Past Festival Archive
CIMF 2021: ...the Idea of Vienna
No Shows Available For 2021
2021 Artists
No Artists Available For 2021
CIMF 2022: Pole to Pole
2022 Artists
Artist Stephanie Neeman
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Dr. Stephanie Neeman is an active international performer and educator. She has taught masterclasses and performed in various venues throughout the world. Dr. Neeman has appeared as a soloist with the Jakarta Chamber Orchestra, Canberra Youth Orchestra, National Capital Orchestra (AUS) and has performed to critical acclaim across the United States, Asia, and Australia.
Artist Sydney Chamber Choir
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Sydney Chamber Choir is passionate about choral music and its unique ability to celebrate and reflect upon the stories of our past, present and future.
The Choir reaches back to explore the masterpieces of the Baroque, Renaissance and beyond, while also championing the music of our own time and place, regularly commissioning works by established and emerging Australian composers. In 2021, the Choir premiered new works by Brenda Gifford, Paul Stanhope and Joe Twist.
Formed in 1975, the Choir has been led by Nicholas Routley, Paul Stanhope and the late Richard Gill AO. Current Artistic Director, Sam Allchurch, took up his appointment in 2019. The Choir has also been fortunate to work with guest conductors such as Carl Crossin, Roland Peelman, Liz Scott and Brett Weymark.
The Choir collaborates with leading Australian instrumentalists, ensembles and singers, including the Australian Haydn Ensemble, Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra, Andrew Goodwin, Slava Grigoryan, Synergy Percussion, Sydney Symphony Fellows, Joseph Tawadros and The Muffat Collective. More unconventional partnerships have included concerts with The Idea of North, the Hilltop Hoods and the Sydney Mardi Gras Community Choir.
Sydney Chamber Choir appeared at the Sydney Festival in 2021 and has toured widely in eastern Australia. The Choir has also sung in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the UK, and in 2009 was a prizewinner in the Tolosa International Choral Competition in Spain.
The Choir’s performances are broadcast across the country on ABC Classic, and CD recordings are available on the ABC Classics and Tall Poppies labels.
Artist Solomon Frank
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Solomon Frank (he/him) is a queer performer. composer, clarinettist and educator living and working on Cammeraygal land, whose inter-disciplinary practice straddles cross-species musical collaboration, vacuum cleaners and time travel.
Solomon receives emails from the future including music and musical instructions written by future humans and entities for Frank to perform and carry out in the present. These fictional concepts provide a frame for listening, a way of situating art music and making audiences aware of their cultured ears.
Solomon's improvisational practice expands upon the clarinet, replacing parts of the clarinet with other objects, homemade aluminium and plastic reeds, hoses, vacuum cleaners, watering cans and water. His academic research explores canine-human musical collaboration as a mechanism to question the human uniqueness of music. Education forms an integral part of Solomon's practice and he relishes instilling lateral ways of thinking in young minds.
Solomon's works and those received from the future have been performed by Ensemble Offspring, Sydney's Symphony Orchestra Fellows, Kirkos Ensemble (Ireland), double bassist, Will Hansen, Willoughby Symphony Orchestra, E-MexEnsemble (Germany), and his own group, Ensemble Onsombl.
CIMF 2023: The Child Within
2023 Artists
Artist Roland Peelman AM - Festival Artistic Director
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“His encyclopaedic understanding of performing and visual arts and his theatrical instinct place him in constant demand as a musician of flair and imagination.”
– Antony Jeffrey, Many Faces of Inspiration.
At the helm of the Festival since 2015 is Artistic Director Roland Peelman, an acclaimed musician of great versatility who has established a reputation as one of Australia’s most innovative musical directors.
Born in Belgium, Roland Peelman has been active in Australia over 30 years as a conductor, pianist, artistic director and mentor to composers, singers and musicians alike.
For his commitment to the creative arts in Australia, he has received numerous accolades, including the NSW Award for “the most outstanding contribution to Australian Music by an individual’ in 2005. In 2006 he was named ‘musician of the year’ by the Sydney Morning Herald and he has since featured regularly as one of the most influential people in the Australian arts scene. In 2023 he won the APRA AMCOS Art Music Award "National Luminary - Individual."
Over a period of 25 years, he transformed The Song Company into one of Australia’s most outstanding and innovative ensembles. In addition, he instigated and directed an impressive list of new work, orchestral, vocal, and operatic.
Roland worked with Opera Australia for seven years (1984-91) before becoming The Song Company’s Artistic Director (1990-2015). During this time, he was also the Music Director of Sydney Metropolitan Opera (1989-94) and the Hunter Orchestra in Newcastle (1990-97).
Roland Peelman is supported by Anna and Bob Prosser
Artist Alma Moodie Quartet
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The Alma Moodie Quartet features four of Australia’s finest string players in an exciting new collaboration. Led by acclaimed violinist Kristian Winther, violinist Anna da Silva Chen, violist Dana Lee and cellist Thomas Marlin bring a fresh and fearless approach to the string quartet repertoire.
Named to honour internationally significant Australian violinist of the 1930s and '40s, the Alma Moodie Quartet is committed to invigorating the classics and exploring new works with their combined virtuosic talents.
Photo credit Brontë Godden
Artist Anna Fraser
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Anna Fraser has gained a reputation as a versatile soprano specialising predominantly in the interpretation of early and contemporary repertoire. Anna is a graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and New England Conservatory (Boston) and furthered her studies in the Britten-Pears Young Artist Program featuring as a soloist at the Aldeburgh Festival (UK) under the direction of Richard Egarr and the late Antony Rolfe-Johnson. As a core ensemble member of the Song Company for over a decade, Anna has had the pleasure of performing in a myriad of traditional and exploratory programming expertly demonstrating the versatility and virtuosity of a cappella singing. Equally at home as a dramatist on the stage presenting opera and historically informed chamber music, Anna is a strong exponent in music education, particularly with Moorambilla Voices and Gondwana Choirs.
Anna Fraser is supported by Peronelle and Jim Windeyer
Artist Ausdance ACT
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Part of a national network, Ausdance ACT is the peak body for dance in the ACT, headed by Director Dr Cathy Adamek.
