Our 2024 Autumn Showcase
Wednesday, 16th October 2024
For nearly 5 decades, the Australian Music Foundation has supported young Australian musicians to study at some of the finest cultural and educational centres in the UK, Europe and North America. Many have gone on to celebrated international careers.
High Commissioner Stephen Smith and Deputy High Commissioner Elisabeth Bowes PSM joined Australian Music Foundation UK Chair Yvonne Kenny AM for the Foundation’s 2024 Autumn Showcase at Australia House in association with the Australian High Commission in the United Kingdom featuring performances by our recent Awardees:
James Emerson (Baritone)
Rachel Siu (Cello)
Samantha Hargreaves (Soprano) and
Dario Scalabrini (Clarinet)
and with thanks to Ian Tindale (Piano).
The evening concluded with some words from our new Trustee and alumna, Samatha Crawford on our award's impact on her career.
Our guests, supporters and donors enjoyed wines by Jasper Hill Wines and Wines by Kylie Minogue.
On the first anniversary of his Coronation, His Majesty The King announced that he would continue his Royal Patronage of the Australian Music Foundation, reflecting the quality of the Australian talent nurtured by the Foundation.
Thank you again to our partner:
Australian High Commission in the United Kingdom
Wine sponsors:
Jasper Hill Wines
Wines by Kylie Minogue
our backstage coordinator:
Daniel Turner
to our suppliers:
Fresh and Wine Catering
Bloomsbury Flowers
Jaques Samuels Pianos
our photographers:
Australian High Commission
Jari Laasko
and our donors, supporters and volunteers who made the evening so memorable.
Download the donation form
Download the programme
Announcing our 2024 Classical Awards
We had a record number of impressive applicants this year.
The judging process took place over two months in two rounds and was finalised over summer.
We put a large amount of time into assessing each candidate and a lot of thought and attention into making the final selection. The panel this year consisted of:
CHAIR
Yvonne Kenny AM (Chair AMF UK / non-voting Chair final judging round): Soprano and Professor of Voice
JUDGES
Dene Olding AM (Chair AMF Australia): Violin
Linnhe Robertson (AMF UK Trustee): Piano Accompanist and Vocal Coach GSMD
Sharolyn Kimmorley AM: Accompanist and Vocal Coach
and we also consulted with instrument specialists:
Alice Giles: Harpist
Robert Johnson: French Horn/Brass
Alan Vivian: Clarinet
The demand was greater than ever and highlights the impact your donation makes on our Awardee’s development and careers.
The Awards would not be possible without the generosity of our major donors: The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust; the Helen and David Hains Foundation; The Goodridge Foundation; Maestro Richard Bonynge AC CBE and the Donus Australia Foundation, to whom we are most grateful.
We are proud to announce that our Australian Music Foundation Classical Awardees for 2024 are:
James Emerson - Baritone
AMF Yvonne Kenny Award - donated by the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust
Isla Biffin - Harp
AMF Overseas Study Award - donated by the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust
Rachel Siu - Cello
AMF Richard Bonynge Award - donated by Richard Bonynge AC CBE
Raphael Masters - Viola
AMF Guy Parsons Award - donated by the Helen and David Hains Foundation
Dario Scalabrini - Clarinet
AMF Award - donated by the Helen and David Hains Foundation
Megan Yang - Violin
AMF Award - donated by the Helen and David Hains Foundation
Emmalena Huning - Violin
AMF Nora Goodridge Developing Artist Award - donated by The Goodridge Foundation
Bernice Chua - Piano
AMF Nora Goodridge Young Artist Award - donated by The Goodridge Foundation
Jonathan Lee - Organ
AMF Award - donated by The Goodridge Foundation
Tate Cassells - Trombone
AMF Encouragement Award - donated by the Donus Australia Foundation
Please click here to read more about their biographies.
Read More…
King Charles meets the Australian Music Foundation
The King and Queen have hosted a reception at St James’s Palace in London to celebrate the Commonwealth Diaspora, attended by 300 notable guests including representatives of the Australian Music Foundation.
The Palace had invited the Australian Music Foundation to present our young musicians at the reception. Current AMF Awardee violinist Megan Young was selected to perform with the quartet she plays with, the Karelia Quartet.
His Majesty King Charles, the Patron-in-Chief of the Australian Music Foundation met Yvonne Kenny (Chair UK), Kate Paterson (AMF Trustee) and violinist Megan Yang (AMF Awardee) with the other members of the Karelia Quartet, fellow Australian Felix Pascoe (Violin), Takanori Okamoto (Viola) and Daniel Schultz (Cello) from the Royal Academy of Music.
The King and Queen will travel to Australia and Samoa later in October.
