Composer Biographies
All of the composers that have worked with Kammerklang in the last 2 years have
their full bios listed here. For more detailed information on the composers, or
to make contact, send an email to info@kammerklang.com
Cameron Lam
As the founding Artistic Director of Sydney latest new music project,
Kammerklang, Cameron Lam is used to the challenge of new audiences.
“It’s both the most enjoyable and frustrating part of new music, the audience’s reception”
but as Kammerklang’s 2009 season is beginning, featuring the premieres of Cameron’s latest 2
works, the future couldn’t be brighter.
Cameron’s experience in the Sydney new music scene extends far beyond the
standard music degree at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
He has made a point of pushing himself above and beyond the limitations of an academic course
and created the opportunity for his own diverse practical experience.
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Amy Bastow
Amy Bastow (b. 1985) was born in a small rural town in outback Australia, and at 15, won the
“Roger Woodward Playoff Competition” for a performance of one of her piano compositions. A
recent 1st class honours graduate and scholarship recipient from the Sydney Conservatorium
of Music, Amy has studied composition with Michael Smetanin, Anne Boyd, Mary Finsterer,
Damien Ricketson, William Mival (Royal College of Music, London), Paul Patterson (Royal
Academy of Music, London), Joby Talbot (British Film Composer), James Ledger and piano
with Daniel Herscovitch.
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Chris Williams
Currently an honours student in Composition at the Sydney Conservatorium,
Chris was one of only six composers worldwide to be selected by Sir Peter Maxwell
Davies to attend his Advanced Composition course at the renowned Dartington
International Summer School 2008. Assisted by a bursary from the summer school,
and as the winner of a JB Seed arts grant, Chris spent his time in residency working
with Maxwell Davies on a chamber work, premiered by The New Century Players.
(U.S.A) Also in 2008, Chris conducted the European premiere of his piece Moonlight,
and the Sorrow, which was commissioned by the Soundscape Festival, (Italy) and at
the start of this year two songs written by Chris for the American soprano, Amanda Deboer,
were performed in her masters recital.
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Damian Griffin
Damian Griffin (b. 1982) has a passion for choral music, enriched through associations with the Sydney University Musical, Madrigal and Musical Theatre Societies while he completed an honours degree in Science (Advanced Mathematics). He further developed his education in composition at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and was a recipient of the Doris Burnett Ford Scholarship in 2005.
Several of Damian’s works were performed in 2008 at concerts run by the Sydney Eclectic Composers’ Society; many of these reflected his quirky view that contemporary music need not be painfully serious all of the time. He has enjoyed composing for and assisting Sounds Fine, the youth choir of Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium, and has also found copying and transcription work a productive outlet for his analytical, perfectionist streak.
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Felicity Wilcox
Felicity Wilcox is currently completing her PhD in multi-media composition at the Sydney Conservatorium as the recipient of a University Postgraduate Award. Her interest is primarily in combining music and sound with images. All of the work she is making as a postgrad involve collaborations with visual artists, photographers and designers. As well as working with orchestral instruments, Felicity has composed in the digital domain for many years, making samples, writing sounds for synthesizers and manipulating digital waveforms. Her major work, Threading The Light, incorporates a new electronic instrument, programmed and designed by Felicity.
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Jason Pestana
Jason Pestana is a Sydney based composer currently completing a Bachelor of music
degree at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Jason composes music in a variety of genres,
from contemporary arts music to cabaret and alternate rock. In 2007 Jason collaborated with
Stephen Anderson and Crystal Heggidis, producing a short cabaret act for the 2007 Melbourne
Fringe Festival.
In 2008 Jason began writing his first Operetta, working with Librettist Centine Wilbers.
The short work includes over 25 minutes of new music and 30 minutes of script. The
Operetta is due to debut in late 2009.
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Lucy Yeoman
Lucy Yeoman (b. 1988) was born in Sydney and began her foray into the composing world at age 8, after encouragement from her piano school. Having been on the receiving end of various merit scholarships for her compositional achievements during her time at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Lucy recently graduated with 1st Class Honours.
An extremely diverse composer, unafraid of composing for new and eccentric ensembles Lucy formed an interest in Computer Music during her tertiary years of study. As a result her electroacoustic piece Juncture was featured in the 2008 Australasian Computer Music Conference. During 2009 she gained firsthand experience in commercial composition by scoring music for the Father Chris Riley’s Youth Off the Streets advertisement which was screened on all of the major television networks. In addition to this she took home the Best Score Award for her film score in Sydney’s 2009 48 Hour Film Festival.
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Owen Salome
In 2007 Owen won the secondary-school category of the Sibelius Young Composers Award for his chamber piece 'Deep Fish', which was subsequently premiered by renowned Sydney modern-music group Ensemble Offspring. 'Deep Fish' was subsequently selected to be performed in the V.C.A.A.'s 2008 Top-Acts concert at Hamer Hall in Melbourne, the only student composition performed in the concert.
In 2009 Owen was the president of the Sydney Eclectic Composers Society, a student-run society of the University of Sydney that champions the performance of new works composed by students. During his tenure as the Society's president, Owen helped run a number of concerts including: 'SECS for 2, a concert of pieces for piano and accompaniment' and 'SECS in a Room: a concert of spatially oriented pieces.'
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Pedro Oliveira Woolmer
Pedro Oliveira Woolmer graduated with a Bachelor of Music (Composition) degree with first class honours from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music after studying with Damien Ricketson, Trevor Pearce and most recently with Nigel Butterley. In 2008 he worked on a collaborative project with a local artist, combining his five-movement work, Quartet for Flute, Violin, Viola and Guitar, with five associated paintings based heavily on deities of mythology.
It is the conflict between instruments that is so important to his compositions, whether it be by temporal layering or by the colour groupings of the ensemble. He is a strong believer in absolute music, music that can stand alone as an abstract art form and is powerful in the way it speaks to our subconscious and makes us feel things we cannot properly understand.
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Peggy Polias
Peggy Polias was born in Sydney in 1981, the eldest of five children. As a school student
Polias learned to play the piano and began writing original pieces for the instrument. Later she
graduated from Sydney University in 2002 with a B.Mus. (Composition). Since graduating, Polias
has worked as a music copyist, setting works by leading contemporary Australian composers, and
spent some years teaching piano and music theory from her home studio, as well as composing.
Polias is currently studying towards a Master of Music in composition at the Sydney Conservatorium
under the supervision of Prof. Anne Boyd and Dr. Matthew Hindson.
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Peter McNamara
Peter McNamara (b. 1980) was born and educated in Sydney’s
outer western suburbs and studied at the Sydney Conservatorium
completing a B.Mus (Hons) and an M.Mus degree.
McNamara’s works have been performed by several major
orchestras and ensembles in Australia and overseas including
Ensemble Modern, the
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra,
Ensemble
Insomnio, Ensemble Offspring
and the STROMA Ensemble. His work
has also been performed in significant festivals such as the ‘2008 ISCM
world music days’ in Lithuania, the ‘2008 Gaudeamus Music Week’ in
Amsterdam and the ‘2007 Asia Pacific Festival’.
Peter McNamara is represented by the Australian Music Centre
and has works published with Wirripang.
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