Vocal staff

Chair/Senior Lecturer
Maree Ryan (Voice), MMus(AppResMusPerf) DSCM LMusA

Associate Professor
Michael Halliwell (Voice), BA (Hons) DipEd Witw BA(Hons) S.Af. MA PhD Natal DipOp Lond OpCtr GradCertHigherEd

Lecturers
Rowena Cowley (Voice), BMus DipEd GradDipOp GradDipMus Griffith DMA Manhattan SM
Nicole Dorigo (Italian/French), BA(Hons)(Italian) MPhil(Italian)
Barry Ryan (Voice), DipOpArtMusTheatre

Part-time Staff
Robert Allman AM OAM (Voice)
Matthew Barclay (Movement and Stagecraft), GradCert(ArtsEntMgt)
Deakin DipDance Aust Ballet School
Michael Black (Vocal Coach), BMusEd MMus GradDipAcc
Phoebe Briggs (Vocal Coach), BMus Melb LMus
Eun-Jung Byun (Accomp), LMusA BMus(Perf) MPerf
Vincent Colagiuri (Vocal Coach), LTCL Trinity AMusA BMus
Andrew Dalton (Voice)
Anke Frankenhaeuser (Movement and Stagecraft), BA(Hons) Kent
MDA NIDA
Anke Hoeppner-Ryan (German) MMus(Singing) Hanns-Eisler Cons,
Berlin
Kate Johnson OA (Vocal Coach), GradDipDesign UTS BMus(Hons)
Simon Kenway, BMus GradDipOpera Qld GradDipOpera RCM London
Jennifer Marten-Smith (Vocal Coach)
Rachel McDonald (Acting), BA W.Aust DipMusAdvDirecting WAAPA
Nadia Piave, MPerf
Johanna Puglisi (Dance), BA W.Syd AssDipExpressPerfArts UNSW
Ingrid Sakurovs (Repetiteur), ADMT BAComm GradDipMus(Rep)
Amanda Thane (Voice), DipOpArtMusTheatre
Robyn Wells (Voice), BA(Hons) DipEd
Stephen Yalouris (Voice), MMus UNSW DipOpArtMusTheatre

Chair/Senior Lecturer

Maree Ryan (Voice), MMus(AppResMusPerf) DSCM LMusA

Maree Ryan, Chair of Vocal Studies and Opera, is widely recognised as one of Australia's leading vocal teachers, specialising in recital and opera repertoire.

Ryan has published papers in leading international research journals: “Perceived Effects of the Menstrual Cycle on Young Female Singers in the Western Classical Tradition” Journal of Voice, 2007, Ryan M & Kenny DT; “Defining ‘Open Throat’ through Content Analysis of Experts’ Pedagogical Practices” Logoped Phoniatr Vocol., 2003, Mitchell HF, Kenny DT, Ryan M & Davis PJ. She has also presented papers at national and international conferences regarding her major interest which is the effect of hormones on the singing voice.

Ryan studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and joined the faculty in 1980. During her career as a vocal specialist, her studio of singers includes a number of professional singers in Opera Australia and on the professional circuits of Europe and America. Over eighty of her studio have reached the finals in Australia’s most prestigious and competitive national singing competitions and include a number of winners.

As a performer, Ryan’s work covers all styles and genres and she has performed in opera, oratorio and recital, as well as for radio and television. As a soloist, Ryan has worked with many leading orchestras, in particular the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, under many national and international conductors. She has also appeared in a number of world and Australian premieres of contemporary classical music and was a regular performer for the Australian Broadcasting Commission covering a diverse range repertoire in several languages.

Associate Professor/Associate Dean (Research)

Michael Halliwell (Voice), BA (Hons) DipEd Witw BA(Hons) S.Af. MA PhD Natal DipOp Lond OpCtr GradCertHigherEd

Michael Halliwell is a well-known principal baritone and Associate Dean (Research) of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Literature and Opera are his twin passions and his academic expertise includes the adaptation of literature into opera. He is currently working on a book on the adaptation of drama into contemporary opera. He lectures in vocal studies and opera and is an expert on the operatic adaptation of the plays of Shakespeare.

Recent publications include a double CD of songs from the Boer War with David Miller, When the Empire Calls, released by ABC Classics in 2005. His book Opera and the Novel: The Case of Henry James, was published by Rodopi in 2005.