Channel 9 News Australia interviewed Yvonne Kenny and Megan Yang after the event. Sarah Macdonald later interviewed Megan Yang for Mornings on ABC Radio Sydney.
© Photos courtesy of Ian Jones Photography
His Majesty King Charles III continues his Royal Patronage
We are honoured to announce that His Majesty King Charles III will continue his Royal Patronage of the Australian Music Foundation following an announcement from Buckingham Palace to mark the first anniversary of Their Majesties’ Coronation.
“The Australian Music Foundation has enjoyed the support of the former Prince of Wales as our Patron-in-Chief for many years, and we are delighted and honoured that His Majesty The King has chosen to maintain this very special relationship with us and our work supporting young Australian musicians pursuing their studies overseas.”- Yvonne Kenny AM, CHAIR (UK)
Kate Paterson - New AMF Trustee (UK)
Professor Kate Paterson MA, Hon RAM, FHEA
Kate was born in and educated in Melbourne. She worked as a singer and teacher for several years before coming to London to study with Janice Chapman.
Soon after arriving, Kate embarked upon a busy concert and oratorio schedule as soprano soloist in Exultate Jubilate, Mozart; Dixit Dominus, Handel; Petite Messe Solenelle, Rossini; Te Deum, Bruckner; B Minor Mass, Magnificat and St Matthew Passion, J.S.Bach; Magnificat, C.P.E.Bach; Messiah, Handel; Little Organ Mass, Haydn; Carmina Burana, Orff; and King David, Honegger at St James’ Piccadilly, St John’s Smith Square, The Dome (Brighton), Sheldonian (Oxford), St Mary’s (Oxford), Westminster Abbey and as guest soloist at Dartington International Music Festival and Three Choirs Festival. Kate sang the first soprano role in the Mozart Great Mass in C Minor at St John’s Smith Square, Westminster Abbey and the Sheldonian. She was soprano soloist for the Haydn Nelson Mass at the Brighton Festival with the London Mozart Players.
An interest in contemporary music led to a live recording of new Australian vocal music for the Australian Broadcasting Commission, the lead role in Stuart Greenbaum’s piece Obeah Night, a recital of Malcolm Williamson songs at Spitalfields Opera and an appearance at St John’s Smith Square as a soloist in The Grainger Event. Her operatic roles include Mimi, La Boheme; Pamina and First Lady, Magic Flute; Susanna, Le Nozze di Figaro; and Dido, Dido and Aeneas. Kate sang Queen of the Night with conductor Sian Edwards and for Royal Opera, she sang Tosca in the Singalong Tosca outside City Hall before the big screen relay from the main stage. Also for Royal Opera Katherine played Betty Doxy in Beggar’s Opera at the Linbury Theatre and gave a lunchtime Crush Room recital of Strauss songs with pianist Stephen Westrop. Her most consistent and prolific work at ROH was as an extra chorister – a job she cherished and excelled at.
Kate joined the staff at Guildhall in 2005 following three years as a singing teacher at Westminster School. She taught singing at Guildhall in the Vocal Studies Department, the Historical Performance Department and the Opera Department for more than a decade. Further teaching at Guildhall included lectures for Masters students on Reflective Practice and extensive contributions to the new PGCert in Performance Teaching. Following completion of a Masters in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Kate was made a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2014.
Kate took up the position of Head of Vocal Studies at the Royal Academy of Music in September 2017. She was promoted to Professor at the University of London in December 2021 and was conferred the title of Hon RAM in July 2023. During her time at the Academy Kate has enhanced the curriculum significantly, upgraded assessment and feedback procedures, broadened performance opportunities and made highly successful teaching appointments. These improvements have involved significant consultation and collaboration with key staff at the Academy, active engagement with the Development Team and targeted donors, as well as discussion with students about what they want and need. Consequently, the department is in extremely good shape. Kate recruits high-quality Australian students energetically and mentors them carefully.
Samantha Crawford - New AMF Trustee (UK)
British Australian soprano Samantha Crawford is equally at home on the opera stage as she is on the concert platform, and who has been praised for her ‘crystalline tone and diction’ (The Arts Desk) and ‘fine cut soprano which brought singing of class’ (Opera).
Samantha made her operatic debut at the 2014 Aldeburgh and Edinburgh Festivals as Mrs. Coyle in Britten’s Owen Wingrave conducted by Mark Wigglesworth. Subsequent roles include Ortlinde in Robert Carsen’s production of Die Walküre at Teatro Real, Madrid; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte at Garsington Opera, the title role in Suor Angelica at Théâtre municipal de Fontainebleau, Agathe in Der Freischütz for Blackheath Opera, Sieglinde in Die Walküre in concert in London, covered Ofglen in Poul Ruders’ The Handmaid’s Tale at ENO, as well roles at Glyndebourne, Scottish Opera, Hong Kong City Hall and Schlosstheater Schönbrunn, Austria.