Ausdance ACT provides high quality, accessible and inclusive dance programs, from across all genres, which engage and inspire dance makers, performers, audiences, and other participants in the ACT and surrounds.
Our services include:- support for independent professional dancers; help with career pathways for emerging artists; professional development and performance opportunities; and promotion of dance and dance education. Ausdance ACT has special interests in the professional sector, youth, dance education and inclusive access to dance opportunities.
Artist Australian Haydn Ensemble
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Under the direction of Artistic Director Skye McIntosh, the Australian Haydn Ensemble are one of Australia’s leading historically informed orchestras and chamber music groups. The ensemble brings together world-class musicians who excel in both modern and period instrument performance and who are committed to both historical research and performance.
The ensemble's name pays tribute to the great Joseph Haydn, known as 'Papa Haydn', who was a central figure of the late 18th century.
The Australian Haydn Ensemble plays on period instruments, meaning instruments that are from the time the music was composed by Haydn, Beethoven and Mozart. Or it can also mean an instrument that is made by a master instrument maker of more modern times, based on older instruments (perhaps now unplayable) as well as scholarship and research.
Formed in 2012, the group burst onto the Australian music scene with passion, ideas and energy and in 2022 they reached the significant milestone of their ten year anniversary. They bring that same unflagging spirit to everything they undertake as they step forward into their second decade in 2023.
Artist Brodsky Quartet
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Since its formation in 1972 the Brodsky Quartet has performed over 3,000 concerts on the major stages of the world and released more than 60 recordings.
A natural curiosity and insatiable desire to explore has propelled the group in many artistic directions and continues to ensure them not only a place at the very forefront of the international chamber music scene but also a rich and varied musical existence.
Their energy and craftsmanship have attracted numerous awards and accolades worldwide, while ongoing educational work provides a vehicle for passing on experience and staying in touch with the next generation.
Artist Dan Walker
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Composer, conductor and performer Dan Walker is one of Australia’s most in-demand choral specialists. He has had works commissioned by the Sydney Symphony, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Gondwana Choirs and Halcyon. As a performer, Dan is a member of the professional vocal ensemble ‘The Consort of Melbourne’, Sydney-based Cantillation, and Pinchgut Opera. He has been a guest performer with The Song Company and was a founding member of early music ensemble ‘The Parson’s Affayre’. He is a keenly sought-after conductor, appearing as chorus-master for the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Choruses, and is Artistic Director of Choristry and Habeas Chorus, the choir for the Melbourne legal community.
Artist Djinama Yilaga Choir
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Djinama Yilaga is a First Nations Choir from the far south coast of NSW led by Walbunga/Ngarigo artist, Cheryl Davison. Djinama Yilaga is an intergenerational choir who sing stories of their life and culture as they revitalise the dhurga language through song. Djinama Yilaga was formed in 2019. Bringing the choir together was a way to heal for this group by share stories of culture and country through music and song but most importantly learning the language of their ancestors. Djinama Yilaga have over the last three years performed at Four Winds concerts, Cobargo Folk Festival, the National Museum of Australia, the National Gallery of Australia and most recently performed at the AGNSW Sydney Modern Project.
Artist Edward Neeman
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The Australian-American pianist Edward Neeman has performed across five continents. Critics have lauded him as a “true artist” with “an excellent technique” who “isn’t afraid to put a distinctive stamp on whatever he touches, without resorting to mannerism.” A top prizewinner of numerous international piano competitions, including first prize in the Joaquín Rodrigo Competition in Madrid, second prize in the Southern Highlands International Piano Competition, and third prize in the World International Piano Competition, Dr. Neeman has appeared as a soloist with the Prague Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, Kentucky Symphony, Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, and the American West Symphony.
Dr. Neeman’s debut album, Rachmaninoff & Sitsky, was released to wide acclaim in March 2016. Other recordings include a performance of the Concierto para piano by Joaquín Rodrigo with the Prague Philharmonic. Edward recently recorded Australian piano solo works for the ABC Classics in 2020. He performs regularly with his wife Stephanie Neeman as the Neeman Piano Duo, and has made numerous original arrangements for this ensemble.
After completing his undergraduate studies in Australia with Larry Sitsky, Edward studied in the United States and was awarded his doctoral degree from the Julliard School. He is a member of the currently a piano faculty at the Australian National University in Canberra.
Edward Neeman is supported by Christine Goode
Artist Flora Carbo
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Flora Carbo is a Melbourne based saxophonist who is quickly becoming one of the most exciting young artists in the Australian jazz scene.
Having studied with Julien Wilson, Melissa Aldana, Jeff Clayton and Scott McConnachie, Flora has performed extensively in Melbourne and around Australia and at festivals including Wangaratta Festival of Jazz, Melbourne International Women’s Jazz Festival and the Stonnington Jazz Festival.
Recently completing a Bachelor of Music (Degree with Honours) at the University of Melbourne, she has worked with world renowned artists including pianists Barney McAll and Andrea Keller, as well composing and playing with The Rest Is Silence, AAALTO and the Flora Carbo Trio (who released their debut album ‘Erica’ in 2018).
In May 2017 she won the prestigious James Morrison Scholarship at the Generations in Jazz Festival, in 2016 she was selected as one of the 10 finalists in the National Jazz Awards.
Flora was nominated for the Freedman Jazz Fellowship in 2019 and 2018 and as a finalist for the Young Australian Jazz Artist of the Year at the 2019 Australian Jazz Bell Awards. In 2018, Flora toured internationally with the ‘Company 2’ circus production ‘Scotch and Soda’ and participated in the 2019 Banff Workshop for Jazz and Creative Music in Banff, Canada. Flora’s sophomore recording ‘VOICE’ was released in April 2020.
