All posts in Adjudicators

Organist and Director of Music of the iconic Our Lady of Victories Basilica, organist Christopher Trikilis has established himself as one of this country’s leading exponents of the instrument. He completed music studies at the University of Melbourne studying with John Mallinson (organ) and Mark McGee (piano) while also being Organ Scholar at St Patrick’s Cathedral Melbourne. Maintaining an active performance schedule both as soloist and accompanist, Christopher has performed extensively across Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America. Christopher is also responsible for the installation of pipe organs, and conservation projects in recent years in a number of Melbourne churches. His playing has featured on the national broadcasters of Australia (ABC) and Croatia (HRT), alongside CD and DVD recordings. For nearly a decade, Christopher was Organist and Director of Music at one of Australia’s busiest parish churches, St Patrick’s in Mentone (with its heritage-listed 1862 Nicholson organ). He is also Music Tutor to Corpus Christi Seminary in Carlton, and on staff at St Kevin’s College in Toorak.

Greg Stone is a Guitarist and Drummer with 15 years teaching experience, currently working with students at Overnewton Anglican Community College and Marcellin College. He really enjoys working with students and igniting a lifelong passion for music. Greg is an examiner for the ANZCA music examination board and has travelled both nationally and internationally representing ANZCA. He has played in many bands over the years, contributed session work for various artists as well as his own bands.

Commencing piano lessons with her mother at the age of five, May received a Licentiate Diploma of Music at thirteen. For fifteen years, May appeared with her mother, composer and pianist Val Gavin, in the 2-piano team Duo Gavin. Together they made numerous recordings and performed over 100 recitals. May also plays the violin, playing professionally for dozens of shows in Melbourne. She still has a strong interest in music theatre, and enjoys coaching singers.

May has worked as an accompanist both here and overseas and has also been Music Director for many productions. She toured as the principal accompanist for The Three Chinese Tenors and also as the Music Director for the national tour of The Merry Widow. May and her husband, tenor Raymond Khong have performed extensively in Australia, and have released two recordings on the Move label. May and her brother, internationally renowned tenor Julian Gavin have recently released a recording of music composed by her mother Val, on the Tall Poppies label to critical acclaim. She currently works as a regular accompanist for the Melbourne Women’s Choir, who are currently preparing for their 2^nd European tour in September, and has released a recording with them My Song in the Night

May has a busy performance schedule, both as an accompanist and soloist. Recently she performed Gershwin’s Concerto in F, Carnival of the Animals  and Rhapsody in Blue with the Ballarat Symphony Orchestra, and has been invited to perform Rhapsody againlater this year.  She regularly adjudicates and examines both here and overseas, and as Head of Keyboard and Strings at Donvale Christian College, loves the challenges and rewards of teaching.

May is married and has four noisy, artistic and extremely messy children. When she is not busy with family or music, she enjoys long bushwalks, accompanied by her enormous Great Dane, gardening and sewing.

Born to a family of four generations of musicians, Tamara represents the finest traditions of the Russian Piano School. She is a graduate of Kiev State Conservatorium of Music (Ukraine), University of Melbourne (Master Degree) and PhD (Monash University, Australia). She was the winner of the National Chamber Music Competition (Ukraine) and awarded the Prizes of Best Accompanist and Chamber Musician of Ukraine and USSR. 

She has made numerous radio and TV recordings for national and international broadcasters, commercial recordings on labels which include Cantor Productions, Move, Schimmel International Artists Collection and Vox Australis. Her solo recitals, concerto and chamber-music performances as well as her activities in master-classes and on competition juries have taken her to many prominent venues across three continents.

 From 1994-2018, Tamara Smolyar was a Senior Lecturer,Coordinator of Piano at the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music at Monash University.Currently,Tamara is a Piano staff member at Mentone Girls Grammar School, Australian Guild of Music and Melbourne Conservatorium of Music,University of Melbourne.

As a highly thought after pedagogue, Tamara has been fostering and developing the talents of the musicians under her tutelage to a high level of music performance. She instils in her students a solid technique and opens their ears to the vast scope of the piano literature.Tamara raised a number of piano students who become winners of national and international competitions.

Born in Victoria, and after graduating from the Melbourne University Conservatorium, Judith won the Clarke Scholarship for three years study at the Royal College of Music, London.
In her final year there she won the Hopkinson Gold Medal and the Norris prize.
She studied harpsichord in Siena, Italy at the Accademia Chigiana with Ruggero Gerlin, a pupil of Wanda Landowska.

Judith studied with other great pianists and pedagogues of our time, including Kendall-Taylor,Lamar Crowson, Nadia Boulanger, and Paul Badura-Skoda.

She was awarded a grant from the Dutch Government for a years study of harpsichord under Gustav Leonhardt at the Amsterdams Conservatorium.

Judith gave many recitals in England, where she lived for 23 years. She broadcast for the BBC and for Radio Hilversum. Recital venues included the Universities of  Oxford, Durham, Colchester,Leicester, Surrey and London. As harpsichordist, she joined the Dolmetsch Ensemble.

Since her return to Australia there have been Concerto appearances, several concerts, recitals and tours, including at the Castlemaine Festival, also at Monash University.

Judith taught at the Victorian College of the Arts, Melba Conservatorium and other Tertiary institutions and Colleges. She became an AMEB examiner, also an Assessor for  VCAA. She has adjudicated at more than sixty Eisteddfodau throughout Australia.She is in the process of recording most of the keyboard works of J.S.Bach, and other repertoire.

Julie Haskell is a sought-after piano teacher, specialising in working with talented children and remedial teaching. She is currently the Coordinator for Instrumental Studies and Chamber Music at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School. Previously, Julie taught for many years at the University of Melbourne and worked as an associate artist at the Australian National Academy of Music. She is frequently invited to adjudicate competitions throughout Australia and has been an examiner for the Australian Music Examination Board for over 20 years. She is regularly invited to present masterclasses, workshops and lectures to students, teachers, examiners and at conferences, schools and tertiary institutions in Australia and South East Asia.