Her performances at Teatro Real, both in Die Walküre and Claus Guth’s production of Parsifal, were filmed for television and DVD release and broadcast to cinemas across Spain. This season Samantha will make her debut as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana at West Green Opera House, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser at Saffron Hall and perform Verdi’s Requiem at Southwark Cathedral.
In recital, her performances have included engagements at the Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall, LSO St. Luke’s, Cadogan Hall and the Barbican. Recent performances include Mendelssohn’s Elijah at Gloucester Cathedral, Strauss’s Vier letzte Lieder at Newbury Spring Festival, Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder at the City of London Festival, and Chausson’s Poème de l'amour et de la mer at Milton Court.
This season Samantha recorded her debut album, dream.risk.sing: elevating women’s voices, with pianist Lana Bode dream.risk.sing is an initiative that Samantha and Lana brought to fruition during 2021 and includes Charlotte Bray’s Crossing Faultlines, a song cycle exploring women’s experiences in the workplace which was commissioned especially for the project, and received its world première at Oxford Lieder Festival in October 2021. In 2022, Samantha and Lana gave subsequent performances at The Barber Institute for Arts and The Bloomsbury Festival, London. dream.risk.sing the album will release on Delphian Records in September 2023 featuring the first ever recordings of Crossing Faultlines, Libby Larsen’s songs from her The Birth Project and new arrangements of two songs from Judith Weir’s woman.life.song. It is supported by Arts Council England and the RVW Trust. This year, Samantha gave a vocal masterclass for Poole Society of Young Musicians. She teaches singing both privately, and at Moyles Court School, Hampshire. Samantha studied with Yvonne Kenny AM as a Baroness de Turckheim Scholar at the Guildhall School of Music and graduated from the Opera Course with Distinction, MMus, and BMus (Hons). She is an alumna of the AMF, Wagner
Bayreuth Stipendium, Britten-Pears, and Garsington Alvarez Young Artist Programmes. She was awarded the Golden Medal with Honours at the 2017 Berliner International Music Competition; the 2017/18 NSW Wagner Society Award for Emerging Wagner Singers; and, in 2016, won First Prize and the President's Prize at the Wagner Society Singing Competition in London.
In 2022, Samantha continued her interest in producing new works by collaborating with a composer and librettist and is currently developing a full-scale opera about three women trafficked to the UK. The creation of new performance opportunities also extends beyond herself to the young artists she mentors. Samantha been a guest speaker on cultivating a career in the Performing Arts at the Executive Association Solent, The Mermaid Theatre, Love London Conference, St. Sepulchres’ National Musician’s Church and returned to the Guildhall to advise Opera Course students on career planning.
In 2018 she joined the AMF Outreach Group to further support young artist development of the next generation of alumni and to contribute to the development of the aims of AMF.
From 2016 - 2019 Samantha was the Co-Founder and Director of the Creative Professionals Network Australia. The launch of CPN took place at Australia House, with the ongoing support of the Australian High Commission and The Australian Music Foundation. As Director, Samantha organised networking events across London bringing young contemporary professionals from Australia and Britain together. Events included speakers and performers from The Australia UK Chamber of Commerce, Royal Opera House, AMF, Crossmodalism, Arty Party, Lambay Island Whiskey, as well as fundraising for Home For Good and International Justice Mission.
2024 AMF Classical Awards
Applications for the 2024 AMF Classical Awards are:
OPEN FROM MONDAY, 25th MARCH 2024 and CLOSE FRIDAY, 3rd MAY 2024 (11:59 pm UK BST time).
The competition will take place entirely online and a link to the Application Form are available from 25th March to the 3rd May 2024.
Please visit the Apply for an Award page for more details.
Administrator change
Our Administrator, Sally-Ann Shepherdson, is moving on after nine years at the Australian Music Foundation. She has done a wonderful job throughout this time, and on behalf of the Chairman and Trustees in the UK and Australia, we would like to wish Sally-Ann the very best of luck with her future endeavours and thank her sincerely for her years of service.
We also would like to take the opportunity to welcome Glenn Horder as our new Administrator. Glenn is an Australian living in London, with vast experience in the charity and events sectors, and we look forward to working with him to further the aims of the Foundation. Glenn will officially be taking over from the 18th March 2024. His email address is glenn@australianmusicfoundation.org and you can also contact the office as usual via info@australianmusicfoundation.org
(Sally-Ann will still be contactable for a few more weeks as she completes the handover to Glenn.)
Please get in touch if you have any queries or news you would like to pass on to us.