Artist Jacqueline Porter
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Jacqueline Porter appears regularly with Australia’s major symphony orchestras. Her most recent performances include Britten’s Les Illuminations (Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra), Mahler Symphony No. 4 (Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras), Peter Grimes and Peer Gynt ( Sydney Symphony), Bach St. Matthew Passion and cantatas (Melbourne Bach Choir), Stonnington Outdoor Classics, Messiah (Royal Melbourne Philharmonic) and recitals at Bendigo Chamber Music Festival, Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Tasmanian Chamber Music Festival and Australian Digital Concert Hall Her opera roles include Susanna (The Marriage of Figaro), Despina (Così fan tutte), Drusilla (L’incoronazione di Poppea), L’Amour (Orpheé et Eurydice), Saskia and Hendrickje Stoffels (Rembrandt’s Wife), Clorinda (Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda) for Victorian Opera and Gretel (Hansel and Gretel) for State Opera South Australia, and her recordings include ‘Love’s Torment, Love’s Delight’ recently released on ABC Classics. Jacqueline holds an honours degree in Music Performance and a Bachelor of Arts (Italian) from the University of Melbourne, and is a former Melba Opera Trust Scholar.
Jacqueline Porter is supported by Carolyn Philpot
Artist James Wannan
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Violist James Wannan is a founder of the Australia Piano Quartet (APQ), Co-Artistic Director of the Ensemble in Residence at the University of Technology Sydney, a member of Southern Cross Soloists and an Artistic Associate of Sydney Chamber Opera. He teaches chamber music and viola at the Sydney Conservatorium’s Rising Star program and has been a guest teacher at the Australian National Academy of Music. He is currently based in Sydney, having previously studied viola with Alice Waten and Caroline Henbest in Melbourne, Janet Davies in Sydney and viola d’amore in Vienna with Marianne Rônez. He explores his passion for music from ancient to contemporary on a number of instruments.
James has appeared as a soloist with many of Australia’s orchestras including the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, ACO2, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Artist Kirrah Amosa
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Since entering the music scene at age 7 to touring with the Ministry of Sound Orchestrated Tour, supporting Adam Lambert, Rita Ora and James Arthur, to the original cast of Hamilton Australia, Kirrah’s expertise and talent is impossible to overlook and even harder to forget.
Artist Luminescence Chamber Singers
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Luminescence gives voice to human experiences of all kinds.
Luminescence Chamber Singers is a vocal ensemble based on Ngunnawal country [Canberra, Australia], and the umbrella organisation for the Luminescence Children’s Choir. Performing music from all times and places, Luminescence champions the unbound expressive potential of our original instrument - the human voice. Both ensembles deliver artistic and educational programs that ignite the imagination of audiences, and give voice to human experiences of all kinds. Luminescence presents an annual concert programme in Canberra and surrounding regions, and performs at a wide range of festivals, events and collaborations. Recent highlights have included performances of David Lang’s Pulitzer prize winning work, ‘little match girl passion’, appearances for Canberra International Music Festival, Four Winds Festival (Bermagui), Musica Viva, Flowers of War, and numerous performances in partnership with the National Gallery of Australia for Patricia Piccinini’s ‘Every Heart Sings’ Skywhale project.Artist Max McBride
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Max McBride is a well respected musician having found success on the concert stage and as an educator. He began his professional career in 1969 gaining recognition as a double bassist when he became the youngest full time member of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. In 1973 he gained the position of co-principal of the bass section.
After two study leaves in Austria where he studied double bass with world-renowned Ludwig Streicher and conducting with Otmar Suitner, he returned to Australia in 1979 to take up the position of Principal Double Bass with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. He toured extensively with them in Australia as well as in Europe, the United States and South East Asia. He also became the regular bass player of the Australia Ensemble and the Brandenburg Orchestra, performing most of the standard repertoire which includes bass as well as less familiar works. .
Other significant appearances were with Kathy Selby and Friends; Pinkas Zuckerman for Melbourne Summer Music; several solo performances with cellist David Pereira and viola player Irena Morozov; a concert for Sydney’s Mostly Mozart Festival in 1997 with the Korean cellist Young Chang Cho and regular appearances at the Townsville International Chamber Music Festival between 1993 and 2012.
In 1992 Max took up a full-time teaching position at the Canberra School of Music. In 1994 he was appointed Lecturer in conducting. In 2001 he was promoted to Senior Lecturer in Double Bass. In 2009 Max left his full time position but has continued to teach double bass on a part time basis.
Max’s students have held positions in the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Orchestra, Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Ensemble Modern, at Penn State University, as well as other teaching institutions.
Max has held the positions of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of The Sydney Youth Orchestra.
Artist Miroslav Bukovsky
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Miroslav Bukovsky is a distinguished jazz trumpeter. He was one of the founders of the renowned Jazz ensemble the Ten Part Invention (TPI) along with Roger Frampton and John Pochee; has played with the Free Boppers, the KMA Orchestra and the Australian Art Orchestra. He has led the award - winning ensemble Wanderlust for many years and remains active composing and performing with them and TPI.
Born in Czechoslovakia, Miroslav graduated with Honours (Absolutorium) from Leos Janacek State Conservatorium in Ostrava. Arriving in Australia in 1968 as a refugee after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, Miroslav has had a long and established career as one of Australia's leading jazz trumpeters, composers and educators. He was one of founding teachers of the first Jazz course in Australia at the Sydney Conservatorium in 1975.
Miroslav furthered his studies in the USA in 1981-82 in New York, LA and Indiana University, including private studies with William Adam, Dave Baker, Dave Liebman, Randy Brecker and Bobby Shew. He has performed and recorded with a variety of groups and orchestras, including Marcia Hines, Ginger Rodgers, Debbie Renolds, Bob Bertles, "Moontrane", the Bruce Cale Orchestra, Sydney Conservatorium Orchestra, KMA Orchestra, the Freeboppers, Renee Geyer, Daly-Wilson Big Band, Monica and the Moochers, Eurogliders, Australian Crawl, Jimmy Barnes, Jump Back Jack, Carl Orr, the Mighty Reapers, Ernie Watts, the Australian Art Orchestra and more recently with John Riley and Benny Maupin. His ARIA winning band Wanderlust performed extensively at many major European and Asian festivals since 1995. He toured major festivals with TPI in Asia and USA.
