Gillian Karawe [Gillian] Whitehead (23/04/1941), a female composer from New Zealand, born in Hamilton. Gillian Karawe Whitehead is a composer shared and claimed by both her native New Zealand and by Australia, where she has lived for much of her creative career. She owns homes in Dunedin and Sydney, spending equal time in both places, and has a strong allegiance to both countries. She attended universities in both New Zealand and Australia, studying with Ron Tremain, David Farquhar, Peter Sculthorpe and Peter Maxwell Davies. In 1967 Whitehead left Australia for a further period of study with Davies in the UK, where she went on to establish a solid career as a freelance composer.
Gillian Karawe Whitehead is a prolific composer whose work spans some 40 years, and includes operas, orchestral, choral, chamber and solo works. Fourteen years in Britain established her international reputation but in 1981 she began a fifteen-year teaching career at the Sydney Conservatorium. Now living in Dunedin, she devotes herself entirely to composing.