Waynne Kwon (AMF Alumnus) joins London Philharmonic Orchestra as Sub-Principal Cello
The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) announced that AMF Alumnus cellist Waynne Kwon has joined the orchestra as Sub-Principal Cello.
Kwon studied at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) with cellist Hannah Roberts, obtaining bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and an advanced studies postgraduate diploma in performance. During this time, he was awarded the Leonard Rose Award for the best final recital, the Sir John Barbirolli Cello Prize, the RNCM Gold Medal, and numerous chamber music prizes.
He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic, performed as co-principal of the London Symphony Orchestra, and has performed in prestigious venues including the Southbank Centre and Wigmore Hall in London, the Sydney Opera House, and the Seoul Arts Centre.
The LPO published a social media post on 5 March announcing the appointment:
‘Waynne is a talented soloist, chamber and orchestral musician who has already appeared with us as Guest Principal. We’re so excited to be welcoming him to our team!’
Waynne received our support with AMF Awards from 2016 - 2019 and 2021-2022 including the AMF Guy Parsons Award in 2017 when he purchased a new bow for his cello.
West Green House - AMF Fundraising Lunch
Sunday, 17th September 2023
The Australian Music Foundation held a special fundraising lunch party on Sunday 17th September at West Green House near Hook in Hampshire. West Green is the home of Australian garden author and former Marketing Manager of the Sydney Opera House, Marylyn Abbott, who had generously offered to provide a five-course Sunday lunch with wines and music in her beautiful home, in aid of the AMF Awards Fund.
Since the pandemic, more and more young Australian musicians have struggled to find grants to support their studies overseas, and this event has helped us to increase the number of our awards for 2024, to help as many as possible to achieve their dreams.
West Green House is never open to the public, so this was a rare chance for a select number of guests to take in the atmosphere of this delightful Queen Anne property and enjoy an exceptional lunch prepared by John Kahout, previously Head Chef of the Orient Express. Visit the West Green House website
After lunch, coffee was served and guests were treated to a short concert featuring AMF alumni - soprano Sky Ingram (Royal Opera, Opera North, Garsington Opera) and bass-baritone Jeremy Kleeman (Opera Queensland, West Australian Opera) - who kindly donated their services for this important fund-raising event. skyingram.com / jeremykleeman.com
Later, our guests enjoyed a walk around the beautiful gardens and saw the lake where the West Green Opera Festival takes place each year.
Thank you to all who donated and bought their tickets and helped to make the event such a wonderful success.
New AMF Richard Bonynge Award
The new AMF Richard Bonynge Award has been generously donated by distinguished pianist and conductor,
Richard Bonynge AC CBE.
Maestro Bonynge has been a Life President of the AMF for many years and we are extremely grateful for his wonderful gesture of support, which will enable us to present a substantial grant in his name to a candidate of exceptional ability and achievement within their chosen field of study.
It is our great pleasure to announce the inaugural winner of this prestigious award for 2023 - William Shi, accompanist and collaborative pianist. Please see below for details.
Photo: Maestro Bonynge with previous AMF awardees at Australia House, London.
Yvonne Kenny To Represent The Order Of Australia At The Coronation - 6th May 2023
The AMF is delighted to announce that the Chairman of the AMF UK, Yvonne Kenny AM, has been invited to the Coronation of King Charles III, to represent all those who hold honours in the Order of Australia. She will be taking part in the Procession of the Orders of Chivalry during the ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
We congratulate her on this wonderful honour in recognition of both her professional achievements and her work as Chair of the AMF UK in support of talented young Australian musicians.
Our 2023 Spring Showcase
Thursday, 9th March 2023
Thank you to everyone who attended the AMF Spring Showcase at the Australian High Commission on Thursday 9th March 2023, and to all our wonderful awardees who performed so brilliantly: Waynne Kwon, cello; Katherine Allen, soprano; Robert Hao, piano; Shakira Tsindos, mezzo-soprano and James Blackford, euphonium.
We were delighted to be joined by our Guest of Honour, AMF Life President Maestro Richard Bonynge; and also His Excellency The Honourable Chris Dawson AC APM, Governor of Western Australia, and Mrs Dawson; John Langoulant AO, Agent General for Western Australia, and Richard Hains from the Portland House Foundation in Melbourne (major donors of the AMF Guy Parsons Award).
The event was hosted by Yvonne Kenny AM, Chair of the AMF UK, and the evening began with a sparkling wine reception, followed by the concert and drinks and canapés in the magnificent Exhibition Hall.
We are very grateful to the staff at the Australian High Commission for their help and assistance.
