Conducting the RMIT Concert Choir earlier this year. I completed a combined BA/B.Mus at Melbourne University in 1999, having gained my L.Mus.A in piano three years earlier. During my years of study I began accumulating work as an accompanist, first for local theatre companies and then for choirs. By 1999 I was regularly accompanying three choirs, singing in a fourth, played for two musicals that year, plus I was studying 'full-time' (as light a load as I could take while still being officially full-time), sitting on the Music Faculty Board, the MSS committee and two Student Union committees, and attempting to be involved in student activism. At the end of that year I was completely burnt out, so I deferred my Arts Honours and decided to spend the next year just taking it easy and playing music here and there. I never went back to study, and instead continued accumulating more and more work as an accompanist - my taking-it-easy-for-a-year ended up becoming my career. My special interest was choral music, and from my role as accompanist I started moving into assistant musical direction, and ultimately into conducting in my
own right. By 2007 I was regularly accompanying five choirs, occasionally accompanying a sixth, singing in a seventh, conducting an eighth, had an ongoing accompanist position at a school, plus was involved in two theatrical productions, as well as whatever other freelance work I could pick up. This year I took on a 0.5 position at RMIT as Choir Leader, and as a result cut back my commitments elsewhere. Currently I am Choir Leader at RMIT, Musical Director of the Da Capo Singers chamber choir based in Berwick, accompanist and tutor at Berwick Youth Choir, accompanist at Haileybury College Edrington, singing in Melbourne Chamber Choir, state secretary of the Australian National
Choral Association, and I'm currently playing piano for Mornington Peninsula Theatre Company's production of Madame Butterfly (this is my 'cut-back' life!)
I conduct the Da Capo Singers, which was originally a group of Berwick Youth Choir alumni - I originally joined as a singer before taking over as conductor. There are a number of Beaconhills-associated people in the choir - Angus Golding, Anna & Sally Dougall, Caitlin Webb, and Lisa Sheppard; several others have been involved in the past (and hopefully will be again in the
future), including Nicole Sarweh, Kerrie Loveless, Lauren Bourke, Fiona & David Moseley, Danielle Negri, Jill Burns, Ryan Mackey, Angela Golding, Dave Fernee, and Bree Barclay. We've sung at the national Choralfest twice, toured interstate and regionally several times, won first prizes in Eisteddfods on several occasions, sang at Hamer Hall as part of a Centenary of Federation
event, at Telstra Dome as part of the World Youth Day lead up, premiered new Australian works and recorded a CD. |
Conducting the RMIT Concert
Choir earlier this year.
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