Marin Alsop

Whatever women do, they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult for Marin Alsop, the world’s most celebrated female conductor.

Alsop was raised in New York City to professional musician parents. She attended Yale University, but later transferred to the Juilliard School, where she earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in violin. She founded the string ensemble String Fever in 1981. She won the Koussevitzky Prize as outstanding student conductor at the Tanglewood Music Center in 1989.

Since 1992, she has been the musical director of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, California. The festival specializes in contemporary orchestral music.

In 1993 to 2005, she was the first principal conductor and then music director of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Today, she is now the orchestra’s conductor laureate.

Alsop has also served as music director of the Eugene Symphony in Eugene, Oregon. Furthermore, she was the associate conductor of the Richmond Symphony in Richmond, Virginia, from 1988 to 1990. On September 20, 2005, she also became the first conductor ever to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.

Alsop conducted her first recording in 2000 with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in a selection of works by Samuel Barber, which was released as part of the American Classics Series on Naxos.

One of the highlights of Alsop’s recording with Naxos includes a Brahms symphony cycle with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

 Her skills as a music director have so far graced major orchestras in Colorado, Bournemouth, Baltimore and, most recently, São Paulo. Her interpretative style combines a natural flair for rhythm with a glowing, expressive cantabile.

On 7 September 2013, she became the first woman to conduct The Last Night of the Proms.

Currently, Alsop is committed to democratizing access to music education by providing a new educational program called “OrchKids”, in which underprivileged Baltimore children will receive free music instruction, based on Venezuela’s El Sistema program.

Indeed, she is no less than a woman; she is a woman with great courage.

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Australian Music Examinations Board

The AMEB (Australian Music Examinations Board) is a haven of Music.

It has a graded system of examinations in music, speech and drama, by offering high quality syllabuses, educative services to their teachers, examiners and candidates, and quality publications to the highest editorial standard.

Online Exams

Interested candidates can complete exams in Theory of Music, Musicianship and Music Craft online. Students can take exams at the most convenient way. They do a written exam at any time or place.

Practical Exams

AMEB provides graded examinations for a range of musical instruments (including voice) which coversclassical, popular and contemporary styles and techniques. Practical examinations will contain the following areas: technical work; studies and pieces; aural tests; sight reading and general knowledge.

Written Exams

Aside from practical exams, AMEB also offers graded written examinations in three subject areas: Theory of Music, Music Craft and Musicianship. These subjects cover the theoretical aspects of music, complementing and enriching students’ practical studies.

Teaching Exams

AMEB has also graded examinations in teaching music which includes one certificate exam, Certificate Teacher of Music Australia (CTMusA), and two diploma exams, Associate Teacher of Music Australia (ATMusA) and Licentiate Teacher of Music Australia (LTMusA). The exams coverteaching practices and combine practical and written sections to allow teachers to become more equipped with knowledge and hone professional expertise.

Voices of the South Children’s Choir

Voices of the South Children’s Choir (VSCC) is a community-based choir in Davao City, Philippines and composed of children with ages 8-16 years old whom studying from different schools. It was organized in 2011 to fulfill the dreams of the children to develop their talents and excel in the field of music.

Some of the VSCC members were finalists of the 2010 National Music Competition for Young Artists (NAMCYA) under a school choir who competed in the Cultural Center of the Philippines. VSCC was declared as a national qualifier and semi-finalist for 2011 and 2012 MBC National Choral Competition. The choir also won 3rd place in the 2012 Himig Handog Competition, Musikahan sa Tagum National Competition. For two (2) consecutive years, in March 2012 and 2013, VSCC was among the awardees of the Davao City Mayor and Vice Mayor’s Award for Cultural and Arts for its role in the development of music among the children in the city.

VSCC joined local competitions such as Abreeza’s Melodies and Harmonies Christmas Choral Competition and Panaygon, Pasko Fiesta sa Dabaw last December 2012. Fortunately, the choir was able to grab the 1st prize for both the said competitions. Among the significant VSCC engagements were the children’s performances in the two well-known hotels in Davao City, namely, the Apo View Hotel, Royal Mandaya Hotel, Waterfront Insular Hotel.  The latest achievement of the group was winning in an international competition in Pattaya, Thailand last July 25-27, 2013, the “6th Grand Prix Pattaya 2013 International Choir Competition” – a Gold Medal for Folklore category and Silver Medal for Children’s category.

VSCC made their debut concert on July 13, 2013 at the CAP Mini-Auditorium to raise funds for the Thailand trip.  Upon their triumphant return, various singing invitations were offered, among these were a repeat concert at the Sto.Tomas provincial gym for its fiesta, a guesting at the One Night, One Passion….Music Concert organized by the Association of Practicing Musicians in Davao City, Inc. (APMDCI) at the Royal Mandaya Hotel, the launching of Jollibee’s “Maaga ang Pasko” at SM City Annex, and other engagements lined-up in the coming months.

VSCC is currently directed by the choir director of the 2009 NAMCYA Choir-C Champion and a member of the Philippine Choral Directors Association, Mr. Peter Ian C. Buaya.

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Apollo Male Chorus

The Apollo Male Chorus has grown to be not just only one of the oldest continuously performing male choruses in the United States since 1885, but also one of the better known and more widely traveled performing companies in the nation.

The group was first built as music community in the Upper Midwest. Thereafter, the Apollo Male Chorus burst on to the national scene in the middle of the last century when Lowell Thomas invited the Chorus to perform two pieces for his 1956 motion picture The Seven Wonders of the World; its performance of “This Is My Country” serves as the background of the film’s finale.

The Chorus went on to perform live at the Chicago premier of the movie. In 1957, the Chorus performed as part of the inaugural festivities launching President Dwight Eisenhower’s second term in office. The following year, the Chorus performed at the Brussels World’s Fair – Expo 58. The Chorus went on to perform at the International Choral Kathaumixw in Canada, and the Eisteddfod International Choral Competition in Wales – the first chorus in any category to place in the top three in their first appearance. The Chorus continues its tradition of offering world-class performances in the Twin Cities and throughout our region.

Their continuous performance triggered an increase of their motivation.

Throughout the years, the Chorus’s passion remains male choral singing and its goal is to promote male choral singing in their community. In 2012, the Chorus hosted the Northstar Male Choral Festival as a way to thank the Twin Cities community that has graciously supported it since then. This festival also served as an opportunity to promote male choral music, network with other ensembles, educate, and share its mutual love of music. Over 100 young men from Irondale High School, Coon Rapids High School, Minnehaha Academy, and the Minnesota Boychoir participated in the festival with Cantus as the guest ensemble. In 2013, the Northstar Male Choral Festival welcomes the Singing Statesmen from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

The group does always treasure the members. Many lifelong friendships have been formed over the years, while fathers and sons have made singing in Apollo a family tradition. The Apollo Male Chorus’s talented musical staff inspires and leads its members to grow their musical talents and share them with others. It is the Chorus’s sincerest desire that its love for choral music be strengthened by its experience and that friends and family be touched and inspired as well.

Truly, we can find comfort on our duties when we learn to love it and the people we work with. The Apollo Male Chorus members are living proof to that, which made them last for 117 years.

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Celine Byrne

Irish singer Celine Byrne was born in Naas, Ireland, and completed her musical studies at the Royal Irish Academy of Music as well as the Conservatory of Music and Drama in Dublin. Coaching lessons led her to the National Opera Studio of London, Christa Ludwig, Wolfgang Holzmair and Malcolm Martineau amongst others. She has appeared at some of the world´s most prestigious opera and concert venues including Carnegie Hall, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Mikhailovsky Theater, Tchaikovsky Hall, Berliner Philharmonie, National Centre of Performing Arts in Beijing, National Concert Hall Dublin or Turkish Culture and Congress Centre Lüfti. A frequent concert performer, Celine became familiar to international audiences early on through her collaborations with José Carreras, Roberto Alagna and Joseph Calleja performing in Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Istanbul, Rotterdam, Linköping, Malmö, Munich, Berlin, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nuremberg, Hamburg and Zadar. Further inspiration she owes to Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Sascha Goetzel, Alexander Soddy and Barry Douglas.

Celine has toured extensively throughout Europe as well as in the US, China, Russia and Mexico. Over the past years, she has increasingly graced opera stages. She made her highly acclaimed operatic debut as Mimì in Scottish Opera’s 2010 production of La Bohème. In March 2012, Celine made her debut at Covent Garden standing-in for Camilla Nylund as Rusalka under the baton of Yannick Nézét-Séguin. During the same period, she also covered the role of Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at Covent Garden. Celine opened the 2012-13 season at Stadttheater Klagenfurt as Agathe in Der Freischütz under Alexander Soddy followed by Micaëla in Carmen with the Moscow State Opera and Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro at Lismore Music Festival in spring 2013. Other noteworthy recent engagements include concerts with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Richard Strauss´ Four Last Songs in Klagenfurt, Austria, and Mahler’s Rückert Lieder at the National Concert Hall, Dublin.

