Guest Presenters and Soloists

Amy Dickson

Saxophonist Amy Dickson began lessons at the age of six and made her concerto debut ten years later. Recognized widely for her remarkable and distinctive tone and exceptional musicality, she has performed in Europe, Africa and Australasia, in venues such as the Wigmore Hall and the Sydney Opera House. She has also performed as a soloist with many orchestras throughout the world including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra.

Born in Sydney, Dickson made her concerto debut aged 16, playing the Dubois Concerto with Henryk Pisarek and the Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra, and subsequently became a recipient of the James Fairfax Australian Young Artist of the Year award. On her 18th birthday she recorded the Dubois Divertissement with John Harding and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The following year she moved to London where she took the Jane Melber Scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music with Kyle Horch, and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Arno Bornkamp. During this time she became the first saxophonist to win major competitions including the Gold Medal at the Royal Overseas League Competition, the Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year Competition, and the Prince's Prize.

In 2005 she performed for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at the Teatru Manoel in Valetta, Malta. She has also performed at the Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh; St James' Palace, London; and for former Australian Prime Minister, John Howard at Parliament House, Canberra. In great demand as a recitalist, she has worked with pianists Catherine Milledge and Martin Cousin in venues including the Wigmore Hall, the Bridgewater Hall, and in festivals throughout the world.

An exclusive recording artist for Sony Music, Dickson has now released two critically acclaimed recordings on the RCA Red Seal label. Her first, Smile, was released in 2008, and led Ivan March of Gramophone magazine to write:
"She has a individual and unusual tone, luscious, silky-smooth, sultry and voluptuous by turns; her phrasing is beautifully finished, her control of dynamic infinitely subtle. She plays very songfully, is often gentle and restrained, at times sounding like the chalumeaux of a clarinet. But she can rise to a passionate climax, as in Danza de la moza donosa, or slinkily respond to Debussy's La plus que lente."

Her second album, Glass, Tavener, Nyman, comprises of the Violin Concerto by Philip Glass and The Protecting Veil by John Tavener, both arranged by Dickson, and Where the Bee Dances by Michael Nyman. She has also made recordings of McDowall's concerto Dancing Fish, Larsson's Konzert and Dubois' Divertissment, and has appeared on Bollywood composer Mithoon Sharma's album Tu Hi Mere Rab Ki Tarah Hai.

Dickson is deeply committed to the development of new repertoire for the saxophone, whilst also championing existing repertoire. She regularly commissions new works, and makes arrangements of existing works from other instrumental repertoire. She has made a substantial contribution to the orchestral, chamber and solo repertoire. Composers who have written for her include Graham Fitkin, Steve Martland, Huw Watkins, Martin Butler, Michael Csanyi-Wills, Cecilia McDowall and Timothy Salter. A concerto by Ross Edwards is currently being commissioned by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. In 2008 she gave the first performance of the Violin Concerto by Philip Glass arranged for soprano saxophone with Otto Tausk and the Auckland Philharmonia, and subsequent performances with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Her arrangement has been published by Chester Novello. In 2010, she will perform Harrison Birtwistle's Panic with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra as part of the Metropolis Series.

Amy is an ambassador of the Prince's Trust, and is a Selmer Paris Performing Artist. She has a great love of fashion and is dressed by Armani, and she is also endorsed by REN skincare.

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Ji Won Kim

Ji Won Kim started her musical studies at the age of four. She attended the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School (VCASS) in 1997 and the year later she was awarded full music scholarship at the Caulfield Grammar School. At the age of sixteen she entered Vienna Musik Hochschule and obtained a Bachelor of Music with high distinction in 2004. At the University of Melbourne in 2008, she completed a Master of Music with high distinction under the guidance of Nelli Shkolnikova. She is currently a student of Alice Waten at the Sydney Conservatorium. She is a recipient of Henderson Postgraduate Scholarship, Henderson Travelling Scholarship and Nelli Apt Scholarship.

Ji Won Kim has won numerous national and international awards. In 2009, she was named the ABC Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year following a performance of the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Her other awards include first prize in the 12th International Johannes Brahms Competition(2005), second prizes in Vienna University competition Stephanie Wohl Wettweberb (2004), the Lisbon SIC International Violin Competition(2004) and the Slovenia Bled International Competition(2002). She has also won Bruckner University Competition (2006), the Hephzibah Menuhin Memorial Award (2007), Australian Concerto and Vocal Competition (2008) and Sydney Conservatorium concerto competition (2009).

She has performed as soloist with orchestras such as Sydney Symphony, Adelaide Symphony, The Queensland Orchestra, Seoul Prime Orchestra, Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Willoughby Symphony, Sydney Conservatorium Chamber Orchestra, the Anton Bruckner University Orchestra, Antonio Scontrino, Swietokrzyska Philharmonic Orchestra, Taipei Youth Orchestra and Daegu Symphony Orchestra. She also performed many solo recitals in Seoul, Vienna, Melbourne, Sydney (Sydney Opera House Utzon room). She also participated in international music festivals namely in Salzburg, New York, Tokyo, Sion, Tel Aviv.

Ji Won Kim performed at the Opera House concert hall twice in June 2010 and received standing ovation. Her future engagements include performances at the Parliament House in Canberra, solo performances with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Her cd will be released in 2011 by ABC.

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Damian Barbeler

Damian Barbeler is a distinctive voice among Australian composers. His catalogue of works demonstrates his versatility and creative range, encompassing Australia's major orchestras, chamber groups and soloists, electronic/radiophonic music, and works for children and amateurs. His early experience was gained as a composer and performer in Brisbane's thriving alternative theatre and experimental music scene. As a result, his compositions bring an innovative and adventurous approach to conventional forces, a personal style appreciated by performers and listeners alike.

In recent times Barbeler's musical activities have been no less adventurous. In 2009 he created Laid in Earth for the Queensland Music Festival, a multi-media event performed on the banks of the Endeavour River in Cooktown, Far North Queensland combining local singers and professional musicians including singer Sarah Blasko. with video and sound design in what was described by the QMF's Artistic Director Deborah Conway as a highlight of the festival. In 2011 he will return to the Queensland Music Festival as Musical Director and composer of a concert of music for orchestra and choir to be performed on Thursday Island in the Torres Strait.

In 2010 Barbeler completed a PhD at the Sydney Conservatorium with Michael Smetanin. Works from this portfolio have received considerable international recognition with Elastic Horizons and Exquisite Blood both being awarded "recommended work" at the International Music Council's "Composer Rostrum", while God in the Machine was premiered in the finals of the Toru Takemitsu Prize in Tokyo, where adjudicator by Steve Reich described Barbeler's work as 'master orchestration'. Silk Panels will tour to China in 2011 with Ironwood ensemble.

In 2006, Barbeler was awarded an Ian Potter Emerging Composer Fellowship, supporting the creation of seven works over two years. Music created under the auspices of this fellowship included commissions for recorder player Genevieve Lacey and, with librettist/author Rodney Hall, a chamber opera for Southern Cross Soloists. His Valse Diploblastic (2007), was performed by percussionist Claire Edwardes, violinist James Cuddeford and domestic tumble–dryer.

Hide and Squeak was commissioned by Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra in 2010 especially to engage young audiences at Kids Proms concerts into the rich and inventive sound world of an orchestra.