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Pete Hawkes (born 28 May 1965) is an Australian composer, musician, luthier, inventor and mathematician (B Mathematics & Alumni for the University of Newcastle). He is best known for his ability to compose music from many different genres and his prolific nature. He is also noted for his unusual finger style approach to acoustic guitar. In 2002 Hawkes won the ABC Newcastle Songwriter of the Year Award and won another ABC award in 2009 for his instrumental works. In 2012 he was recognized as an Australian music legend by receiving a MUSICOZ Legend award. In 2017, Hawkes won the Festival of Original Music Award (FOOM) from the Song Writers, Composers & Lyricists Association (SCALA). In 2025 Hawkes received an award from the Australian Songwriters Association (ASA) for the song "If Time Was An Ocean" He has produced over 1200 recordings covering a wide range of different genres (Hawkes has composed original Celtic, Folk, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Classical, Chamber Music, World music, Rock, Gothic rock, Ragtime, Blues, Folk Blues, Delta Blues, Ambient, Singer Songwriter, Baroque and hybrid styles) and is known for significant innovation and melding of different musical styles. In 2014, Fine Music Magazine featured Hawkes in recognition of his enormous contribution to music, and in particular, his prolific composing ability across all styles of music. In 2015 Hawkes was featured in Australian Guitar Magazine in recognition of his unique guitar style, his composing talents and his views in relation to the development, progression and evolution of contemporary guitar playing. Hawkes has supported, recorded and/or otherwise worked with artists as diverse as Bert Jansch, Joe Cocker, Dave Swarbrick, Steeleye Span, Swarbrick/Carthy (support), Phil Emmanuel, James Taylor (support), The Coors (support), Phil Bywater, Shane Leistedeau, Lok Davidson (who’s credits include Stevie Wonder, John Farnham, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, and Maria Schneider among others), Mike McClintock (credits such as Crowded House, Goyte), Bob Venier (credits include Split Enz, Little River Band), Ernie Gruner, Cam MacCalistar (Alice Cooper band), Jan Preston, Richard Steele, Juzzie Smith, Paul Stender, Justin Price Rees, Imelda Baligod, Louise Woodward, Josephine Veins, Rachael Kim, Charlotte Winsdale, Zoe Olly, Elisha Maiyah, Phil Haynes, Sue Aston (credits such as Nigel Kennedy, Peter Donohoe, Yehudi Menuhin, Sir Charles Groves and Esa Pekka Salonen), Phil Binnotto (credits include Dancing with the Stars, Hey Hey It’s Saturday, the Lion King, Nina Ferro, Lloyd Spiegel, the AFI awards), Anthony Branagin. Emma Greenhill and many many others, including international orchestras, string quartets and session players. Like Franz List and Duke Ellington, Hawkes has chromesthesia, a form of synesthesia where he sees the sounds in colors. He believes music should not be classified and that it should be primarily judged by the emotional impact the music makes to listeners rather than technical prowess.