Photos by Jari Laakso
AMF UK Chair Yvonne Kenny with John Langoulant AO (Agent General for Western Australia) and The Honourable Chris Dawson AC APM (Governor of Western Australia) and Mrs Dawson.
Robert Hao plays at the Exhibition Hall at Australia House
Maestro Richard Bonynge with AMF Awardees Waynne Kwon, James Blackford, Robert Hao, Shakira Tsindos and Katherine Allen
Katherine Allen and Shakira Tsindos sing the Flower Duet from Lakmé
James Blackford, euphonium, playing in the Exhibition Hall at Australia House, accompanied by Elizabeth Rossiter
VALE David Constable AM - January 2023
A few words from Dene Olding AM (Chair AMF Australia Foundation)
It is with great sadness that I must announce the death, last Thursday, of our long-serving Trustee, David Constable.
A few words from Dene Olding AM (Chair AMF Australia Foundation)
It is with great sadness that I must announce the death, last Thursday, of our long-serving Trustee, David Constable.
David was a personal friend to all of us, a man of great integrity and one who achieved so much of real value in his long and fruitful life. As a grand Patron of the Arts, countless artists and many important arts companies have benefitted from his generosity and tireless support.
Not only was he a Trustee of the Australian Music Foundation, he is remembered for his support and guidance to organisations such as Wigmore Hall, the Australian Opera, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Goldner String Quartet and the Music in the Hunter Festival.
A cultured and highly intelligent person, he was interested in all art forms but, from my own observations and from knowing him for almost 40 years, music was his greatest love.
His financial prowess as a stockbroker and investment fund manager are well-known, but he seemed to me happiest when he was listening to great music and cultivating his superb vineyard in the Hunter Valley. Here, his love of horticulture came to the fore, and I have many fond memories of sampling the fresh produce of his orchard or vegetable garden and, of course, fine Constable Estate wines.
He was a perfect example of what a modern day philanthropist should be, and his legacy in this regard is plain for all to see.
David retired as a Trustee of AMF Australia last year and we were delighted that his daughter, Sarah, has agreed to join our Board and to continue her father’s good works.
We extend our sincere condolences to his dear wife Ida, his children Joseph, Sarah, Julian and Virginia, and to the extended Constable family.
It seems we are losing too many people from this generation of remarkable individuals. From my perspective, many of this generation who were the most valuable were quiet achievers who did great things to benefit all of us, and did so with a minimum of fuss.
Results Of The 2022 AMF Awards
The Trustees would like to express their thanks to all our donors, without whose generosity these awards would not be possible. Congratulations to all the prize winners.
AMF NORA GOODRIDGE AWARDS:
The AMF Nora Goodridge Emerging Artist Award - Cassandra Wright (soprano) Royal Academy of Music Opera Course
The AMF Nora Goodridge Developing Artist Award - Leanne McGowan (violin) BMus, Colborn Conservatory, Los Angeles, USA
The AMF Nora Goodridge Young Artist Award - Jonathan Lee (organ) Organ Scholar and Music Tripos (BA), Trinity College, Cambridge
AMF Awards
Thomas Waller (percussion) MMus, Codarts School, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Robert Hao (piano) MMus, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
AMF AUSTRALIAN ELIZABETHAN THEATRE TRUST AWARDS:
The AMF Yvonne Kenny Award donated by the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust - Katherine Allen (soprano) Masters of Performance, Royal College of Music, London
The AMF Overseas Study Award donated by the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust - James Blackford (euphonium) MMus, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester
AMF PORTLAND HOUSE FOUNDATION AWARDS:
AMF Guy Parsons Award - William Shi (accompanist) Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance & Literature; Master of Music in Piano Accompanying & Chamber Music; Eastman School of Music, Rochester, USA
AMF Awards
Samuel Beagley (trumpet) MMus, Hochschüle fur Music, Medien Und Tanz, Hannover, Germany
Waynne Kwon (cello) Continuing Professional Development, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester
AMF Encouragement Award
Chloe Harris (mezzo-soprano) Advanced Diploma in Opera, Royal Academy of Music, London
Photo: James Blackford, euphonium, playing at the AMF Spring Showcase at Australia House, London, March 2020. Photo credit: Jari Laakso
Spring 2022. The AMF Australia Foundation welcomes their new Chair, Dene Olding AM
The AMF Australia Foundation, our partner charitable Trust in Australia, is delighted to announce that Dene Olding AM has agreed to become the Trust's new Chair, replacing Professor Peter Tregear OAM who has held the position since the Trust's establishment in 2007. Dene is one of Australia’s most distinguished and experienced musicians. He is Concertmaster Emeritus of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, first violinist in the Goldner String Quartet, and a member of the Australia Ensemble, and has served on the Jury of the ABC Young Performers Competition among other leadership roles in the arts. We thank Peter (who is remaining a Trustee in Australia) for his service, and extend a warm welcome to Dene.
