation of the hit London farce "Tons of Money" (1922). He later contributed music to such films as The Flying Doctor (1936) and 40,000 Horsemen (1940). Redstone died in Sydney on 30 September 1949. He was the ABC’s Federal Music Editor from 1938.