SmudgeMusic

🎧 Ruth Lee Martin is a Canberra-based composer whose work spans film, television, and electronic music. Her recent releases—arc (featuring Luminous, White Pulse, and Boom) and drifting (Adrift, Beyond the Shore, The Deep)—explore bilateral soundscapes designed for immersive listening and emotional regulation. Originally composed for Hilary Wardhaugh’s 2023 photographic exhibition, Monachopsis, drifting evolved into a three-part sonic meditation now streaming on Spotify & Apple Music.

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🎬 Ruth composed the original score for Last Chance to Save a Life, an SBS documentary exploring life-saving interventions and the emotional journeys behind them. Her music underscores the tension and humanity of the stories, blending ambient textures with cinematic motifs to heighten impact and empathy throughout the film.

 

Her music has featured in award-winning screen projects including No Strings Attached (Raindance, Orlando, Vancouver Web Fest, DubWebFest, Bushwick, Brooklyn), Tales from Tinder, and Last Chance to Save a Life (SBS). She collaborated with director Emma Watts on A Diary from the Frontline, a global COVID-19 documentary series aired on PBS Newshour, capturing frontline stories from NYC to Cape Town.

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🏛️ Her earlier work includes commissions for the Australian Parliament House—House on the Hill and A House for the Nation—and live performances with Electra String Quartet, Phil South, and Mark Atkins. Ruth’s music was also performed at Romaldo Giurgola’s memorial service, honouring the architect’s legacy.

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🎼 Classically trained with a doctorate in composition from the Australian National University (where she also taught for many years), Ruth has worked with many of Australia’s leading performers and ensembles. Her choral and vocal works have been recorded by Trinity Choir (Melbourne) and Halcyon (Sydney), including settings of Kevin Hart’s Wimmera poems.

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🌍 Internationally, her piece Slàn was performed at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe and is now being recorded by Professor Graham Hair in Scotland, forming the basis of an upcoming book chapter. Other works include The Winter it is Past for pianist Joanne Polk (Manhattan School of Music), premiered in New York and Canberra.

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🩰 Ruth thrives on creative cross-pollination—her ballet Circadian Rhythm fused string quartet, choreography, and DJ culture in a performance by Quantum Leap and ANU musicians.

 

She’s a fully represented composer at the Australian Music Centre, with scores archived in the National Library of Australia.