Hew Wagner is a lyric tenor and media composer based in Melbourne, Australia.
As a tenor, Hew specialises in opera, art song and oratorio. As a composer, Hew writes orchestral music for games and film.
For more information about Hew’s work as a singer, please click here…
For more information about Hew’s work as a composer, please click here…
Latest News:
The Companion - Nintendo Switch Release!
Studio 46’s game The Companion has been released on switch by publisher Red Deer Studios. It’s all kinds of amazing to be able to sit down and play a game on a Nintendo console with my music in it!
Click here to check it out in the Nintendo Store.
Riftbound: Summoner’s Path
Riftbound has received a free update - the Summoner’s Path. This brings a new dedicated Roguelite game mode and Endless Survival mode, plus, new spells, upgrades, mutators, encounters and elite enemies. I’ve also written a new track for the game and we turned things up to 11 with a new trailer:
Human Bean
I scored this short comedy film directed by Clayton Smith. It was an Official Selection in the Melbourne Cineverse Film Festival, where it won Best Australian Short Film, Best Director & Best Cinematography! It will play at more film festivals later this year and the soundtrack EP will be released to streaming services soon.
With Piera Dennerstein. Photo by Phil Thomson.
The Coronation of Poppea on tour.
I’m excited to announce that I will be performing the role of the emperor Nero in Lyster Opera’s upcoming tour of Monteverdi’s L'incoronazione di Poppea. We will perform in Melbourne and tour regionally around Victoria. Performance dates are:
May 13 - Victoria Theatre, Tarnagulla
May 19 - The Edge, Federation Square, Melbourne
May 27 - Oxley Shire Hall
June 3 - Christ Church, Daylesford
Tickets and the full cast announcement can be found at lysteropera.com.au
La Cenerentola return season!
Lyster Opera’s touring production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola is coming back for two shows only! I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to play Don Ramiro again. The dates are:
January 14: Diamond Creek Uniting Church
January 21: Cowes Uniting Church, Phillip Island
For more information please see lysteropera.com.au
Photo by Paul Brand
Concert: The Road Before Me
Pianist Chris Nankervis and I will be present three remarkable song cycles by English composers Ireland, Butterworth and Vaughan Williams in a recital at St. George's Anglican Church Travancore on December 4. This recital explores themes of nature, travel, magic, life and loss, bringing together some of the most celebrated as well as underperformed songs in the repertoire.
For more information and tickets, click here.
APRA AMCOS High Score 2022
I was recently a speaker at High Score: Composition and Sound Art for Games 2022 - I spoke about working with virtual instruments and was on a panel about breaking into game audio alongside Angela Little and Neha Patel (Now available to watch on youtube here). It was a fantastic weekend full of speeches, panels, workshops, amazing people and amazing food.
With Aaron Edwards, photo by Jacinta Keefe
With Neha Patel and Angela Little, photo by Rick Clifford
La Cenerentola on tour!
I’m excited to announce that I will be playing Don Ramiro in Lyster Opera’s new touring production of Rossini’s sparkling comic opera La Cenerentola. We will perform in Melbourne and tour regionally around Victoria. Performance dates are:
October 28 - Victoria Theatre, Tarnagulla
November 3 - Karralyka Centre, Ringwood
November 5 - Christ Church, Daylesford
November 12 - Oxley Shire Hall
November 18 - The Edge, Federation Square, Melbourne
November 20 - Queenscliff Town Hall
Tickets and the full cast announcement can be found at lysteropera.com.au
Don Pasquale on tour.
Our tour of Don Pasquale has now wrapped up. We originally started working on this show in late 2019 and faced many postponements due to the pandemic, but we finally got to perform all the shows we promised. It was a long road to get there but in the best of company. Thank you to our amazing team, sponsors and audiences!
Hearthstone: Fractured in Alterac Valley
In collaboration with Christopher Larkin I co-wrote the original music for this promo for Blizzard’s latest expansion to Hearthstone, directed and produced by Chris Kellett. It was featured in the Hearthstone launcher as well as on Blizzard ANZ’s social media, and has been viewed over 200,000 times on the combined platforms.
The Companion on ABC’s Art Works
I was featured on the ABC TV show Art Works, talking about how I made the score for the game The Companion. It aired on Wednesday the 21st of July at 8:30pm on ABC Plus and is now available on iview: iview.abc.net.au/show/art-works
International viewers may be able to see it on the international version of iview: abcaustralia.net.au/abc-australia-iview
Don Pasquale Performances postponed
Our first performances in our tour of Gaetano Donizetti’s Don Pasquale in Tarnagulla and Daylesford were a great success! It was fantastic to be back on stage after so long. Unfortunately, however, due to the recent lockdown in Melbourne our remaining dates have had to be postponed until 2022.
The Companion is now available!
"As a spirit animal… A conduit between realms… Experience visions of a past, present and future… Ignite the flames to call others to your side… And face an unchained evil..."
The Companion by Studio 46 (featuring an original soundtrack by me) is now available on Steam.
The soundtrack album is also available on Bandcamp and on streaming services.
The Companion Trailer
I’ve written the music for the game ‘The Companion’ by Studio 46. The official trailer has just been released!