Sarah Constable joins the Board of The AMF Australia Foundation
Sarah Constable is a barrister at 6 St James Hall Chambers, specialising in corporations law and financial markets regulation.
Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney, a Juris Doctor from the University of New South Wales (1st Class Hons), and a Bachelor of Civil Law from the University of Oxford.
Before coming to the Bar, Sarah practised as a solicitor at Arnold Bloch Leibler, and was also an Associate to Justice Nicholas of the Federal Court of Australia.
Sarah is also a Teaching Fellow at UNSW, where she lectures in Business Associations; Torts; Law, Ethics and Justice; and Introducing Law and Justice.
In addition, she is currently undertaking the Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance at Macquarie University, with the intention to commence the Masters of Applied Finance later this year.
Sarah is a director of Donus Australia Foundation Ltd, a charitable trust, and is a member of Musica Viva’s Members Council.
Conductor Simone Young AM joins the board of the AMF Australia Foundation
Australian-born Simone Young AM is internationally recognised as one of the leading conductors of her generation. Her appointment as Chief Conductor Designate with the Sydney Symphony was announced in 2020 and she will take up the post of the orchestra’s Chief Conductor in 2022. From 2005-2015 she was General Manager and Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and Music Director of the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg, where she conducted repertoire ranging from Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Wagner and Strauss, to Hindemith, Britten and Henze. She is an acknowledged interpreter of the operas of Wagner and Strauss, having conducted several complete cycles of Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Vienna Staatsoper, the Staatsoper in Berlin and again, to great acclaim, in Hamburg as part of the ‘Wagner-Wahn’ Festival, during which she conducted the 10 major Wagner operas. Her Hamburg recordings include the Ring cycle, Mathis der Maler (Hindemith), and symphonies of Bruckner, Brahms and Mahler. Her 2012 tour to Brisbane with the Hamburg Opera and Ballet, (Das Rheingold in concert, and Mahler Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection”), won her the 2013 Helpmann Award for the Best Individual Classical Music Performance.
Simone Young is regularly invited by the world’s great orchestras and has lead the New York, Los Angeles, Berlin, Vienna, Munich, Stockholm, New Japan, Helsinki, BBC and Dresden Philharmonic Orchestras; the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo; Orchestre de Paris; Staatskapelle Dresden; the Bruckner Orchestra Linz; the Barcelona, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, Minnesota and BBC Symphony Orchestras; the Bavarian Radio Symphony; the Deutsches Sinfonie, Berlin; the Wiener Symphoniker; the Polish National Radio Symphony; the MDR Orchestra; the NHK Symphony, Tokyo; and the Orchestra Nacionale de Espana, Madrid. In Australia she has conducted the West Australian, Adelaide, Melbourne and Queensland Symphony Orchestras and the Australian World Orchestra..
Simone Young is also a favoured guest conductor at the world's leading opera houses and in recent seasons has appeared at the Vienna State Opera: A Midsummer Night’s Dream(Britten), Das verratene Meer (Henze), Lohengrin, The Gambler (Prokofiev), Faust, Parsifal and Salome; Bavarian State Opera, Munich: Jenufa, Tannhäuser, Aus einem toten Haus (Janacek), Tristan und Isolde, Fidelio, and Elektra; Berlin State Opera: Tosca, Fidelio, Chowantschina(Mussorgsky) Die Frau ohne Schatten, Tannhäuser; Zurich Opera: Elektra, Fidelio, Parsifal and Lohengrin; Teatro Real, Madrid: Lear (Reimann); Royal Swedish Opera, Stockholm: Elektra. Upcoming engagements include returns to Zurich, Munich, Berlin, Vienna, The Metropolitan Opera New York and Opera Nationale de Paris.
Simone Young was Music Director of Opera Australia from 2001 to 2003, Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra from 1999 - 2002 and from 2007 – 2012 was Principal Guest Conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Lisbon. Since 2017 she has been the Principal Guest Conductor of the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra.
Whilst Music Director of Opera Australia her development of musical standards in the company received praise from the profession and the public alike. During this time, productions she conducted included Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Otello, Eugene Onegin,Lulu, Lucia di Lammermoor, Tristan und Isolde, Tannhäuser, Falstaff, Don Carlos, Andrea Chenier, La bohème, Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro (from the fortepiano), Katya Kabanova, Un Ballo in Maschera, Der Rosenkavalier and Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci.
