Rosie Westbrook studied classical guitar and double bass at the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne, followed by post- graduate studies in double bass in Europe and America. Since the mid 1980's she has worked as a bassist with symphony orchestras; opera and music theatre productions; chamber music ensembles; as a session musician on many recording projects and with numerous contemporary artists. In recent years this has included Mick Harvey (ex Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds); Sean Kelly (Models); Dave Graney & Clare Moore; Tim Rogers (You Am I); Steve Preswich (Cold Chisel); Mick Thomas (Weddings,Parties,Anything); Spencer P.Jones (Beasts of Bourbon).
Since 2006, Rosie has been touring the world as bassist with Mick Harvey in his solo band, as well as collaborating as an instrumentalist/composer with a number of European artists, including Thomas Wydler (drummer/percussionist with Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds) and most recently,recording with Dieter Meier (Yello).
Rosie has released two solo CDs of her compositions: Wave in 2003 and Big As The Ocean in 2007.
In recent years she has worked increasingly as a composer for film and television, including soundtracks for a number of documentary films profiling Australian artists: Reg Mombassa; Lindy Lee; Jon Cattapan and Del Kathryn Barton.
Rosie has also been performing a solo live set specifically composed for art installations and gallery openings – most recently she has performed at exhibitions by Kristian Shaw, Katy Beale, Trevor Hoppen and Jon Cattapan (for Jon's exhibitions in Sydney and Brisbane).
Rosie's live solo set features electric guitar, double bass and whatever else she can get her hands on.
2011
• June - collaborations with Thomas Wydler in Berlin including recordings with Dieter Meier (Yello)
• June - European Tour with Mick Harvey
2010
• May - Australian Tour with Mick Harvey
• November - musical director for Rock Chicks live performance at the Victorian Arts Centre
• June - collaboration with Thomas Wydler in Berlin for forthcoming album Cocktails For Two
• May - bassist for Mick Harvey's album Sketches From The Book Of The Dead
• April - composed and produced soundtrack for an ABC TV documentary Artists At Work: Del Kathryn Barton
2009
• December - completed a Graduate Certificate in Screen Music at the Australian Film Television & Radio School (AFTRS)
• August - composed and produced soundtrack for an ABC TV documentary Artists At Work: Jon Cattapan
2008
• March - composed and produced soundtrack for an ABC TV documentary Artists At Work: Lindy Lee
• February '08 - duo performances with Mick Harvey for PJ Harvey Australian tour.
2007
• November - Sydney/Melbourne shows with Mick Harvey
• September - bassist for European tour with Mick Harvey
• July - Queensland Music Festival - bassist for performances with Thomas Wydler's (Bad Seeds) solo project Soulsherriff; Mick Harvey; Rosie Westbrook's solo band
• June - Adelaide Cabaret Festival with Mick Harvey
• April/May - Bassist for European tour with Mick Harvey
• March - Rosie's second solo album Big As The Ocean is released - tracks from Big As The Ocean used in various ABC TV shows
• bassist on Sean Kelly's Moons of Jupiter CD, for the Liberation Blue acoustic series, 2006
• commissioned to write music for SBS documentary Golden Sandals, about Australian artist and musician, Reg Mombassa
• bassist for Mick Harvey's solo album Two Of Diamonds.
• bassist for perfomances of Thomas Wydler's (Bad Seeds) solo project Soulsherriff
2006
• November - bassist for European tour 2006 with Mick Harvey (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds)
• double bass trio based on free improvisation with Rosie Westbrook, David Tolley & Anita Hustas
• release of Wave - Rosie's first solo album - which features the double bass as a solo lead instrument
• tracks from Wave used in Larger Than Life soundtrack, a documentary produced by Foxtel and Liquid Time soundtrack, a surfing video produced by Monty Webber
• tracks from the Wave album used in various ABC TV shows and featured on Sunday Arts Show.
• bassist on Silver Hook Tango album with Kavisha Mazzella
• solo bassist on soundtrack for Mabo - the Native Title Revolution CD-ROM, produced by Christina Pozzan and Rob Wellington
• bassist and string co-ordinator on Steve Preswich's (Cold Chisel) solo album