Adjudicators in 2023  

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We are excited to announce the 2023 adjudicators. For the piano section we will have Dr. Mark McGee, Amanda Miller, Anne Stevens and Peggy Shen. For the string sections we will have Dr. Nicole Hammill, Rosalind Graham and Sarah Jameson. 

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Piano 

Mark McGee

Mark McGee is Assistant Director of Music at St. Kevin’s College and also teaches piano and lectures in piano pedagogy at Melbourne University’s Faculty of Music where he became, in 2002, the first pianist in Australia to have conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts. He is a Federal examiner with the AMEB and is also a qualified teacher of the Alexander Technique.

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Mark’s experience as a pianist is considerable, and includes concertos with various ABC State Orchestras, numerous solo recitals and performances with some of Australia’s most distinguished musicians. He was first prize winner of the inaugural Australian National Piano Award held at Shepparton. His exposure, during his years of study in Europe in the 1980s, to the teaching of pianists Claudio Arrau and Wilhelm Kempff, and the conductor Sergiu Celibidache, has been of central importance to the development of his musical philosophy and ideas about teaching.
 

Amanda Miller

Amanda graduated from Sydney Conservatorium with a Bachelor of Music followed by a Masters of Music, concluding with Distinction in Performance. She has had the privilege to study with Sydney's leading piano teachers: Elizabeth Powell, Lyall Dyke and Margaret Hair. She was also a Scholarship student of Professor Lev Vlasenko (Chair of Piano, Moscow) and had the privilege to study with him during his annual visits to Australia.

 

During her studies, she pursued her particular interest in the piano music of Ginastera and Stravinsky. After graduating, Amanda was invited to tutor at the Conservatorium in the 'young and talented' program at the Open Academy. She was one of the inaugural teachers in the program and taught there for over a decade. During her tenure, she also tutored Chamber Music and has served on audition panels. In addition to this, Amanda was again invited to teach at the Australian Institute of Music in their 'Rising Stars' program and lectured in Performance Studies in the High School.

 

Amanda has a long- held interest in working in choral circles. She was rehearsal pianist for the Sydney University Graduate Choir for 12 years which saw her give many performances including Britten's Mass for St Nicolas, Orff's Carmina Burana, Carmina Cartuli and Veni Creator Spiritus, Martinu's Field Mass, and as soloist in Beethoven's Choral Fantasy and Rossini's Petite Messe Sollenelle. She has also held the position of rehearsal pianist and Chamber Organist in Sydney Grammar School's 'Bach Choir' which performed all the extant Bach Cantatas.

 

Amanda is passionate about the education and formation of young pianists, and devotes her working career to this. She aims to inspire each of her students in the areas of aural and intellectual creativity, technique, discipline and performance to allow her students to investigate their fullest potential. To this end, she currently holds the position of Assistant  Music Master at Sydney Grammar School, examines for the AMEB as a piano examiner and runs a vibrant private practice in Sydney's North. 

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Anne Stevens

Anne Stevens graduated from the Canberra School of Music in 1975 and gained her DCSM (Hons) in Performance in 1977and BA (Mus) in 1978.She studied both piano and flute and harp. Piano teacher’s included Lindsay Bingham and Larry Sitsky. Her flute studies were with Margaret Crawford and David Cubbin and post-tertiary studies with Vernon Hill and Geoffrey Collins. Having attended masterclasses with Sergei Dorensky (piano) and James Galway (flute) her life-long passion for chamber music and performance was further stimulated and led her to pursue her highly successful career in chamber music and solo performance with great vigour. In conjunction with her performance was her piano teaching, with her studio always in great demand. She has performed as piano soloist with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (Young Performers), Sydney and Canberra Youth, Maruki and Sydney Conservatorium Orchestra and as flautist and violist with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, Canberra Opera Orchestra ,Waverley Philharmonic Society, Orange Symphony, Macquarie Philharmonic and Maruki Orchestras. Anne has been a tireless and energetic advocate of chamber music and instrumental performance and played an enormous role in the development of music in the Central Western Region of NSW .Whilst establishing her professional performing profile, as a hallmark of the region. She plays regularly in Canberra as a Chamber musician in partnership with John Gould and Rita Woolhouse, runs a busy teaching and accompanying practice in Orange and currently teaches piano studies at Kinross Wolaroi School.

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Peggy Shen

Peggy Shen has taught piano in high schools, as well as privately, for many years. She also teaches music theory. Ms Shen is experienced as an accompanist for instrumental exams. She is now furthering her studies for the ATMusA qualification. A member of the Australian Music Therapy Association, Ms Shen also works in the music therapy profession.

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Strings 

Nicole Hammill

In 2018, Nicole Hammill was appointed strings coordinator at the Mitchell Conservatorium in Bathurst. She previously lived in Queensland, performing for nearly 20 years with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.

As a soloist and chamber musician, Dr Hammill has performed in Australia, the United States and Malaysia, including appearances with the QSO Chamber Players, the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, and the Southern Cross Soloists, as well as at the Bangalow Music Festival. She is currently leader of the newly formed Mitchell String Theory and was recently invited to perform with the Sydney-based Robinia Ensemble for Music.

Dr Hammill has lectured at Southeastern Louisiana University and West Virginia University in the United States, as well as James Cook University and the Queensland Conservatorium.

In addition to publishing articles in various music teaching journals, Dr Hammill wrote the AMEB Series 8 Violin Handbooks (Level 2). She frequently adjudicates at eisteddfods and competitions.

 

Rosalind Graham 

A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London, Rosalind Graham studied the cello with Andrew Schulman, Derek Simpson and Lionel Handy whilst in the UK.

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She has performed extensively in Europe with orchestras including Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. Since moving to Australia, Rosalind has performed regularly as principal cellist with the Ku-ring-Gai Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

As a teacher, Mrs Graham has over 18 years’ experience teaching at St. Ignatius College, MLC School, The Kings School and Moriah College. She worked for several years tutoring and directing chamber ensembles at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Open Academy. In addition to being a strings examiner for the AMEB, Rosalind maintains a thriving private studio, teaching from beginner through to Diploma level.

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Rosalind is an active supporter of the KPO NSW Secondary Schools Concerto Competition giving performance opportunities to many of NSW finest young musicians. She further fosters music education by helping to establish string programmes in Sydney primary schools.

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Sarah Jameson 

Cellist Sarah Jameson completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, having studied with Dorothy Sumner and Georg Pedersen. Her master’s thesis was on the topic of cello pedagogy. 

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Mrs Jameson has an active career as a performer and chamber musician. Since 2013, she has been Principal Cellist with the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra. Between 2010 and 2016, she toured with Musica Viva. Mrs Jameson plays regularly with local ensembles and for community and school events.

 

In addition to performing, Mrs Jameson has taught privately and at schools including Barker College and Loreto Normanhurst. She has composed and arranged extensively for youth string orchestras and has initiated and developed string programs in schools. As a teacher, she is committed to providing students with a solid technical foundation while fostering their enthusiasm and love of playing.

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