Michael Sollis, a composer, mandolinist and interdisciplinary artist whose work bridged music, science and community storytelling, has died aged 40.

He died on 1 May in a Canberra hospice from bowel cancer, following a diagnosis of advanced disease in 2021. Over the final years of his life, he became a prominent advocate for cancer awareness, using his own experience to highlight the importance of early detection and research.

Michael Sollis (1985-2026). Portrait © Keith Saunders.

Canberra-born, Sollis built a reputation as one of Australia’s most inventive creative voices, working fluidly across composition, performance, education and artistic leadership.

He was the founder and director of the Griffyn Ensemble, an acclaimed collective known for genre-defying performances that integrated music with theatre, visual art and narrative.

Under Sollis’s direction, the ensemble toured nationally, appeared on ABC Classic and collaborated widely, including with First Nations artists. Its 2021 project Songs from a Stolen Senate drew on parliamentary texts and Indigenous perspectives to explore political and cultural identity.

Sollis’s career was marked by an unusual breadth of collaboration. His work connected musicians with astronomers, geneticists, dancers, farmers and sporting communities. He worked with astronomer Fred Watson on projects...