Simone Young is the recipient of many awards and honours including the 2019 European Cultural Prize Vienna, the 2014 International Opera Awards for best anniversary production for the Verdi trilogy - La battaglia di Legnano, I due Foscari, I Lombardi with the Hamburg Staatsoper, the 2011 Sir Bernard Heinze Award, the 2005 prestigious Goethe Institute Medal, her appointment as a Member of the Order of Australia in 2004, the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from France and Honorary Doctorates from the University of Western Australia, Griffith University, Monash University and the University of New South Wales.
She has also been elected to the Akademie der Kuenste in Hamburg, nominated as the Conductor of the Year by Opernwelt magazine and awarded a Professorship at the Musikhochschule in Hamburg. Other awards include Green Room Awards for her performances of Die Frau ohne Schatten (Melbourne Festival), Tristan und Isolde, and Lulu, Helpmann Awards for Best Classical Concert with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Best Musical Direction (Andrea Chenier), the Mo Award for “Classical Performer of the Year”, and a Grammy nomination for her recording of La Juive.
Text from Ms Young’s biography on the Sydney Symphony Orchestra website.
November 2021 - Announcing the new AMF Awardees for 2021/22
Congratulations to the AMF awardees for 2021/22. Owing to the incredibly high standard of performance and the great need demonstrated by so many applicants, the members of the panel were keen to help as many students as possible. Therefore, fifteen Awardees were selected for the last academic year instead of the usual nine. We were delighted that with the help of our major donors - The Nora Goodridge Foundation of Sydney and the Portland House Foundation of Melbourne - we have been able to assist so many young musicians to study overseas. We could not continue our work without their amazing generosity and that of all our other donors.
Robbin Reza - piano
AMF Nora Goodridge Emerging Artist Award
With a keen interest in classical and modern piano music, 27-year-old pianist Robbin Reza loved performing for the public from a very early age. Originally from Sydney, but currently based in Cologne, Germany, Robbin is in his final year at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln. In 2021, he was the winner of the Fingertips International Piano Competition and will be recording a CD featuring works by lesser known composers such as Medtner, Griffes, and a new work premiere. Thanks to the AMF Nora Goodridge Emerging Artist Award, he will be using the generous funds to purchase high quality recording equipment and learn how to record himself to keep up with the increasing demand for online concerts and competition applications. Robbin also received support from the AMF in 2018 and 2019.
Cassandra Wright - soprano
AMF Nora Goodridge Developing Artist Award
Cassandra Wright was born in Cairns and is in her first year at Royal Academy Opera under the tutelage of Kate Paterson and Jonathan Papp. Her studies are generously supported by the AMF Nora Goodridge Developing Artist Award with further support from The Tait Memorial Trust, The Countess of Munster Trust and The Knights of the Round Table. Cassandra completed her undergraduate music studies at the Queensland Conservatorium and obtained her Master’s with Distinction from the RAM in 2021. She was the winner of the 2021 Bampton Young Singers’ Competition and recently performed Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Academy Symphony Orchestra under the baton of John Wilson. She is a Leeds Lieder Young Artist and a member of the prestigious Academy Song Circle with whom she will perform as a soloist at Wigmore Hall and at the Royal Festival Hall under the baton of Ed Gardner in 2022.
Cleo Lee-McGowan - soprano
AMF Nora Goodridge Developing Artist Award
Cleo is a Melbourne-born soprano, currently on the Opera Course at the Guildhall School where she recently sang the title role in Viardot’s Cendrillon, and will shortly be undertaking the title role in Judith Weir’s Miss Fortune. She made her debut with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 2020 as a soloist in Joe Hisaishi’s East Land Symphony, and with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2019 as Niece 2 in Peter Grimes. Cleo was also a soloist with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra in Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She was a Melba Opera Trust scholar from 2017 to 2019, and sang Gretel in Hansel and Gretel with Victorian Opera. In 2019 she won first prize at the Sydney Eisteddfod, and was a finalist in the Bel Canto Award and Australian Singing Competition. Cleo is incredibly grateful for the support of the AMF Nora Goodridge Developing Artist Award towards her studies in London.
Sebastian Pini - double bass
AMF Nora Goodridge Young Artist Award
Sebastian is currently studying double bass with Božo Paradzik, in the third year of his BMus at the Hochschule für Musick Freiburg, Germany. His AMF Nora Goodridge Young Artist Award will help to fund his studies and enable him to purchase a new instrument. Coming from a family of musicians, Sebastian performed in the chamber music series, Pini, Hazelwood & Friends, from the age of nine. At the age of fourteen was awarded the licentiate Diploma of Australia with distinction. In 2019 he won first prize in the Melbourne Bass Competition and the International String Player Award at the Gisborne International Music Competition in New Zealand. In 2021 Sebastian was selected as Principal Bass of the Australian Youth Orchestra, and awarded AYO Bass Fellowships with the Melbourne and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras.