Born in South Africa, Halliwell studied music and literature at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. While still a student, he was awarded two scholarships to study at the London Opera Centre and with Otakar Kraus, as well as with Tito Gobbi in Florence. He went on to become principal baritone with the Netherlands Opera; Hamburg State Opera; Nürnberg Opera. While in Europe he sang over 50 major roles in many leading European Opera houses working with many of the most prominent conductors and directors. More recently, he has presented masterclasses and concerts in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Taipei and Cape Town. He has also made numerous recordings including a CD of Kipling settings, Soldier, Soldier, with David Miller (Artworks, 2001).

Awarded his Ph.D in 1995 for his study of the adaptation of fiction into contemporary opera, Halliwell joined the Conservatorium as Lecturer in Vocal Studies and Opera in 1996. From 2000-2004 he was chair of Vocal Studies and Opera, and from 2004-2006 he was Pro-Dean and Head of School. He has given papers on music and literature at many international conferences in Australia, South Africa, the United States, Britain, Germany and Austria, and has published widely. He recently gave a series of lectures on Shakespeare and Opera at Cambridge University.

Lecturers

Rowena Cowley (Voice), BMus DipEd GradDipOp GradDipMus Griffith DMA Manhattan SM

Soprano Rowena Cowley is a lecturer in voice and the coordinator of graduate pedagogy at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

As a soloist, Cowley has appeared for the ABC, Sydney Philharmonia, the Australia Ensemble, Synergy and Musica Viva, the Nederlands Dans Teater, and at the Adelaide, Sydney and New Zealand International Festivals.

A Doctor of Musical Arts from the Manhattan School of Music, New York, Cowley’s particular interest is comparative pedagogy. Having taught voice at M.S.M and Bucknell University, she now teaches voice majors, opera students, and vocal pedagogy at Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Her students include finalists and winners in a number of major competitions and sing professionally with opera companies in Australia and internationally.

From 2005, she has been Coordinator of Graduate Pedagogy, with responsibility for the Conservatorium’s new courses in Studio Pedagogy. Rowena examines AMEB Diploma students, adjudicates and gives workshops for singers and groups such as Sydney Philharmonia. She is also national Vice-President of the NSW Chapter of the Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing.

Nicole Dorigo (Italian/French), BA(Hons)(Italian) MPhil(Italian)

Nicole Dorigo lectures in Italian and French at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, providing language coaching for opera and vocal students as well as repetiteurs. She is also a regular contributor to the Masterclass program. Dorigo established the Conservatorium's first formal Italian language program and has developed and introduced a number of other language courses in Italian and French, including Diction for Singers.

As part of her formal language studies, Dorigo has been the recipient of a number of prestigious academic and government scholarships, including Italian Government scholarships and the University of Sydney's Frederick May Foundation award. She is also a Churchill Fellow, having completed professional studies at the Julliard School of Music in New York and at the Istituto di Italianistica e Filologia Romanza in Venice. In 2005, she was awarded the Conservatorium’s teaching award for excellence.

Dorigo also has a successful private studio and works with young award winning performers and professional singers. She is also involved with other music interests, including language coaching for specific workshops and concerts, as well as consulting to opera companies.

Barry Ryan

Baritone Barry Ryan is an award-winning opera and concert singer who has lectured in voice at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music for over 20 years.

Ryan's illustrious professional performance career stretches back just as long. His operatic performances include appearances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; La Scala, Milan; the Paris Opera, Bastille; Komische Oper, Berlin; Flemish Opera, Antwerp; the Cologne Opera and Opera Australia.

As a concert artist he has performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra; Royal Scottish National Orchestra; the Bergen Symphony Orchestra, Norway; the Shinsei Nihon Orchestra, Tokyo and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He has
performed under the batons of Riccardo Muti, Zubin Metha, Sir Charles Mackerras, Carlo Felice Cillario and Simone Young. He has also made many recordings and broadcasts around the world including work with the BBC, the WDR (Germany), Norwegian Radio, Radio Tokyo and the ABC in Australia.
Awards include the Vienna State Opera Award, the Marten Bequest for Singing and the Shell National Aria.

In addition to his teaching work at the Conservatorium, Ryan has a private studio in Sydney and has also had private studios in Berlin and Cologne. Masterclasses include Cologne Opera Musikhochschule and the Sydney Conservatorium Opera School.

Ryan graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium Opera School in 1981 with the Diploma in Operatic Art & Music Theatre (with Merit).