Australian musicians in Europe

The classical music industry is very competitive, yet many young Australians who go to Europe to study are able to succeed in building professional careers as instrumentalists or singers. They work as soloists, in small ensembles or in orchestras.

Young aspiring musicians in Australia can learn a lot from reading the biographies of successful classical musicians. Find out where they studied in Australia, what scholarships they won, how they raised the funds to study overseas and where they are now.

For the latest information on Australian musicians in Europe see the facebook page Australian musicians in Europe.

Australian Musicians in Europe now has a Facebook page for Aussies overseas to connect with fans in Australia and overseas.

Join the gang and post your latest gigs, concerts, find out what Australian musicians are doing in Europe, find job ads and much more . . .

https://www.facebook.com/AustralianMusiciansInEurope

Jayson grew up in the regional Queensland town of Dalby and began lessons at 4 years old with Eugene Geinger in Toowoomba.

He is now based in London.

His most recent performances were in the 2012 Leeds International Piano Competition. He reached the finals, performing Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the Hallé and conductor Sir Mark Elder in the Leeds Town Hall.

In 2012 Jayson was named Commonwealth Musician of the Year and won the Royal Over-Seas League’s (ROSL) 60^th Annual Music Competition. HRH Princess Alexandra presented Jayson with the Gold Medal at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. Previous ROSL gold medallists have included fellow Australian pianists Geoffrey Parsons, Geoffrey Tozer and Piers Lane.

Of Jayson’s many competition experiences, perhaps the most memorable moment was performing in the 2010 Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw, before an all-star jury led by Martha Argerich and Nelson Freire. After Jayson’s semi-final performance, competition critic Michael Moran remarked: “A deep natural musicality… reminded me at various moments so much of the moderation and taste of Artur Rubinstein – qualities in very short supply during this competition.”

Simone (born 1961) is an Australian conductor who was born in Sydney.

She studied composition, piano and conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in the 1980s and worked at Opera Australia as a répétiteur and conducted at the Sydney Opera House from 1985.

She traveled to Europe and was assistant to James Conlon at the Cologne Opera, and Daniel Barenboim at the Berlin State Opera and the Bayreuth Festival. She was the first female conductor at the Vienna State Opera in 1993

From 1998 until 2002, she was principal conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in Norway.

At the 2000 Sydney Olympics she conducted the Sydney Symphony Orchestra performing "Advance Australia Fair" at the opening ceremony.

From 2001 to 2003, she was chief conductor of Opera Australia in Sydney.

In May 2003, she was named chief executive of the Hamburg State Opera and chief conductor of the Philharmoniker Hamburg, posts which she assumed in 2005.

In November 2005, she was the first female conductor to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 2006, she was appointed Professor of Music and Theatre at the University of Hamburg.

In 2012 she was voted Limelight magazine's Music Personality of the Year.

Mezzo Soprano Hayley Sugars commenced her vocal training at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ - BMUS Hons) and subsequently undertook Postgraduate study at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music (QCM) in Brisbane (Graduate Diploma in Opera Performance and Master of Music Studies).

During her studies, Hayley was the recipient of many academic and performance awards, including the Elizabeth Muir Postgraduate Scholarship (QCM) and the Joyce Campbell Lloyd Overseas Scholarship (USQ). While undertaking fulltime tertiary study Hayley performed a total of 10 complete principal operatic roles.

Since 2005 Hayley has been a member of the Opera Queensland Chorus and was a member of the company’s Young and Developing Artist Program from 2007 – 2009, during which time she performed minor roles and covers of principal roles in main stage productions.

Hayley has enjoyed success in local and national competitions including appearing as a finalist in the 2009 MacDonald’s Aria Competition, at the Sydney Opera House, as a semi-finalist in the 2009 More than Opera German-Australian Grant and as a finalist in the 2010 Dame Joan Sutherland Award.

Hayley has appeared regularly as a soloist throughout Queensland, and in 2010 performed Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro) as part of the Brisbane Festival and as a soloist with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in their Opera Gala Concert. In 2011 Hayley again appeared as a soloist with QSO as part of the Music on Sundays series and as Second Fairy in Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

In December 2010 Hayley won the More than Opera German-Australian Grant and is currently (July 2011) studying German language at the Goethe Insitiute (Freiburg) prior to taking up a Principal Fest Contract with the Hessisches Staatstheater in Wiesbaden (Germany).

Australian baritone Andrew Finden is quickly garnering the attention of audiences and critics alike for his compelling stage presence and vocal qualities. A Samling Scholar, Britten-Pears Young Artist and an alumni of the International Vocal Arts Institute's Tel Aviv Summer Opera Programme, Andrew recently gained a Master of Music with Distinction on the prestigious Opera Course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he was awarded the Harold Rosenthal Prize.

Since the beginning of the 2011/12 season Andrew has been a member of the ensemble of the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, where his roles include Papageno (Mozart's Die Zauberflöte), Il Conte (Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro), Ned Keene (Britten's Peter Grimes), Count Oscar (Offenbach's Barbe-Bleu). His performance of Clito in the 2012 Karlsruhe Händel-Festpiele prduction of Alessandro is available as a live recording on the Pan Classics label.

Andrew is an alumni of the Internationales Opernstudio des Staatstheaters Nürnberg, where his roles included Il Conte (Donizetti's Emilia di Liverpool), Dr Falke (J. Strauss's Die Fledermaus), Don Alvaro (Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims), and Morales (Bizet's Carmen). Other highlights have included the role of Mr Brooke in the national premiere of Mark Adamo's opera Little Women for the International Vocal Arts Institute in Israel under the guidance of the composer, the role of Steward (cover) in Jonathan Dove's opera Flight for British Youth Opera and Schaunard (Puccini's La Bohéme) for Longborough Festival Opera.

For more on Andrew see his website and blog.

If you are an Australian musician working in Europe and would like to be addded to this page, please contact me.

Australian répétiteur/conductor Steven Moore completed a Bachelor of Music (Hons) at the University of Southern Queensland, majoring in Pipe Organ and Accompaniment.

He continued his studies at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, completing a Graduate Diploma of Music Studies, majoring in Voice.

Steven then completed a Master of Music (Performance) degree with distinction at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on the Repetiteur course, followed by the Repetiteur course at the National Opera Studio.

In 2008 he joined the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London as a repetiteur and conductor.

In 2012 he joined the State Theatre in Karlsruhe.

Carli Maree Walker is an Australian soprano who fell in love with opera and the arts as a child.

She studied at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba and has sung in Pacific Opera in Sydney as well as in Europe.