Woodwind
Chair/Associate Professor
Alexa Still (Flute), BMus Auck MMus DMA SUNY StonyBrook FTCL Trinity
Professor/Dean
Kim Walker (Bassoon), ENPL Stan Premier Prix de Virtuosite Conservatoire de Musique de Geneve, Curtis Inst Music
Lecturers
Andrew Barnes (Bassoon), PerfDip PerfCert Indiana Perfectionnement Geneva BEc Macq
Francesco Celata (Clarinet), BMus VCA
Michael Duke (Saxophone), BMus VCA, MM Indiana Uni, DM Indiana Uni
Ngaire de Korte (Oboe), BMus VCA UM Rotterdam
James Kortum (Flute), BMus(Hons) DePaul Uni MA N’cle(NSW)
Christina Leonard (Saxophone), MMus Syd
Catherine McCorkill (Clarinet), BA(Music) GradDipMus Canberra 1984 Churchill Fellow
Alexandre Oguey (Oboe), Konzertreifdiplom Lehrdiplom Zurich
Part-time Staff
Bridget Bolliger (Flute), DipMus(soloist) Basel Music Academy AssDipMus
Roger Brooke (Bassoon)
Geoff Collins (Flute)
John Cran (Bassoon)
Diana Doherty (Oboe)
Deborah de Graaff (Clarinet), BMus
Roslyn Dunlop (Clarinet), BMus
Jocelyn Fazzone (Flute), MMus Peabody Conservatory Virtuosite
Conservatoire Geneve LTCL Trinity LMusA BMus(Hons)
Peter Jenkin (Clarinet), BMus Adel
Riley Lee (Shakuhachi), MA PhD University of Hawaii
Elizabeth Lim (Clarinet), ASCM BMus (Merit) MMus
Hans-Dieter Michatz (Recorder/Baroque Flute), DipEd BMus(equiv)
Hannover UMDip(Perf) The Hague
Sue Newsome (Clarinet), BMus GradDip Rotterdam
James Nightingale (Saxophone), MMus
Rosamund Plummer (Flute)
GradCertMusTech N'cle(NSW) DipMusEd
Margery Smith (Clarinet/Saxophone), CertPerfCommSkills Guidehall GradCertMusTech Ncastle DipMusEd Syd
Matthew Wilkie (Bassoon)
Chair/Associate Professor
Alexa Still (Flute), BMus Auck MMus DMA SUNY StonyBrook FTCL
Trinity
Alexa Still is a flutist who is known for her many recordings on the Koch International Classics label. She is an Associate Professor in the woodwind unit at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, is the current Chair of the National Flute Association (USA) and a regular contributor to many flute journals.
A New Zealander, Still studied in New York where she won prestigious early-career prizes including the New York Flute Club Young Artist Competition and the East and West Artists Competition. She returned to New Zealand to play principal flute for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra at the age of 23. She was also the recipient of a Churchill Fellowship (1984-85) and a Fulbright Cultural grant (1995-96). Before joining the faculty at The Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2006, she held the position of Associate Professor of Flute at University of Colorado at Boulder, the only endowed chair in the woodwind department.
Over the years, Dr Still has presented many recitals, concertos and master classes around the world including appearances in England, Germany, Slovenia, Turkey, Mexico, Canada, Korea, China, Australia, New Zealand, and across the United States. In 2006, she was a featured soloist at both the National Flute Convention in Pittsburgh, USA, and at the British Flute Society’s 5th International Convention in Manchester, UK. Her performance schedule in 2007 included dates in New Zealand, Thailand and Puerto Rico. 2008 includes concerto performances with the Brooklyn Philharmonic and for the National Flute Association's Convention (USA), a tour of New Zealand with American harpist Yolanda Kondonasis and English violist Roger Chase and recitals in Japan, Hong Kong, United States and for the Slovenian Flute Festival. Two more CDs are scheduled for release on the Koch label featuring Still with English Pianist Stephen Gosling and American pianist David Korevaar.
Still plays a silver flute made for her by the Boston-based Brannen Brothers with various headjoints by Drelinger, headjoint specialists in White Plains, NY. For more on Still’s work and to listen to a selection of performances and recordings please visit her personal website: www.alexastill.com
Professor/Dean
Kim Walker, ENPL Stan Premier Prix de Virtuosite Conservatoire de
Musique de Geneve, Curtis Inst Music
Dean of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Kim Walker is one of the world's most celebrated bassoonists, a prolific recording artist, and a respected teacher and administrator.
Trained in the United States and then Switzerland, Professor Walker has toured as a soloist with many of Europe's leading orchestras since 1982, working with such conductors as Ashkenazy, Solti, Bernstein, Rattle and Dorati.
With 23 solo CDs to her name, Walker’s interest in both classical and modern composers has also made her a regular guest at many of the world's most prestigious festivals. She was the founding artistic director of the Archigny chamber music festival in France, and before moving to Sydney was both the Professor of Music and Director of Arts and Outreach at Indiana University, Bloomington. She gives frequent masterclasses and has seen her students celebrated in orchestras around the world.
Lecturers
James Kortum (Flute)
James Kortum, joined the Faculty of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2005. Prior to this appointment he was Lecturer in Flue at the University of Newcastle from 1997.
His extensive performance career spans 32 years and has included positions as Principal Flute with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Hunter Orchestra and Second Flute with the Sydney Symphony. He has also been Principal Flute with the Sydney productions of Phantom of the Opera and Fiddler on the Roof, and has been Guest Principal Flute with the Queensland Orchestra and Christchurch Symphony Orchestra in New Zealand. Kortum is also active as soloist, recitalist and chamber musician.