Artist Oliver Shermacher
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Australian born clarinettist Oliver Shermacher completed his Bachelors at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music under Francesco Celata, and his Masters at the Freiburg Hochschule für Musik with Kilian Herold and Anton Hollich. He is currently living between Germany and Australia, performing as soloist, chamber musician and orchestral clarinettist. He was recently awarded the highly prestigious recognition of the 1st Prize and Audience Choice at the 2022 Aeolus Competition in Düsseldorf, one of the world's most significant competitions for wind instrumentalists. Oliver won the Freedman Fellowship in 2018 and reached the Grand Finals of the 2018 ABC Young Performers Award, also receiving the Audience Choice award. Oliver has performed as soloist with the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Apex Ensemble and was the Artist in Residence with the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra for their 2021/2022 Season, having premiered the Alice Chance Clarinet Concerto with the orchestra in 2022. Oliver has played as Principal Clarinet with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Opera Australia Orchestra, Freiburg Philharmonisches Orchester and with the Australian World Orchestra on Bass Clarinet. Oliver is a passionate composer, theatre maker and new music enthusiast with a focus on the intersection between theatre and solo performance.
Artist Quatuor Van Kuijk
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"Style, energy and a sense of risk. These four young Frenchman made the music smile." The Guardian
The Quatuor Van Kuijk's international accolades boast First, Best Beethoven, and Best Haydn Prizes at the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet competition; First Prize, and an Audience Award at the Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition; as well as becoming laureates of the Aix-en-Provence Festival Academy. They were BBC New Generation Artists from 2015-17, as well as ECHO Rising Stars for the 2017-18 season.
Following such high success early in their career, the ensemble is an established presence at major international venues, performing at the Wigmore Hall, London; Philharmonie de Paris, Auditorium du Louvre, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and Salle Gaveau, Paris; Tonhalle, Zurich; Wiener Konzerthaus and Musikverein, Vienna; Royal Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; Berliner Philharmonie; Kölner Philharmonie; Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg; Gulbenkian, Lisbon; Tivoli Concert Series, Denmark; Konserthuset Stockholm; and at festivals including the BBC Proms, Cheltenham, Heidelberg, Lockenhaus, Davos, Verbier, Aix-en-Provence, Montpellier/Radio France, Evian, Auvers-sur-Oise, Stavanger and Trondheim (Norway), Concentus Moraviae (Czech Republic), Haydn/Esterházy (Hungary), and Eilat (Israel).
Quatuor Van Kuijk is supported by Sharon Green and Marcel SkjaldArtist Sally Walker
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Sally Walker is Lecturer in Classical Woodwind at the Australian National University, regular Guest Principal with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Principal Flautist with the Omega Ensemble. She performs on modern flutes and piccolo as well as historical flutes and recorders and has appeared in the London Proms, Salzburg, Lucerne, Tanglewood and Edinburgh Festivals.
She was Grand-finalist in the Leonardo de Lorenzo International Flute Competition (Italy), won 2nd Prize in the Friedrich Kuhlau International Flute Competition (Germany) and was awarded scholarships from the DAAD (German Academic Exchange for postgraduate study in Germany), Ian Potter Cultural Fund and the Queen's Trust.
She has toured and recorded with the Berlin Philharmonic and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestras, is a former Principal Flute of the Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss, was a member of Kölner Kammerorchester and has performed as Guest Principal Flute with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, NDR Radio Philharmonie Hannover, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Manchester Camerata, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra.
Sally devotes herself to both Early and Contemporary Music, having performed with Early Music ensembles such as Das Neue Orchester Köln, Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum and the Leipziger Kammerorchester as well as Contemporary Music ensembles such as Halcyon. She is deeply committed to chamber music and has collaborated with colleagues across various art forms and styles, including Tamara Anna-Cislowska, Aiko Goto, David Greco, Steven Isserlis, Afro Moses, Ian Munro, Simon Tedeschi, Dénes Várjon, Shanghai and Acacia string quartets. She has recorded three CDs with Pianist Philip Mayers, was featured on Sally Whitwell’s Aria-nominated CD, “I was Flying”, Cyrus Meurant’s CD “Monday to Friday” and on recordings with Halycon, Australian Chamber Orchestra and other orchestras.
Artist Stephanie Neeman
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Dr. Stephanie Neeman is an active international performer and has performed to critical
acclaim across the United States, Asia, and Australia. Stephanie has won virtually all major piano competitions in Indonesia, including the first prize in the prestigious Yamaha National Piano Competition. She won first prizes in the Empire State International Piano Competition and the Lillian Fuchs Chamber Music Competition. She was also a top prizewinner and won the prize for the best interpretation and outstanding performance of Franz Liszt at the Liszt-Garrison International Piano Competition in the United States.
Dr. Neeman received her Bachelor and Master of Music at the Manhattan School of Music and her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from CCM at the University of Cincinnati as a scholarship student of James Tocco. She is currently the head of the piano department at ELMS Conservatory of Music in Jakarta and has previously served as the CEO/Artistic Director of Music for Canberra (Canberra Youth Orchestra).
www.neemanpianoduo.com
Stephanie Neeman is supported by Christine Goode
Artist Theo Carbo
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Theo Carbo (b. 1999, Melbourne, Australia) is a guitarist, composer, electronic musician, producer and sound engineer. Growing up as an astute student of jazz, Theo’s proficiency as a guitarist has seen him working in groups of Australia’s most important improvising musicians including Barney Mcall, Andrea Keller, Sam Anning, Nadje Noordhuis, Joseph O’Connor and Paul Williamson. A keen philosopher of music and a student of composition at the Victorian College of the Arts, Theo has recently been developing a broader practise which involves elements of experimental composition, electronic processes, solo and ensemble improvisation and studio engineering.
