Brian Ritchie - Hire Keynote and Guest Speaker

Brian Ritchie

From Violent Femmes in the USA to curator at MONA Museum in Hobart

Brian Ritchie was born in Milwaukee in 1960. He originally came to prominence as bassist/multi-instrumentalist of the punk-folk trio Violent Femmes.

The Femmes have released 10 LP’s and toured over 450 cities and 40 countries in their 35-plus year odyssey. Highlights include northernmost concert in rock history at the magnetic North Pole, headlining sold out concerts at such venues as Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall and Sydney Opera House and headlining the opening night of Woodstock ’94 for over 300,000 people.

Besides the Femmes, Brian has performed and recorded with such disparate artists as Rodriguez, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Lou Reed, and Neil Gaiman.

Brian moved to Australia in 2006 and became Music Curator at Mona (Museum of Old and New Art) in Tasmania. In this capacity Brian organizes festivals and over 100 music events per annum. Mona Foma (Museum of Old and New Art Festival of Music and Art) has been awarded the coveted Helpmann Award for Best Contemporary Music Festival in Australia four times.

Brian Ritchie Book as a speaker/entertainer for your next event

Key Points for Brian Ritchie

Brian Ritchie started as a busker on the streets of Milwaukee USA with alternative rock legends Violent Femmes.
The Femmes 35+ year career saw them perform in over 40 countries and sell over 5 million records worldwide.
Among venues Brian has performed include Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, northernmost concert in rock history at the Magnetic North Pole, Woodstock ’94, headlining the first Big Day Out, and the lost city of the Incas, Macchu Picchu.
In his musical life Brian has performed alongside artists such as Bob Dylan, Nirvana, Lou Reed, INXS, Ornette Coleman, and hundreds more. He has stories!
In 2006 Brian moved to Australia and took citizenship.
Brian Ritchie is currently an award-winning interdisciplinary art curator at MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) in Hobart.
His musical career in Australia includes performing with The Break (alongside ex-Midnight Oil members) and touring internationally with Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Topics for Brian Ritchie

Who said life had to be predictable
The life and times of a busker turned rock star, turned curator, turned international music festival director.
Rock music performance
A rock performance to suit any event as required.

Testimonials for Brian Ritchie

Thank you for your wonderful contribution to the AWME program. I was lucky enough to sit through almost all of your keynote address and it was just brilliant. The feedback from AWME and FTM delegates was overwhelmingly positive, with a number of people asking after a transcript of your speech if you were interested in sharing it.
Australian Worldwide Music Expo

The presentation was charming, entertaining and insightful - everything we could have asked for and more.
Portable Curators Conference

Brian Ritchie’s talk kick-started our conference and gave us great talking points. He synthesized concepts that usually take laymen years to understand, not to mention articulate, and delivered them in a highly engaging personal style.
Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Conference