Brass Tutor
Question: Can you tell us a bit about you, and what you are up to these days?
Answer I lead a busy life as a musician. I have had a great year (post the covid lockdowns of the previous two years) playing Principal trumpet with various groups including the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra and Pinchgut Opera. I’m also teaching the trumpet at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Question: What was a highlight of your time in AYO programs?
Answer Two highlights. The European tour in 1988 and playing with AYO at the opening of Parliament House in Canberra.
Question: What skills, musical and otherwise, did you take away from your time at AYO?
Answer I learnt an enormous amount during my AYO years. How to really listen to your orchestral colleagues and to work as a section when playing in an orchestra. Forming relationships with peers that to this day are still significant both professionally and personally.
Question: How did you find the experience of returning to AYO programs as a tutor?
Answer Returning as a tutor, it has been a privilege to be able to give back to the community from which I came. To watch the amazing young talent of the next generation blossom and mature.
Question: What was your favourite piece or performance during your programs?
Answer Playing at the Proms in London as part of AYO European tour was my favourite performance.
Question: Why do you think AYO is important to the Australian cultural landscape?
Answer AYO is training and shaping the next generation of Australia’s foremost classical musicians. There is no training ground better in this country. It is a crucial part of the musical education of our finest talent in Australia.
Question: How would you describe AYO in three words?
Answer Dynamic, vibrant, preeminent.