AYO Young Symphonists: Look at the Stars

Dr Luke Dollman has conducted throughout Europe and Australasia, working with orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Helsinki Philharmonic, Monte Carlo Philharmonic, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Halle Staatskapelle, Lausanne Sinfonietta, and all of Australia’s professional orchestras. In the field of opera he has been a regular guest at the Finnish National Opera, and has also worked for Opera Australia, the State Opera of South Australia, and the Netherlands Opera.  Luke is a graduate of the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and furthered his studies at the Aspen Festival of Music and Accademia Chigiana in Italy. He is Associate Professor of Conducting and Deputy Director at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide.

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Ann is an internationally recognised composer whose music is truly Australian but embraces her close connection with European music through her family of professional musicians from Bohemia. Her musical style is often classed as ‘chameleon’ and is the outcome of this inheritance.

Her works have been performed at many landmark events, including “The Bells of Sydney Harbour,” composed for the opening of the new Ron Sharp organ in the Sydney Opera House; “Images of Australia,” composed for the ABC television documentary marking the bicentenary of European settlement in Australia; the orchestral work “Look at the Stars,” performed by the Australian Youth Orchestra at the opening of the new Parliament House in Canberra; and “Beneath the Yellow Moon” in the ABC Classic FM radio series “Images of our Times.”

These landmark events, plus the constant presence of her music in radio broadcasts and concerts and the popularity of such works as Fandango for mandolins, have made her music well known and loved. For the last 20 years Ann’s piano, flute, cello and other instrumental music have been part of the Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) syllabus.

Jessica Wells is a versatile composer, orchestrator, and arranger for concerts, films, theatre, and album recordings.

Her business, Jigsaw Music, provides music preparation services for clients all over the world. She also works as a recording producer and conductor. She was the Musical Director of the APRA Screen Music Awards from 2017-2022, and she is the current Vice President of the Music Arrangers Guild of Australia.

Jessica has orchestrated dozens of scores for the screen including “Elvis”, “Blueback”, “Shadow and Bone”, “Brahmastra”, “Ivy and Bean” and “Paper Planes”.

She is in demand as a concert composer, with recent commissions for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, West Australian Ballet, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Gondwana Choirs, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Australian Youth Orchestra, Acacia Quartet, Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra, and Ensemble Offspring.

She co-orchestrated “Of the Earth” by William Barton, for the opening of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, with several hundred performers on stage, conducted by Simone Young and televised nationally.

In February 2024 her orchestral film score for “Australia”: a three-part documentary series about Australian wildlife, was recorded by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jessica at Trackdown Scoring Stage in Sydney.