Active as a clinician, Kortum has given master classes both nationally and internationally, including conferences in Sydney, Brisbane, Coffs Harbour and Christchurch, New Zealand. In 2005 he received his Master of Arts (Music) degree from the University of Newcastle for his text on flute playing, The Purposeful Flautist: Technique to Interpretation.
Andrew Barnes
Andrew moved to Sydney from New Zealand at the age of six and commenced study of the bassoon with John Cran in 1983. Upon completing an Economics degree at Macquarie University Andrew decided to pursue his studies of the bassoon in a full time capacity. At this point he was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Trust Scholarship and he moved to Switzerland to study with, Kim Walker. Here Andrew received the “Prix de Perfectionnement” and won the Swiss International Performance Competition. Andrew completed his studies at Indiana University in the United States, where he received a Performer Diploma and became the first bassoonist to be awarded the “Performer Certificate”, the highest performance prize offered by the School of Music.
Returning to Australia in 1995, Andrew took up a position with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, where he played for 3 years. During this time he was also a member of the “new” Adelaide Wind Quintet and appeared as soloist with the Adelaide and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras. This was followed by his appointment to the distinguished faculty of Indiana University School of Music in 1998 where he took on the role of Professor of Bassoon and Coordinator of Chamber Music. While in the United States Andrew was able to focus on playing chamber music and solo recitals but also performed as Principal Bassoon of the Nashville Chamber Orchestra in Tennessee.
Andrew returned to Australia in September 2002 to take up the position of Lecturer of Bassoon and Chair of Woodwind at the Conservatorium of Music. This he combines with an active performing career including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, ymphonia Australis and the Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra.
Michael Duke (Saxophone), BMus VCA, MM Indiana Uni, DM Indiana Uni
Born in Melbourne Australia, Michael Duke completed his Bachelor of Music degree with honors at Melbourne University's Victorian College of the Arts under the instruction of saxophonist Graeme Shilton. He received both Master's and Doctorate Degrees in Music Performance from Indiana University studying under the tutelage of renowned classical saxophonists Eugene Rousseau, Thomas Walsh, Jean-Yves Fourmeau and Arno Bornkamp. His doctoral document is entitled “The Saxophone in Chamber Music Since 1980: An Annotated Bibliography of Original Works.” While pursuing jazz studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, Duke studied with Shannon LeClaire, Jim Odgren and George Garzone and performed in the ensembles of Phil Wilson, Greg Hopkins, Victor Mendoza, and Joe Lovano.
Throughout the United States and abroad, Duke has engaged in an extensive performance career. He has performed with many of Australia’s premiere orchestras including the Melbourne Symphony, Orchestra Victoria, the Australian Philharmonic and Pops Orchestra, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. In the United States he has performed with the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra (Kentucky), the Camerata Symphony Orchestra (Indiana), the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, and the Cedar Rapids Symphony (Iowa). In the spring of 2002 Duke won the Indiana University Woodwind Concerto Competition for his performance of Jacques Ibert’s "Concertino da camera" for alto saxophone and orchestra. On the national and world stages he has been invited to perform at the past four bi-annual North American Saxophone Alliance National conferences, two World Saxophone Congresses, and has lectured at the Australian National Band and Orchestra Clinic. As a freelance musician in the Boston area, Duke has backed such varied artists as Gloria Estefan, The Four Tops, Bill Cosby and Gary Burton. He has also performed with the Danilo Perez Big Band, the Jim Widner Big Band, and the Greg Hopkins Big Band.
As well as teaching an extensive private studio, Duke is an active clinician and tutor. At the tertiary level, Duke has taught on the faculty of Simpson College in Iowa (2002-2005), Eastern Nazarene College in Massachusetts (2007-2008), and as an Associate Instructor at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana (1998-2000). In July 2008, Dr. Duke commenced his appointment as Lecturer of Woodwind (Saxophone) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Catherine McCorkill (Clarinet), BA(Music) GradDipMus Canberra 1984
Churchill Fellow
Clarinettist Catherine McCorkill is Lecturer in Woodwind (Clarinet) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. A performer and recording artist, she was appointed to her position in the faculty in 2006. She is also a guest tutor at the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne.
A busy performer, McCorkill regularly appears as Principal Clarinettist and a frequent soloist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and a member of the highly acclaimed Australia Ensemble, resident at the University of New South Wales. She has toured extensively with the Australia Ensemble since joining in 1995, performing in Australia, UK (Wigmore Hall), USA, Canada, Thailand, Vietnam, New Zealand and South America.
McCorkill has also performed as a soloist and guest principle with most Australian symphony orchestras and has toured as a guest artist with the ACO. She has performed the Mozart and Brahms Quintets on national tours with the Australian String Quartet and is often featured at the major chamber music festivals such as Huntington and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music. Highlights in her early musical career include principal clarinettist in the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra and positions at the WA Conservatorium of Music as a member of Ensemble Vasse, and at the Victorian College of the Arts.
In 2007 McCorkill premiered two exciting new works, both commissioned for the Australia Ensemble: Nigel Westlake's Rare Sugar for solo clarinet and ensemble, and Oma Kodu for clarinet and string quartet by Andrew Ford. Together with her colleagues in the Australia Ensemble, McCorkill has recorded a CD of the clarinet quintets of Mozart and Brahms on the Tall Poppies label, which has received outstanding reviews.
Originally from Perth, McCorkill graduated with the Performance Prize from the Canberra School of Music, studying with Donald Westlake. She received a Churchill Fellowship to study in Europe and the USA where she studied with Hans Deinzer, Anthony Pay, John McCaw, Guy Deplus, Gervase de Peyer and Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr.