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A/Prof Jerry Wong

Head of Keyboard, Melbourne Conservatorium

A/Prof Jerry Wong has been described by Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Martin Bernheimer as “eloquent…sensitivity and a finely-honed sense of style” and the Orange County Register praised him for “clean technique, forthright sound and a straightforward approach to classical textures”. He has performed throughout the United States, Europe and Asia in such prestigious settings as the Kravis Centerin West Palm Beach, National Concert Hall of Taipei, National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., Opera City Hall in Tokyo, Severance Hall in Cleveland and Weill Recital Hall in New York City. His widely praised recordings can be found on the Albany Records, MOVE and MSR labels.

Mr. Wong has presented masterclasses throughout the United States in such noted institutions as Cleveland Institute of Music, Indiana University, Northwestern University and University of Michigan, as well as in Australia, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Italy, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore, and Taiwan. From 2003-2019, he was Professor of Piano at Kent State University in Ohio, where he also served on the faculty of the Kent Blossom Music Festival. In July of 2019, Mr. Wong relocated to Australia to join the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music as an Associate Professor of Piano and Head of Keyboard.

Paul Myatt

Piano Teaching Success

Paul Myatt is a passionate piano teacher, author, composer, and workshop presenter. Paul co-founded the 30-year-old Forte Music School network with over 8,000 students in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, UK & USA. Through Piano Teaching Success, he helps piano teachers engage and motivate their students by coaching them to use the Whole Body Learning approach, teaching success guides and backing tracks so they can accelerate their teaching success and earn more. Paul is working towards a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience, specifically Sensory Motor Integration and Piano Pedagogy.

Kathy Selby

Sydney Conservatorium

Hailed by the Australian press as a ‘formidable talent’ and ‘Australia’s pre-eminent chamber music pianist’, Miss Selby is the Artistic Director and founder of the iconic nationally touring Selby & Friends concert series. She also co-created and curated the popular A Little Lunch Music at Sydney’s City Recital Hall from 2007 – 2022. She was honoured with being appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia, receiving the ‘AM’ on Australia Day 2013. She is the recipient of both the prestigious Churchill and Australia Council Fellowships. She began her piano studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, earning a Bachelor’s degree from both the famed Curtis Institute of Music and Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia, followed by her Master’s degree from New York’s Juilliard School.

Vatche Jambazian

Australian Institute of Music

Sydney-born pianist Vatche Jambazian completed his Master of Music at The Juilliard School following studies at the Sydney Conservatorium. Following his international debut in Armenia, Vatche has since performed extensively throughout Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.

Vatche was awarded the Fine Music Station (2MBS) Young Performer of the Year (NSW) , was a finalist in the ABC Young Performer of the Year and a prize-winner at the Los Angeles International Piano Competition.
Concert engagements have seen him perform at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, City Recital Hall, Hobart Town Hall, The Foundling Museum, Zipper Hall, and Lincoln Centre where he gave the New York premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s Light and Matter Piano Trio through the Rolex Arts Initiative.

Vatche has been featured on ABC Classic FM, Fine Music Station 2MBS, WQXR Radio (NYC), and has performed with baritone David Greco, soprano Eleanor Lyons, and the Orava Quartet.
During the pandemic Vatche has maintained an active performance schedule featuring in the Digital Season at the Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Digital Concert Hall, The Australian Festival of Chamber Music and Phoenix Central Park and additionally holds the position of Guest Artist and Professor at The Piano Institute (Surabaya, Indonesia).

Vatche was recently appointed Principal Pianist for Omega Ensemble and currently holds the position of Academic lecturer at the Australian Institute of Music

Ambre Hammond

Pianist / Teacher / Composer

Ambre Hammond is a musician of international recognition and has performed both solo and with orchestras throughout Switzerland, England, Italy, Spain, Poland, North and South America New Zealand and China.

As a home-schooled child growing up in Moss Vale, NSW Ambre studied with her mother and received her AMEB Associate and Licentiate Diplomas at age 11.

At 16, Ambre made her orchestral debut in South America (Argentina) playing and recording the Concerto No. 3 by Rachmaninoff.

In 2007, Hollywood film-composer Lalo Schifrin, was commissioned to write a Double Concerto for classical piano and jazz trumpet for Ambre and James Morrison, with the world premiere held at the Sydney Opera House.

Ambre is the founder of Girl Piano Truck – a humanitarian project in which she travels with a piano in a truck and travels to remote and disadvantaged areas of the world, presenting free concerts in schools, orphanages and mental asylums and s. Since 2012 Ambre has taken the project to India, Thailand, East Timor, Belarus, the Philippines and Africa. This project earned her a nomination for Australian of the year in 2016.

Ambre is currently creating documentary on music education due for release early next year and will also shortly release her first book.Music education is a major part of Ambre’s life, and she runs a music school with more than 40 young pianists in Sydney’s southwest

In 2024 Ambre will release her 7th album.