"Theo is a naturally gifted artist with a unique and refined take on things. His musical maturity is a great argument for the collective unconscious" - Barney Mcall
Artist Tony Lee
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Sydney born pianist, Tony Lee, has gained a reputation as one of Australia's finest young pianists, who seeks to transmit the essence of music and his understanding of it through his playing. Tony was artist in residence at the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth in Belgium from 2014 to 2016, and is a protege of the renowned Portuguese-Swiss pianist, Maria-João Pires. He attained his BMus in Performance at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music under the direction of Dr. Paul Rickard-Ford and his Mmus in Performance at the Barratt-Due Institute of Music in Oslo with Prof. Michael Endres. Tony has performed across the Asia Pacific, Europe, the USA and has appeared as soloist with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, China National Ballet Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Lanzhou Symphony Orchestra, Chengdu Philharmonic Orchestra, Guangxi Symphony Orchestra, Samara Philharmonic Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. As the most highly awarded pianist in Australia, he is the First Prizewinner of the Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition, Australian National Piano Award and the Australian Youth Classical Music Competition. He was also named the Best Australian Pianist at the Sydney International Piano Competition in 2016. Internationally he is a top prize winner of the Louise Henriette international Piano Competition, Scriabin International Piano Competition, Keri Keri International Piano Competition, Adilia Alieva International Piano Competition, Euterpe International Competition and the Nordic International Competition. Tony hopes to share his passion and belief in promoting music as a bridge between people and cultures in a time of disharmony.
Woden Valley Youth Choir
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The Woden Valley Youth Choir is an exciting and dynamic choir for young people aged 8 to 21. As Canberra’s iconic youth choir, with over 50 years of history, WVYC has performed for Prime Ministers, Governors General, Royalty, Nelson Mandela and many, many more.
Artist Alexander Gavrylyuk
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A stunningly virtuosic pianist, Alexander is internationally recognised for his electrifying and poetic performances. Gavrylyuk launched his 2017/18 season with a BBC Proms performance of Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto described as “revelatory” by The Times and “electrifying” by Limelight.
Highlights of the 2021-22 season include debuts with San Diego Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic, Rheinische Philharmonie and Antwerp Symphony Orchestras, as well as return visits to Chicago Symphony, Sydney Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic and Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestras. Born in Ukraine in 1984 and holding Australian citizenship, Alexander began his piano studies at the age of seven and gave his first concerto performance when he was nine years old. At the age of 13, Alexander moved to Sydney where he lived until 2006. He won First Prize and Gold Medal at the Horowitz International Piano Competition (1999), First Prize at the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition (2000), and Gold Medal at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Masters Competition (2005).
He has since gone on to perform with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including: New York, Los Angeles, Czech, Warsaw, Moscow, Seoul, Israel and Rotterdam Philharmonics; NHK, Chicago, Cincinnati and City of Birmingham Symphony orchestras; Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Philharmonia, Wiener Symphoniker, Orchestre National de Lille and the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker; collaborating with conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Alexandre Bloch, Herbert Blomstedt, Andrey Boreyko, Thomas Dausgaard, Valery Gergiev, Neeme Järvi, Vladimir Jurowski, Sebastian Lang-Lessing, Kirill Karabits, Louis Langrée, Cornelius Meister, Vassily Petrenko, Rafael Payare, Alexander Shelley, Yuri Simonov, Vladimir Spivakov, Markus Stenz, Sir Mark Elder, Thomas Søndergård, Gergely Madaras, Mario Venzago, Enrique Mazzola and Osmo Vänska.
Gavrylyuk has appeared at many of the world’s foremost festivals, including the Hollywood Bowl, Bravo! Vail Colorado, Mostly Mozart, the Ruhr Festival, the Kissinger Sommer International Music Festival, the Gergiev Festival in Rotterdam. As a recitalist Alexander has performed at the Musikverein in Vienna, Tonhalle Zurich, Victoria Hall Geneva, Southbank Centre’s International Piano Series, Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Master Pianists Series, Suntory Hall, Tokyo Opera City Hall, Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, Cologne Philharmonie, Tokyo City Concert Hall, San Francisco, Sydney Recital Hall and Melbourne Recital Centre.
Alexander also performs regularly with his recital partner Janine Jansens throughout Europe. Alexander is Artist in Residence at Chautauqua Institution where he leads the piano program as an artistic advisor. Alexander Gavrylyuk is a Steinway Artist.
Artist Andrew Goodwin
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Andrew Goodwin has appeared with opera companies and orchestras in Europe, Asia and Australia including the Bolshoi Opera, Gran Theatre Liceu Barcelona, Teatro Real Madrid, La Scala Milan, Opera Australia, Pinchgut Opera, Sydney Chamber Opera, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Auckland Philharmonia, New Zealand, Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland, Adelaide and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, Moscow and Melbourne Chamber Orchestras, and in recital with pianist Daniel de Borah at Wigmore Hall, the Oxford Lieder, Port Fairy and Canberra International Music Festivals.
In 2022, Andrew returned to the Canberra International Music Festival and Australian Haydn Ensemble in Haydn’s The Creation, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra for Mozart’s Requiem, and the Canberra Symphony Orchestra for Messiah. Still to come this year, Andrew will perform Messiah with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Mozart’s Requiem with Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, feature at the Tyalgum, Albury Chamber Music and Sanguine Estate festivals, and tour with the new vocal ensemble, AVÉ.
Recent engagements include Lysander, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Adelaide Festival); Jacquino, Fidelio (West Australian Symphony Orchestra); Nadir, The Pearlfishers (State Opera South Australia); Diary of one who disappeared and Rape of Lucretia (Sydney Chamber Opera); Artaxerxes title role (Pinchgut Opera); Mozart Requiem (MSO); Brett Dean’s The Last Days of Socrates (SSO); Messiah (NZSO, QSO and MSO); and performances at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Townsville.
Andrew Goodwin is supported by Peronelle and Jim Windeyer
Artist Aron Ottignon
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Mixing jazz, roots, Caribbean, Afro-beats and more, his world of music defies a Universal label. Re-gaining artistic independence in 2008, the prodigious pianist has found time for a prolific work load producing, composing and engineering an EP every six months (or thatʼs his plan) from his Berlin studio, in between collaborations with World Music and Afro-beat superstars. These include celebrated Senegalese percussionist Bakane Seck (featuring Grammy nominee Baaba Maal from Black Panther), and Puerto Rico based ÌFÉ – with a single to be released this spring, FYI.
From his native New Zealand to Kreuzberg, Aron has made waves in Europe, touring with WoodKid, writing with Stromae, and also literally making an EP called Waves, which was picked up by Blue Note (along with other releases The Nile and Team Aquatic).
