Dreyfus was born to a Jewish family in Elberfeld, Wuppertal, Germany. He was the younger of two sons born to Alfred Dreyfus and Hilde Ransenberg. Growing up, his family had what he described as "pots of money, cars, Kindermädchen [nannies] and holidays in Switzerland and Czechoslovakia". However, due to the Nazi persecution of Jews, the family was forced to move to Berlin in 1935 and then left Germany entirely. He and his brother arrived in Melbourne in July 1939 and began attending boarding school; his parents followed in December.[1]
He composed the operas Rathenau (premiered 1993 at the Staatstheater Kassel), Die Marx Sisters (premiered 1996 at the Bielefeld Opera)[6] and The Takeover (1970)[7] which had its European premiere in 1997 in Germany.[8] Other operas are Garni Sands (1966, premiered 1972)[9] and Gilt-Edged Kid (1970).
In 1984, he published his autobiography The Last Frivolous Book, and in 1998 a book of essays. His memoir Don't Ever Let Them Get You! (Black Pepper, 2009) includes essays on his music and a complete catalogue of works. In 2011 he published Brush Off! about his struggles with Opera Australia to get his opera Gilt-Edged Kid performed. In 2019, at the age of 90, Dreyfus disrupted the opening night of Rigoletto at the State Theatre in Melbourne when he attempted to use a megaphone from the front row to protest against the company for not having performed his work.[11]
George is currently touring Melbourne with his quartet and performing his best works to the community with funding from The Pratt Foundation. He most recently performed at The Festival of Jewish Arts and Music, where at the age of 91 he is still performing the bassoon part in the arrangements he made for quartet.[12]
Honours and awards
ARIA Music Awards
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.
The Don Banks Music Award was established in 1984 to publicly honour a senior artist of high distinction who has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to music in Australia.[14] It was founded by the Australia Council in honour of Don Banks, Australian composer, performer and the first chair of its music board.
Dreyfus was first married to flautist Phyllis Todner. After their divorce, Dreyfus was then married to the academic and writer Kay Dreyfus.[3] He has a son and a daughter, Federal Labor MP and Australian Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, and Michelle Ball, a social worker by that first marriage, and by the second, a son, Jonathan Dreyfus, who has followed in his father's footsteps as a composer.
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