After gaining an associate diploma at the age of 13, Julie went on to gain LTCL & FTCL diplomas, a BMus, GradDipEd and PhD. She has worked as an orchestral pianist with the Melbourne Symphony and various European orchestras. As a pianist, she has performed widely in Australia and abroad as a soloist, duo pianist, chamber musician and concerto soloist. Through her doctoral studies, Julie developed an interest in historical performance practice. She now regularly performs as a soloist and chamber musician on historical pianos.

Dr Haskell is deeply involved in the musical life of the community. She was the president of the VMTA for six years and is currently the deputy chair of the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference Association as well as the secretary for the Association for Gifted and Talented Education Victoria.

Roger Lemke’s is one of Australia’s most successful operatic and concert artists with a career spanning over 30 years performing in opera, music theatre, film and concert.

During 1984 – 1986 Roger won a number of prestigious vocal competitions and scholarships including both Melbourne and Sydney Sun Arias in the same year and the Metropolitan Opera award.  He also won the Bel Canto Foundation Chicago scholarship studying with internationally acclaimed singer Carlo Bergonzi  in Italy.

Returning to Australia he made his operatic debut 1985 with Victoria State Opera as Schaunard in La Boheme, and with Opera Australia in 1986.

From 1986 and 2008 he appeared with all the major Australian and New Zealand companies, in a diverse range of principal roles including Papageno in The Magic Flute, Taddeo in The Italian Girl in Algiers, Giuseppe in The Gondoliers, Count Boni in The Gipsy Princess, two seasons as Marcello in the highly acclaimed Baz Luhrmann production of La Boheme (televised throughout the USA, the UK and Europe), the Engineer in the world premiere of The Eighth Wonder by Alan John, Lescaut in Manon Lescaut, the Count and Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus, Figaro in The Barber of Seville, Renato in Un Ballo in Maschera, Sharpless in the Ken Russell production of Madam Butterfly, Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos, Dr. Malatesta in Don Pasquale (receiving a Green Room Award), and as Marcello in The Puccini Spectacular. 

Roger was a regular performer with the Australian Pops Orchestra and on nationally televised musical events. Concert appearances included performances for the Adelaide and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, as well as numerous festival performances including the annual Italian Operatic Festival in Pereta Italy in 2013.

In musical theatre, Roger performed the roles of Old Deuteronomy in Cats, and Javert in the internationally acclaimed 10th Anniversary season of Les Miserable which then toured major cities in Australia and New Zealand.

He appears in the ABC’s recording of Baz Luhman’s La Boheme, The Gondoliers and The Gipsy Princess, and on their Classics label. He also made his film screen debut in The Wiggles Movie.

Based in Melbourne, Roger is a voice teacher, vocal coach, vocal adjudicator and performs as a freelance concert and operatic artist.

MEd, MMusSt, BMus (Perf), GradDipEd (UMelb)

Mark Dipnall was a former full time principal clarinetist with the Australian Opera and the Australian Ballet Company in Melbourne and the Sydney Opera House. He performed with the likes of Richard Bonynge, Carlo Felice Cillario, Mark Elder, Dame Joan Sutherland, Paul Saliba, Marilyn Richardson, Garth Welch, Ormsby Wilkins, Marilyn Jones, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Luciano Pavarotti, Sir John Pritchard and Sir Charles Mackerras etc. 

Mark Dipnall also performed as a clarinetist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and toured extensively as a principal clarinetist with the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra.

On his return to Melbourne, Mark Dipnall completed his Bachelor of Music Performance Degree followed by a Graduate Diploma in Education including the completion of the Master of Music Studies Degree and a Master of Education in music research. All these degrees were completed at the University of Melbourne having been awarded the Austral Salon, Bradford, Kefford and Commonwealth scholarships in research and performance.

Mark Dipnall is formerly the Vice President of VMTA, Vice President CLASAX, Vice President-Treasurer ASME, Treasurer and Public Officer AMUSE and the most recent President of the Ringwood Eisteddfod. Mark Dipnall is a very experienced eisteddfod adjudicator, respected teacher and an eminent performer and director of many varied music genres.

Melissa has been studying music and performance for over two decades. She graduated from Monash University with a Bachelor of Music (Voice Performance) and a Bachelor of Education (Music Education). Melissa is a specialist musician, producer, composer, voice teacher (classical, opera and contemporary), music examiner, vocal hygienist, vocal coach, performance critic and council arts board member.  Melissa has a passion for the arts and has studied various instruments and styles of dance. 

As a performer some of her credits include Musical Theatre: Jesus Christ Superstar, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and A Slice of Saturday Night. Opera: The Magic Flute, Dido and Aeneas and The Marriage of Figaro. She can also be found as a sessional singer working with many of Melbourne’s premier corporate bands, and variety shows. Amongst her many credits she can also be found in the arena of Australian short film as a composer.  

Her professional endeavours also include being owner and founder of the production company Production Fusion, and specialist music school Instrument Fusion. 

Brigid is an Australian clarinet soloist, composer, performance artist, visual artist, video artist and educator whose creative practice explores the use of acoustic sound, contemporary new music, technology, visual arts, video, notation and improvisation to enable cross media performances that are rich in aural and visual nuances. Her work is widely presented in concerts, festivals, and radio broadcasts throughout Australia, Asia, Brazil, Europe and the USA. Recently she has been a recipient of an Australia Council Project Music Fellowship & New Works. She has a PhD in Composition from UTAS and a Master of Music in Composition from The University of Melbourne.

www.brigid.com.au