Artist Australian Dance Party
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Australian Dance Party is a collective of contemporary dance artists creating joyous, bold and urgent site-specific dance work in Canberra and beyond. We harness the universality, power and playfulness of the human body to connect to the ordinary and extraordinary spaces around us, inspiring thinking, feeling and action in today’s world. Through a focus on creative practice, we are creating and presenting new work, developing and sustaining careers for dance artists in our region. And we have fun….it’s a Party!
Artist Ben Hoadley
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Ben Hoadley is principal bassoonist with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra since 2021. He has previously held contracts with the Sydney and Queensland Symphonies, Auckland Philharmonia and Opera Australia Orchestras, Orchestra Victoria and the Trondheim Symphony in Norway. Ben was based in USA for nine years where he completed studies at the New England Conservatory in Boston, also serving as principal bassoonist with the Hartford Symphony, the Rhode Island Philharmonic and as an extra in the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestras, among others. He has held fellowships to the Tanglewood Music Centre, Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall and ANAM. Ben studied historical bassoons in Italy and Switzerland over several summers, and also holds a Masters degree in composition. Ben has appeared as guest principal with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Adelaide, Tasmanian and NZ Symphonies, the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Halle Orchestra (UK). He performs on historical bassoons with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra, and Bach Akademie Australia. Ben taught at the University of Auckland for 15 years, including several terms as coordinator of woodwind. Currently he teaches at the Australian National University School of Music and the Sydney Conservatorium, and has recently tutored at ANAM, the AYO and the ARCO “Young Mannheim Symphonists”.
Artist Christopher Carroll
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Christopher Samuel Carroll is an Irish theatre-artist based in Sydney & Canberra, trained at The Samuel Beckett Centre, Trinity College Dublin, and Ecole Internationale du Theatre Jacques Lecoq, Paris. Since moving to Canberra in 2016, he has become one of the city’s most prolific and celebrated performers, winning the inaugural Helen Tsongas Award for Excellence in Acting in 2019 for roles in Twelfth Night, Icarus, Howie the Rookie, and Metamorphosis.
As artistic director of Bare Witness Theatre Co., he has produced ten shows to date, in Ireland, the U.K., France and Australia, winning a reputation for raw, pulsating theatre that ignites the imagination. Described as “the master of the solo performance”, Christopher is renowned as a daring and skilled creator of one-man shows. His Butoh adaptation of Paradise Lost, described as “a culturally shattering event”, was developed at Belco Arts, before touring to the Adelaide Fringe and to Perth, where it was shortlisted for the Best Theatre award at Fringe World 2017. His wordless physical odyssey, Icarus, debuted at The Blue Room, Perth, winning the Fringe World overall award for Dance and Physical Theatre, before a critically-acclaimed season at The Street Theatre in 2019.
Recent work has included dancing in MESS at Belco Arts; directing Carpe DM for Canberra Youth Theatre's Emerge Company; a solo adaptation of The Stranger by Albert Camus, hailed as “a form of theatrical and artistic genius”; and writing, directing and acting in the sharp-shooting showdown about the dark arts of marketing, Smokescreen, at The Q in Queanbeyan. He will be directing cocktail-inspired cabaret The Gentleman's Companion in March 2022, and will be directing, devising and acting in the Bare Witness production of I Have No Enemies in July 2022.
As a teacher, Christopher is specialised in Movement for the Actor, as well as teaching voice, acting, and audition preparation with students of all ages and levels. He has taught movement and acting with NIDA Open, Perform Australia, and Tuggeranong Arts Centre's Messengers program, and has previously taught specialist classes with students of Daramalan College, Chevalier College, and Kim Harvey School of Dance, and professional masterclasses through The Street Theatre, HotHouse Theatre and Belconnen Arts Centre. He currently teaches weekly workshops for Years 10-12 students at Canberra Youth Theatre, and is the Mentoring Artist for Canberra Youth Theatre's training and professional development program for emerging theatre makers aged 18-25, the Emerge Company.
Artist Demi Katheklakis
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Hi, my name is Demi Katheklakis, I am a year 10 student at CGGS. I play Percussion in the schools Empire Concert band and I am currently drumming in the schools musical “The Little Mermaid”. I also play the drums in “Better Left Unsaid” band. These bands have taught me to play in many ensemble settings and a variety of mallet and rhythm percussion music. My percussion teacher is the wonderful Veronica Bailey. I also enjoy playing piano, violin and dancing.
Artist Donald Nicolson
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Listed among Australia’s best classical performers by the ABC in 2019, harpsichordist, organist and pianist Donald Nicolson is a prominent figure in performance and research of the music of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe, and in high demand as a keyboardist, composer, and arranger.
Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Donald commenced harpsichord studies with Douglas Mews at Victoria University, and subsequently at the Royal Conservatorium, The Hague with early music legend Ton Koopman. There he focussed on the performance of sixteenth-century English virginal music and the seventeenth-century French clavecin school.
Donald graduated with a PhD in Musicology at the University of Melbourne in 2018, submitting a thesis that focussed on the relationship between seventeenth-century French social history and the keyboard preludes of Louis Couperin. An avid reader of the classics and ancient rhetoric Donald teaches historically-informed performance practice at the University of Melbourne, and gives regular talks and lectures on music and history.
Artist False Relations
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False Relations is an emerging vocal ensemble, born with a commitment to revitalising its genre and exploring new musical territory. The group brings together four young musicians from diverse musical backgrounds and prides itself on its flexibility, with an ever-expanding repertoire that juxtaposes the likes of renaissance polyphony against pop music classics. Amongst its most recent accolades, False Relations won third prize in the 2021 edition of Strike A Chord, Musica Viva’s national chamber music competition, and also received the prize for the best performance of an Australian work.
Artist Golden Gate Brass
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Formed in 2017 at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM), Golden Gate Brass is an ensemble dedicated to providing high quality performances of brass repertoire. Its members are Michael Olsen & Fletcher Cox (trumpets), Aidan Gabriels (horn), Jackson Bankovic (trombone), and Jason Catchpowle (tuba).