Emma-Shay Gallenti-Guilfoyle - lute and guitar
AMF Guy Parsons Award (Portland House Foundation)
Emma-Shay Gallenti-Guilfoyle is a guitarist and lutenist from Brisbane, undertaking a Masters in guitar performance at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, Germany, with Prof. Olaf Van Gonnissen. Since beginning her guitar studies with Dr. Paul Svoboda at Loreto College in Brisbane, Emma-Shay has gone on to perform for international audiences at numerous international guitar festivals and competitions. Emma-Shay has a keen interest in Renaissance and Baroque music and is currently working on J.S. Bach arrangements, Dowland lute songs and basso continuo on theorbo. The generous AMF Guy Parsons Award will allow Emma-Shay to purchase a handmade Archlute.
James Chen - violin. James is from Sydney and is completing the fourth year of his BMus at the Royal Academy of Music, supported by the AMF and the Richard and Suresh MacMillan Scholarship. He currently plays an 1847 Giovanni Francesco Pressenda violin, on loan from the Academy, and has been awarded an MMSF Fellowship with the Philharmonia Orchestra.
Mitzi Gardner - violin. Mitzi is from Sydney and is in the final year of her BMus at the Royal Academy of Music. She received support from the AMF in 2019 and 2020 and this year's award will enable her to travel to Europe to explore options for her MMus. She is an Ambassador for the Benedetti Foundation, and recently won a place on the London Symphony Orchestra’s String Scheme.
Hana Hart - accompanist. Hana is from Brisbane and has begun an MA in vocal accompaniment at the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna. She plans to buy her own piano with the funds from her AMF Award, which will enable her to practise at home, as rooms at college have been severely restricted during the pandemic.
Hamish James - tenor. Hamish is from Sydney where gained his BMus at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He is currently completing his Artist Masters in Vocal Studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he holds the Sidney Perry Foundation Scholarship. His AMF Award will contribute towards his studies at the GSMD.
Waynne Kwon - cello. Waynne is from Sydney and completed his BMus and MMus at the RNCM in Manchester, where he won the RNCM Gold Medal and Concerto Competition. He has been supported by the AMF from 2016 to 2019 and was the winner of the AMF Guy Parsons Award in 2017. This year's AMF award will help with fees for the Continuing Professional Development course at the RNCM.
Mana Ohashi - violin. Mana is from Melbourne and studied at ANAM before moving to the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich, for an Artistic Bachelor degree. She is a founding member of the Partridge String Quartet and her AMF award will facilitate her studies in Europe and help towards the purchase of a new instrument.
Jessica Scott - flute. Jessica is from Sydney and is studying for an MA at the Royal Academy of Music. She completed her BMus at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Her AMF award will enable her to cover her fees and living expenses in the UK, with further support from the Ian Potter Cultural Trust and others.
William Shi - accompanist. William is from Brisbane and completed his BMus at the University of Queensland and his Masters at the Mannes School of Music. He is currently undertaking a DMA in Piano Performance & Literature and an MM in Piano Accompanying & Chamber Music at Eastman School of Music, USA.
Shakira Tsindos - mezzo soprano. Shakira is from Melbourne and is now a Young Artist at the National Opera Studio in London. She has previously sung with Opera Australia and Victorian Opera and has been selected as a Samling Artist and an Emerging Artist for Oxford Lieder. Her AMF award will help support her living costs while at the NOS.
Victoria Wong - violin. Victoria is from Sydney and is studying for her MMus at the University of the Arts in Berlin, majoring in Orchestral Performance. She recently played the Brahms violin concerto with the Akademisches Orchester in the Leipzig Gewandhaus. Victoria was the recipient of AMF Awards from 2017 to 2019 and this year's award will contribute towards living costs and travel.
The AMF awards new prizes at the ABC Young Performers Awards in Sydney
The Trustees of the Australian Music Foundation would like to congratulate the Semi-Finalists and Finalists for the ABC Young Performers Awards 2022. This competition is the premier Australian national competition for instrumentalists with a long history of promoting the best in young Australian talent. As the basic aims of the Y.P.A and the AMF Australia are to assist and encourage the outstanding talents of the future, we had no hesitation in awarding some extra prize money to four of the top six contestants to assist them in some small way as they begin their artistic journeys.
These awards were made in recognition of those wonderful young musicians who may have not secured the top financial prizes on offer for the Y.P.A on this occasion, but whom we have no doubt will go on to very successful careers in the music industry. Our congratulations go to Jason Henery (Double Bass), Edward Walton (Violin), Yebin Yoo (Violin) and Tony Lee (Piano) for their Australian Music Foundation Awards.