Barry Ferrier is an Australian musician and multimedia artist based near Byron Bay, where he is a local pioneer of live music performance. Barry is a multi-instrumentalist, singer and multi-award winning song-writer / composer who has enjoyed a long and diverse career in the performing arts industry.
Born in Sydney Australia, Barry gained early recognition in music theatre, appearing as a vocalist in the iconic original Australian production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ at the Capitol Theatre, Sydney and Palais, Melbourne, and later in ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’ at the Seymour Centre, Sydney.
He was composer for the internationally famous Lindsay Kemp Mime Company, performing in their productions of ‘Flowers‘ in Melbourne, and composing the music in collaboration with Andrew Wilson for Kemp’s production of Oscar Wilde’s ‘Salome’, decribed by the London Times as 'thrilling', and which was a sell out for 18 months at London’s Roundhouse.
He has worked with many of the leading names in Australian music including playing bass with the 80s chart-toppers ‘The Ferrets’, lead guitar for Australian rock legend Jeff St. John, opening for guitar maestro Ry Cooder at Melbourne’s Palais Theatre, and blues legend John Hammond in Byron Bay. Barry toured Australia as band leader and guitarist for the legendary diva and international Superstar Eartha Kitt.
He has written three stage musicals which have been performed and recorded and a jazz opera based on the life of Melbourne gangster Squizzy Taylor.
He was a pioneer of electronic music in Australia and performed his multimedia production "Of Dreams and Machines" at Brisbane QPAC Concert Hall in the mid 80s and composed music for the QANTAS "Light Fantastic" animatronic parades at Brisbane's Expo '88.
In the 90s he toured Europe and the UK, performed at many of Australia's leading music festivals, and won awards for his songwriting and videos.
His PhD focussed on how technology has the power to change art, and Barry became Professor of Multimedia at Bond University on Australia's Gold Coast.
In the past 12 months Barry has won 21 international film awards in Film Festivals across the globe.
In late 2023, his 30-minute sci-fi film "Entombed" won 'Best Experimental Film' at the New York Arthouse Film Festival, was a finalist in the 2023 Vancouver 'Director's Cut' Film Festival, and semi-finalist in 5 international festivals, including the 2024 Melbourne Independent Film Awards, the 2024 Hawaii International Film Awards, the St. Louis Film Awards, and the 2024 the Arthouse Festival of Beverly Hills.
He directed & edited the Music Videos 'Lyra's Dream', which won the "Best Music Video" Award at the Hollywood Discovery Awards, and "Bailar con la Luna," which won the "Best Music Video" Award at the New York Underground Cinema Awards.
His video clip for his original song "Welcome to Tomorrow" won the "Best Music Video" Award at the 2024 'California Indies' Film Festival and the Austin International Art Festival.
"Echoes of the Future", also a Barry Ferrier original song, won "Best Music Video' at the 2024 'New York Shorts' Film Festival.
His retro sci-fi electro-pop video "Living Sci-Fi" won "Best Music Video" at the Toronto Film and Script Awards.
"Titanic Deckchairs” - which focuses on global inaction in the face of existential crises, has been chosen by the judges as "Best Music Video" at the 4th Amsterdam Movie Festival.
The music video "Midnight Till Dawn Shift" which expresses—what we all experience—of struggling with one’s late-night demons, hopes, regrets, and fears on a sleepless night, only to find the light of a new morning washes away that midnight angst., was awarded "Best Music Video" at the 2024 Seattle Filmmaker Awards.
His animated film calling for unity in the face of the disastrous plastic catastrophe 'The Sea Remembers' won the "Best Animation' Award at the 9th Cannes Arts Film Festival and the 2025 Shanghai Indie Film Festival. It also won "Best Environmental Film" at the 2024 New York Shorts Film Festival and “Best Animation Short" at the Hong Kong Indie Film Festival
He topped this exciting run of success off with ‘Best Music Video’ at the Edinburgh Independent Film Festival for his gothic music video ‘Count Dracula’s Mistress’ exploring themes of forbidden desire and the allure of darkness, and "Best Erotic Short" at both the Niagara Falls International Film Festival and the Austin International Art Festival for "Je Veux Te Sentir" (I Want To Feel You), and his latest award -'Best Music Video' at the Vienna Indie Short Film Festival for 'Dreamscape', celebrating the enigmatic work of the pioneer Surrealist artist Max Ernst (from the web series that uses song and cutting edge animation to bring the iconic works of great artists to life, entitled “Brushstrokes in Time” . In 2025 this series has won "Best Web Series" at the Berlin Shorts Award and the Florence Indie Film Festival.)