Golden Gate Brass have appeared in concert at the Canberra International Music Festival, ANAM, Four Winds, the National Gallery of Victoria, The Savage Club, and The Brunswick Green. They have collaborated with Ad Lib Collective and Corelia Quintet. Each member of the ensemble maintains an impressive career in their own right. Collectively they appear across the country in professional orchestras as well as in numerous other performances, festivals and competitions.
Golden Gate Brass provide performances which are high energy, innovative and exciting. They share their experience with younger musicians through their involvement at ANAM, UWA, Four Winds, and South Coast Music Camp. Golden Gate Brass enjoy sharing their love of music with a wide range of audiences, especially those that may not have previously seen brass chamber music performed. They are passionate about commissioning and performing exciting brass quintet music across Australia.
Artist Jacques Emery
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Jacques Emery is known as a versatile double bassist, multi-instrumentalist and improviser in Sydney's creative music scene. He has worked with luminaries such as Mike Nock, Paul Cutlan, and Barney McAll, and has appeared at jazz festivals in Berlin, Wrocław, London, and Melbourne with the Australian Art Orchestra. He leads the trio Soft Attack, featuring Freedman Jazz Fellows Thomas Avegnicos and Novak Manojlovic. His EP of solo double bass compositions 'ARCO' was released in late 2022 to much acclaim, after a premiere performance at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.
Artist Katie Yap
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Katie grew up playing the violin and piano in her hometown of Brisbane. Shortly before starting her Bachelor of Music at the University of Queensland (UQ), she fell in love with the viola and has never looked back since! Katie studied with Patricia Pollett at UQ, graduating with Honours and a University Medal in 2011. She then spent three years studying at the Australian National Academy of Music under Caroline Henbest and Christopher Moore.
Katie likes to keep her musical life varied, and her favourite kind of music making is with chamber groups. She is violist in the Chrysalis Harp Trio (2019 ANAM Artists), early music chamber groups Ironwood Ensemble and The Muses’ Delight, and joined the Australian String Quartet in 2016 in programs of quintets and sextets. In 2017, Katie spent a month in Central Queensland touring with the Orpheus Club, presenting 10 public concerts, 8 schools concerts and workshops, and recording four new Australian works. In 2018, she joined Van Diemen's Band in a national tour of chamber music of the late baroque period, including performances at the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival, and UKARIA Cultural Centre.
Katie Yap is supported by Peter Wise
Artist Lisa Oduor-Noah
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Kenyan singer-songwriter and producer Lisa Oduor-Noah was introduced to music through her family's love for different musical genres which fed into her a deep love for music and passion for performance.
The soulful, silky-voiced singer boasts a resume filled with performances on stages such as Coke Studio Africa, The Global Citizen, the Shanghai Jazz festival, Australia (Phoenix Central Park, Nexus Arts, Johnston St. Jazz, including a studio appearance at Sydney’s Eastside 89.7 FM), just to name but a few.
A Berklee College of Music graduate, Lisa hopes that through her performances, she can be an agent of hope, healing, and restoration while creating wholehearted moments of connection.
In addition to this, she desires to bring higher quality music education to the world as an educator in forums. Similarly, she also aims to be an aide to better emotional and mental health awareness in the entertainment industry. Lisa’s eponymous debut album was released in February 2022.
Artist Marlene Cummins
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Musician / Artist / Actor / Broadcaster / Story Teller
A Proud Guguyelandji and Woppaburra Woman
Born in the southwest Queensland town of Cunnamulla, Marlene’s traditional people on her Father’s side are Guguyelandji, and Woppaburra on her Mother’s side. The family then moved to Winton where Marlene spent her formative years. Growing up under the cloud of the Aboriginal Protection Act of the 1950s and 60s, Marlene had a ‘grassroots’ upbringing in a very politically aware family.
Marlene's life is the story of her people and she tells it through her art, her lyrics, her on-stage performance as both an actress and singer and more recently through documentary film making. Marlene refined her skills as a blues saxophonist and songwriter at the Berklee College of Music Boston in the mid-90s and has been performing live for as long as she can remember.
Marlene presents a biographical journey through her music; a myriad of political, social and personal experiences that content her lyrics and songs. With a mixture of original and traditional blues numbers, the centrepiece and original song is the stirring epic blues anthem, ‘Koori Woman’. Marlene dedicates this song to Aboriginal women everywhere as they were, in her words, ‘the backbone of the struggle’.Artist Meyer Quartet
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The Meyer Quartet are a group of young musicians based in Canberra, who are passionate about chamber music making. Brad Tham is a violinist who has held several concertmaster positions in Sydney Youth Orchestra, ANU Orchestra, and his hometown orchestra on the Central Coast.
Brad is a member of the CSO and a Wesley Scholar. He is a founding member of the Ellery String Quartet which has started to gain traction and recognition. Pippa Newman is the principal viola of the ANU Chamber Orchestra, violist with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, and a member of the Ellery and Blumen string quartets.
Pippa has performed as a soloist with the ANU Chamber Orchestra playing to audiences in Canberra, Yass and Gunning. In 2023, they were awarded a Wesley Music Scholarship.
James Monro is the principal cellist in the ANU orchestra, a casual cellist with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, and plays in the Canberra Symphony Orchestra. In 2023, James was the principal cello of the National Music Camp Chamber Orchestra and was winner of the Canberra Mini Cello Festival competition. He is part of the Ellery String Quartet.
David Cavenagh is a pianist and composer who recently graduated from the Australian National University. David has a particular passion for baroque and impressionist repertoire and is also a self-taught jazz pianist. He is enthusiastic about the growth of the music scene in Canberra and continues to perform at multiple venues within the community.
Artist Oliver Feitz
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Oliver began learning piano when he was four and in year 3 joined the school percussion ensemble, playing in it for 2 years. After being selected for the year 5 band program on percussion he started private lessons with Veronica Bailey the following year. He was awarded the Year 6 Music Award in 2020. Oliver currently plays in the ANU Open School Percussion Ensemble as well as the Mount Stromlo High School Band. He is currently in year 9 and as well as percussion and piano, which he now studies with Sally Greenaway, he also enjoys Scouts, competitive swimming and, perhaps unsurprisingly for a percussionist, maths competitions.
