Alfred Hill CMG OBE (1869-1960) was a composer, conductor and violinist. Born in Melbourne, he spent his youth in New Zealand, and studied in Leipzig where he performed under conductors including Brahms, Grieg, Tchaikovsky and Bruch. He began conducting and teaching in Sydney in 1897, and became first Professor of Theory and Composition at the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music in 1916. His oeuvre comprises more than 500 works and he has been judged 'the most substantial and comprehensively cultivated of Australia's composers'.