Congratulations to the AMF awardees for 2021/22. Owing to the incredibly high standard of performance and the great need demonstrated by so many applicants, the members of the panel were keen to help as many students as possible. Therefore, fifteen Awardees were selected for the last academic year instead of the usual nine. We were delighted that with the help of our major donors - The Nora Goodridge Foundation of Sydney and the Portland House Foundation of Melbourne - we have been able to assist so many young musicians to study overseas. We could not continue our work without their amazing generosity and that of all our other donors.
Robbin Reza - piano
AMF Nora Goodridge Emerging Artist Award
With a keen interest in classical and modern piano music, 27-year-old pianist Robbin Reza loved performing for the public from a very early age. Originally from Sydney, but currently based in Cologne, Germany, Robbin is in his final year at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln. In 2021, he was the winner of the Fingertips International Piano Competition and will be recording a CD featuring works by lesser known composers such as Medtner, Griffes, and a new work premiere. Thanks to the AMF Nora Goodridge Emerging Artist Award, he will be using the generous funds to purchase high quality recording equipment and learn how to record himself to keep up with the increasing demand for online concerts and competition applications. Robbin also received support from the AMF in 2018 and 2019.
Cassandra Wright - soprano
AMF Nora Goodridge Developing Artist Award
Cassandra Wright was born in Cairns and is in her first year at Royal Academy Opera under the tutelage of Kate Paterson and Jonathan Papp. Her studies are generously supported by the AMF Nora Goodridge Developing Artist Award with further support from The Tait Memorial Trust, The Countess of Munster Trust and The Knights of the Round Table. Cassandra completed her undergraduate music studies at the Queensland Conservatorium and obtained her Master’s with Distinction from the RAM in 2021. She was the winner of the 2021 Bampton Young Singers’ Competition and recently performed Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Academy Symphony Orchestra under the baton of John Wilson. She is a Leeds Lieder Young Artist and a member of the prestigious Academy Song Circle with whom she will perform as a soloist at Wigmore Hall and at the Royal Festival Hall under the baton of Ed Gardner in 2022.
Cleo Lee-McGowan - soprano
AMF Nora Goodridge Developing Artist Award
Cleo is a Melbourne-born soprano, currently on the Opera Course at the Guildhall School where she recently sang the title role in Viardot’s Cendrillon, and will shortly be undertaking the title role in Judith Weir’s Miss Fortune. She made her debut with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 2020 as a soloist in Joe Hisaishi’s East Land Symphony, and with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2019 as Niece 2 in Peter Grimes. Cleo was also a soloist with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra in Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She was a Melba Opera Trust scholar from 2017 to 2019, and sang Gretel in Hansel and Gretel with Victorian Opera. In 2019 she won first prize at the Sydney Eisteddfod, and was a finalist in the Bel Canto Award and Australian Singing Competition. Cleo is incredibly grateful for the support of the AMF Nora Goodridge Developing Artist Award towards her studies in London.
Sebastian Pini - double bass
AMF Nora Goodridge Young Artist Award
Sebastian is currently studying double bass with Božo Paradzik, in the third year of his BMus at the Hochschule für Musick Freiburg, Germany. His AMF Nora Goodridge Young Artist Award will help to fund his studies and enable him to purchase a new instrument. Coming from a family of musicians, Sebastian performed in the chamber music series, Pini, Hazelwood & Friends, from the age of nine. At the age of fourteen was awarded the licentiate Diploma of Australia with distinction. In 2019 he won first prize in the Melbourne Bass Competition and the International String Player Award at the Gisborne International Music Competition in New Zealand. In 2021 Sebastian was selected as Principal Bass of the Australian Youth Orchestra, and awarded AYO Bass Fellowships with the Melbourne and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras.
Emma-Shay Gallenti-Guilfoyle - lute and guitar
AMF Guy Parsons Award (Portland House Foundation)
Emma-Shay Gallenti-Guilfoyle is a guitarist and lutenist from Brisbane, undertaking a Masters in guitar performance at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, Germany, with Prof. Olaf Van Gonnissen. Since beginning her guitar studies with Dr. Paul Svoboda at Loreto College in Brisbane, Emma-Shay has gone on to perform for international audiences at numerous international guitar festivals and competitions. Emma-Shay has a keen interest in Renaissance and Baroque music and is currently working on J.S. Bach arrangements, Dowland lute songs and basso continuo on theorbo. The generous AMF Guy Parsons Award will allow Emma-Shay to purchase a handmade Archlute.
James Chen - violin. James is from Sydney and is completing the fourth year of his BMus at the Royal Academy of Music, supported by the AMF and the Richard and Suresh MacMillan Scholarship. He currently plays an 1847 Giovanni Francesco Pressenda violin, on loan from the Academy, and has been awarded an MMSF Fellowship with the Philharmonia Orchestra.
Mitzi Gardner - violin. Mitzi is from Sydney and is in the final year of her BMus at the Royal Academy of Music. She received support from the AMF in 2019 and 2020 and this year's award will enable her to travel to Europe to explore options for her MMus. She is an Ambassador for the Benedetti Foundation, and recently won a place on the London Symphony Orchestra’s String Scheme.
Hana Hart - accompanist. Hana is from Brisbane and has begun an MA in vocal accompaniment at the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna. She plans to buy her own piano with the funds from her AMF Award, which will enable her to practise at home, as rooms at college have been severely restricted during the pandemic.
Hamish James - tenor. Hamish is from Sydney where gained his BMus at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He is currently completing his Artist Masters in Vocal Studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he holds the Sidney Perry Foundation Scholarship. His AMF Award will contribute towards his studies at the GSMD.
Waynne Kwon - cello. Waynne is from Sydney and completed his BMus and MMus at the RNCM in Manchester, where he won the RNCM Gold Medal and Concerto Competition. He has been supported by the AMF from 2016 to 2019 and was the winner of the AMF Guy Parsons Award in 2017. This year's AMF award will help with fees for the Continuing Professional Development course at the RNCM.
Mana Ohashi - violin. Mana is from Melbourne and studied at ANAM before moving to the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich, for an Artistic Bachelor degree. She is a founding member of the Partridge String Quartet and her AMF award will facilitate her studies in Europe and help towards the purchase of a new instrument.
Jessica Scott - flute. Jessica is from Sydney and is studying for an MA at the Royal Academy of Music. She completed her BMus at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Her AMF award will enable her to cover her fees and living expenses in the UK, with further support from the Ian Potter Cultural Trust and others.
William Shi - accompanist. William is from Brisbane and completed his BMus at the University of Queensland and his Masters at the Mannes School of Music. He is currently undertaking a DMA in Piano Performance & Literature and an MM in Piano Accompanying & Chamber Music at Eastman School of Music, USA.
Shakira Tsindos - mezzo soprano. Shakira is from Melbourne and is now a Young Artist at the National Opera Studio in London. She has previously sung with Opera Australia and Victorian Opera and has been selected as a Samling Artist and an Emerging Artist for Oxford Lieder. Her AMF award will help support her living costs while at the NOS.
Victoria Wong - violin. Victoria is from Sydney and is studying for her MMus at the University of the Arts in Berlin, majoring in Orchestral Performance. She recently played the Brahms violin concerto with the Akademisches Orchester in the Leipzig Gewandhaus. Victoria was the recipient of AMF Awards from 2017 to 2019 and this year's award will contribute towards living costs and travel.