Artist Oriana Chorale
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Founded in 1977, the Oriana Chorale is an auditioned group of professional and amateur musicians who are dedicated to quality performance of a diverse selection of choral music. Oriana’s mission is enriching the cultural life of Canberra with choral music projects of the highest standard, both a capella and with instrumental accompaniment, when it is called for. The Chorale repertoire ranges from Schütz, Tallis and Byrd, to Rachmaninov, Pärt, Whitacre, and contemporary Australian composers. Directed by Dan Walker, the Chorale presents three major concerts each year, often with associate artists, and is a regular participant in the Canberra International Music Festival as well as a collaborator of prominent vocal ensembles such as The Song Company and The Tallis Scholars. Members of the community have the opportunity to join the Chorale for its annual choral workshops.
Artist Ronan Apcar
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Ronan Apcar is a young Australian pianist, composer, and musician who is quickly garnering a reputation of versatility, edge, and tenacity. His love for music across many styles – jazz to the avant-garde, classical to contemporary music – translates into his open-minded, exciting, and unique work as a musician. Though always striving to be a well-rounded musician, Ronan is best known for his work with contemporary classical and modern art music – particularly by Australian composers – and has a passion for challenging and breaking the stereotype of “the piano recital.”
Beginning as a self-taught pianist, Ronan went on to study piano performance and composition at the Sydney Conservatorium High School and the ANU School of Music, where he graduated as dux. He has gone on to perform as a soloist in both concert halls and unusual, intimate venues, and as a collaborator with renowned musicians and ensembles across Sydney, Canberra, and regional NSW. Ronan has appeared as a soloist with the Penrith Symphony Orchestra, the ANU Orchestra, and later this year with the Sydney Contemporary Orchestra. He has also appeared in festivals, including the 13th International Music Festival in Moscow and the 2021 Canberra International Music Festival where he was the Young Artist. In 2021, he released his debut album, Dulcie Holland Crescent – a collection of forgotten, unrecorded, and unpublished pieces by the great Australian composer Dulcie Holland. Both Ronan’s album and his live concert performances are regularly broadcasted on the Fine Music network and ABC Classic, where Dulcie Holland Crescent was made one of the ABC’s feature albums.
Artist Sonya Lifschitz
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Sonya Lifschitz is a pianist working across many contexts, with repertoire spanning from 15th century Faenza Codex to works written for her today. She is known for her fiercely imaginative, daring collaborations across theatre, dance, screen-based and visual arts, spoken word, and performance art. Described as “a life force of extraordinary density and capacity”, Sonya’s artistry combines bold adventurousness with “miraculous keyboard technique and musicianship” (Woodstock Times) to create work that positions classical and contemporary art music at the cutting edge of interdisciplinary performance practices. She is active as a soloist, creative collaborator, artistic director, educator, radio personality and arts advocate.
Sonya has performed on major international stages to critical acclaim including the Barbican Centre (London), De Doelen (Rotterdam), Bargemusic (New York), Detroit Institute of Art (USA), Venice Biennale (Italy), and in many of Australia’s major international arts festival, including Adelaide (AF), Sydney (SF), Melbourne (MIAF), Brisbane (BF), Canberra (CIMF) and Darwin (DF) Festivals; and other prestigious festivals including Extended Play, Metropolis, MONAFOMA, Four Winds and Ten Days on the Island.
A Fulbright Scholar, Sonya heads Music Performance and Creative Practice at the University of NSW and is a regular ABC Classic presenter.
Sonya Lifschitz is supported by Sharon Green and Marcel Skjald
Artist Susannah Lawergren
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Sydney soprano Susannah Lawergren has developed a reputation for her versatility, “stunning vocal expression” and “beautifully clear soprano”. She has worked with some of the foremost ensembles in Australia including Ensemble Offspring, Opera Australia, Australia Ensemble, Cantillation, Sydney Chamber Opera, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Salut! Baroque, Willoughby Orchestra and Hourglass Ensemble and international ensembles like Voces8, the Wallfisch Ensemble and Forma Antiqva. From 2011-2019 she was a full-time member of the Song Company, singing an incredibly diverse range of music around Australia.
Susannah Lawergren is supported by Peronelle and Jim Windeyer
Artist Thomas Chalker
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Thomas is a highly accomplished multidisciplinary percussionist with an impressive range of experience across genres and styles. He honed his craft at the Elder Conservatorium in Adelaide under the tutelage of Amanda Grigg, completing a Bachelor of Music in 2018. He has performed in a wide range of settings, from intimate chamber concerts to large-scale operas and orchestral performances, and is delighted to return again to the Canberra International Music Festival.
Artist Veronica Bailey
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Veronica is Principal Percussionist with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra. Veronica has a Bachelor of Music from the Australian National University, and a Master’s degree focusing on percussion pedagogy. She also studied at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University In 2007. Veronica is a passionate educator and has been the classical percussion teacher at the ANU School of Music since 2018 and the ANU Open School since 2010. A number of her students have won prizes nationally, participated in Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO) programs, and have been awarded scholarships to study at the ANU, Sydney Conservatorium of Music and other universities.
Artist Zoey Pepper
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Zoey Pepper is an ANU graduate with a B.MUS 2000 and M.MUS Performance 2008. Trained in bassoon and voice, she has since been a musical chameleon across various genres and musical employment.
Zoey is an ARTS ACT grant recipient, has been Australian Guest Artist at the International Double Reed Festival, has worked with Opera Australia, Canberra Symphony Orchestra, Royal Military College Band and freelanced in Melbourne as bassoonist and vocalist for 10 years.
Since moving to Tilba on the NSW south coast in 2018, Zoey has been working as a freelance bassoonist, singer-songwriter and vocal teacher, performing regularly in various guises at Four Winds, Navigate Arts and at many local venues. Her quirky duo Stitch was awarded Australian National Busking Champions in 2020, with her their unique patchwork of jazz and pop covers. As part of the nationally funded Great Southern Nights touring program Zoey composed,scored and put together a show for her Oom Pah Pah ensemble, featuring original songs and mysterious arrangements that wowed a sell-out audience. More recently her new duo Singer In the Park has been charming audiences with a folk-pop fusion ranging from funky to sublime. She will be recording their first album later this year.