Winner of the ABC Young Performers Award, Eliza Shephard is a vibrant performer based in Melbourne and is quickly paving her way as an educator, improviser, and collaborator.

Her project ‘March of the Women’ celebrates female composers and 2023 is the fourth rendition of this honouring. A fervent contemporary musician, Eliza has established a course on experimental flute techniques, ‘The Extended Flute’, and is a specialist on the Glissando Headjoint.

Her talents as a flute player and creative artist earned her the position of a finalist in the Classical Freedman Fellowship in 2021, and she has received many accolades for the boldness and imagination she brings to her projects.

www.elizashephard.com/

Niels Bijl Born in the Netherlands, Niels Bijl looks back on a vibrant and extremely successful career in Europe, and, since January 2020, embraces a new and exciting life as a performing artist, chamber musician, collaborator, project organiser and lecturer in Victoria, Australia.

Some of Niels’ career highlights include working with legendary conductors Valeri Gergiev, Lorin Mazel, Mariss Jansons and Jaap van Zweden, with orchestras like the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, World Orchestra for Peace and Anima Eterna. CD recordings with his world renowned Aurelia Saxophone Quartet, recorder player Ronald Moelker and saxophonist Jay Byrnes.

Since his arrival in Australia Niels has started collaborations with the MSO, Musica Viva, Orchestra Victoria, Melbourne Recital Centre, Melbourne University, Monash University, VCA Secondary School and residencies at ANAM, Tempo Rubato and Brighton/Bayside Council. Amongst his most precious collaborations are his duo with harpsichordist Peter hagen, pianist Georgina Lewis,  the ASHA Trio and The Australasian Saxophone Collective.  Sharing his passion and knowledge with future generations, Niels has also set up statewide educational projects with The Clinch Academy and The Baritone Institute Australia. Niels Bijl is a Chamber Music/Saxophone Lecturer at Monash and teaches saxophone at VCASS (Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School). 

www.nielsbijl.com.au/

Adam McMillan is a Melbourne-based pianist, performing regularly as a recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist. He has received awards including first prize in the MRC Great Romantics Competition, the Musica Viva Chamber Music Prize and first prize in the Queensland Piano Competition. Adam performs as one half of Duo Piaggio alongside award-winning violinist Kyla Matsuura-Miller.

Recent performance highlights include Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto with Bendigo Symphony Orchestra, Gippsland Fine Music Festival, Australian Digital Concert Hall, Musica Viva Morning Masters series, Queensland International Chamber Music Competition (QICMC), Peninsula Summer Music Festival, Brisbane Baroque Festival, Canberra International Music Festival, and the Australian Showcase at the Sydney International Piano Competition. Adam’s performances have been broadcast on ABC Classic FM, 3MBS, and 4MBS.

www.adammcmillan.com.au/

Christopher Healey is a composer of music for modern hearts and minds. Solo music to full-bodied orchestral scores. One-minute miniatures to 80-minute operas. Transfixingly tender to disturbingly macabre. Modern listeners are multi-dimensional and emotionally complex; contemporary art music should be the same.

Christopher Healey is a composer of music for modern hearts and minds. Solo music to full-bodied orchestral scores. One-minute miniatures to 80-minute operas. Transfixingly tender to disturbingly macabre. Modern listeners are multi-dimensional and emotionally complex; contemporary art music should be the same.

He has received commissions from eminent musicians and arts organisations in Australia, China, France, Holland, and the USA, including Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (Cybec), Omega Ensemble, 4MBS Classic FM, Camerata - Queensland's Chamber Orchestra, the BRON Saxophone Quartet, Divisi Chamber Singers, BoB-Best of Brass, Ensemble Francaix, Ensemble Fabrique, and the Nickson Quartet. Christopher has also received prizes including the Alan Lane Award, A.G. Francis Prize, 2nd Place in the Arcadia Winds Composition Competition, 2nd Place in the ANZVS Composition Competition, and the Australian Postgraduate Award.

www.christopherhealey.net