Martin is based in Adelaide, South Australia. He graduated from the Elder Conservatorium at the University of Adelaide with a PhD in Composition (2023) and First Class Honours in the Bachelor of Music Education (Most Outstanding Graduate, 2009). Martin was selected for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s 2023 Cybec 21st Century Australian Composers’ Program under the mentorship of Mary Finsterer, which culminated in the MSO's World Premiere performance of his first piece for symphony orchestra, Penchant, on January 30th, 2024.

 

Martin co-founded the Adelaide Wind Orchestra (AWO) in 2012 which has attracted high-profile guest artists including internationally renowned conductor Dr John Lynch. Martin's clarinet concerto, like the very heaven for clearness, was premiered by AWO at the 20th World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) conference in South Korea on July 16th, 2024, featuring the Elder Conservatorium's Head of Woodwind, Lloyd Van't Hoff, as soloist. AWO has performed and recorded a number of Martin’s pieces, including their World Premiere of Tangent: symphony for wind orchestra in 2021. In 2022, he was one of the mentor composers for the ReClassified festival presented by Recitals Australia, under the direction of esteemed Australian composer, Anne Cawrse.

 

Martin composed his first film score for Within The Pines (dir. Paul Evans Thomas), for which he received the Midnight Spotlight Award from the Dark Nights Film Fest following its Australian premiere in Sydney on October 13th, 2024. The film was awarded First Prize for Best Feature Film at the Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF). He is represented as an Associate Artist with the Australian Music Centre, as well as having published works listed with Matt Klohs and Murphy Music Press, LLC.

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Martin is also a music theatre repetiteur, music director, pit orchestra pianist and lecturer with creative team and keyboard credits in over 50 professional, amateur and educational productions. After 11 years working as a secondary school music teacher, he was presented with an AHOMINGS ‘Significant Contribution to the Profession’ Award and later joined the teaching staff of the Bachelor of Music Theatre at the Elder Conservatorium (ECMT). From 2025, Martin will commence his role as Head of Co-Curricular Music at Scotch College Adelaide.

 

As a pianist, Martin has performed with Il Divo, John Bucchino, Marina Prior and John Foreman, as well as playing keyboard for the Australian productions of Chicago, Miss Saigon, Mary Poppins, 9 to 5, Chess, Aladdin, Mamma Mia! and The Wizard of Oz. Martin also travelled to Melbourne with the Southern Cross Symphony (SXS) to perform the scores for The Muppet Christmas Carol and The Holiday live with the films (cond. Vanessa Scammell) and has enjoyed further collaboration with SXS on The Princess Bride for the Adelaide Guitar Festival, featuring Slava Grigoryan (cond. Jessica Gethin).

 

As the Founder/Director of Lydian Productions, Martin produced and musically directed the South Australian Premiere of Andrew Lippa’s john & jen (dir. Karen Sheldon, 2016), co-produced Godspell (dir. Karen Sheldon, 2018) with Irregular Productions, and devised a new music theatre song cycle, Bitter. Sweet. (2019). As music director, he has conducted a wide range of shows including She Loves Me, Guys & Dolls, Bring It On: The Musical, Sweeney Todd, In the Heights, A Chorus Line and the Australian Premiere of Judge Jackie: Disorder in the Court. Among other shows for ECMT, he musically directed the 2022 graduation production of Legally Blonde: The Musical, directed by original Broadway cast member Nikki Snelson.

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Outside the world of music, Martin is a published Arts writer and critic who writes for his own website, Sharp Four Reviews, and has by-lines at the Australian online magazines CutCommon and FilmInk. He also dabbles in latte art as an amateur barista and pours a pretty decent fern leaf.