Life
Wesley-Smith was born, one of twin boys, in Adelaide. He has two other brothers. His parents were well established in the Adelaide establishment. His father was Academic Registrar of Adelaide University, and his mother was a teacher and a presenter of the ABC's radio program Kindergarten of the Air.
He studied composition at the University of Adelaide. From his student days, Wesley-Smith was a rebel, moonlighting on the banjo with a folkie band, The Wesley Three, when his teachers would have preferred he focus on his classical studies. His teachers included Peter Maxwell Davies, Jindrich Feld, Sandor Veress and Richard Meale.
Martin and his twin brother, Peter, were conscripted to go to Vietnam, but avoided the military by undertaking studies until conscription ended.
He earned his D.Phil from the University of York in England.
Wesley-Smith now lives in the Kangaroo Valley south of Sydney, where he is a member of the Kangaroo Valley-Remexio Partnership which supports projects in East Timor.
His work is now being jointly archived by the National Library of Australia and the National Film and Sound Archive.
Read more about this topic: Martin Wesley-Smith
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