Celine concluded 2013 with a brilliant return visit to the Royal Opera House in December as First Flower Maiden in Parsifal under Antonio Pappano which earned her a Royal Opera House contract as Micaëla in 2015. Other upcoming opera engagements include her role debut as Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier under Patrik Ringborg at Staatstheater Kassel in fall 2014 or Mimì in La Bohème with the Moscow State Opera in Dublin and Moscow in April 2015.

Celine has been awarded many awards, amongst them the Margaret Burke-Sheridan Gold Medal in 2009, First Prize and Gold Medal at the Maria Callas Grand Prix as well as the William Young Prize at the Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition in 2007 and the Brabants Dagblad Press Prize’ at the IVC International Singing Competition in s’Hertogenbosch.

Celine Byrne’s extensive repertoire includes opera, operetta, oratorio and songs. Important works she has performed on a concert level are Messiah, Fauré´s Requiem, Mozart´s Mass in C and Requiem, St. Paul and Elijah by Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Gustav Mahler´s Rückert Lieder, Bachianas Brasileiras no. 5 by Heitor Villa-Lobos and the Four Last Songs. Opera and operetta roles include Mimì, Rusalka, Micaëla (Carmen), Agathe in (Der Freischütz), Countess Almaviva (Le Nozze Di Figaro), Fiordiligi (Così Fan Tutte), Donna Elvira in (Don Giovanni), Nedda (I Pagliacci), Liù (Turandot), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), Wally (La Wally), Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus), Hanna Glawari (The Merry Widow), Marguerite (Faust), Juliette (Roméo et Juliette), Nora (Riders To The Sea) or Ann Chute (Lily of Killarney).

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Haeran Hong

“Among the fresh voices heard, the most finished were those of Haeran Hong, a soprano who sang with gleaming tone and deftly negotiated ornate lines as Dalinda, Ginevra’s confidante; Anthony Roth Costanzo, an intense, engaging countertenor, who played the treacherous Polinesso; and Shenyang.” Steve Smith, an American musician, said.

The2011 International Queen Elizabeth Grand Prize winner Haeran Hong has been noted as “charming of form, manner, and voice.” As a soprano singer, Hong has already performed various leading roles including Adina in L’Elisird’Amore, Gilda in Rigoletto, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. Her voice is widely described as purest nectar.

In 2010, she became a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and won the Career Bridges Competition in New York. Hong finished her Bachelor of Music degree at the Korean National University of Arts and a Master’s degree in Opera Studies at The Juilliard School.

At the Metropolitan opera, Ms. Hong covered the roles of Nannetta in Falstaff and Sophie in Werther, and also participated in the production of Die Frau ohneSchatten.

She also joined the Vien Strauss Festival Orchestra in Korea and had guest appearances in concerts in New York, Los Angeles, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.

Among her concerts, the most remarkable were Bach’s WassGott tut, das ist wohl getan and Brahms’ Neue LiebesliederWaltzes with the La Jolla Summer Fest, as well as Villa Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 with the Aspen Music Festival.

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Wendy Brentnall-Wood

Wendy Brentnall-Wood is a graduate of Melbourne University Conservatorium of Music in 1981, and A.Mus.A Piano, Wendy has also played and taught numerous instruments since quite young.

As newly qualified teacher Wendy was frustrated by the number of students she saw leaving music classes simply because they found it hard or dull and she set out to improve the teaching materials and methods available.

Wendy has now written over 110 beginner instrumental music books for Piano, Guitar, Violin, Flute, Saxophone and Singing. These books include Method books, Technique books, Create or Improvising books and Sight reading. All books work together in a sequential and step by step, simple and easy to follow system.

Throughout Wendy’s career she has taught classroom music in primary and secondary schools, developed and delivered a preschool music program known as “the Little Musos”, run instrumental music programs in almost 40 primary schools and 4 Retail Music Schools in Melbourne and trained and employed around 30 teachers at a time.

Wendy continues to teach several instruments and is developing her materials for use online and in her rapidly expanding Music School Franchise in Australia.

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