3 March

Steve Meyer (violoncello) &
Catherine McKay (pianoforte)

Steve Meyer, cellist

Steve Meyer is a versatile cellist who performs regularly in a broad range of concerts throughout Sydney. He studied at the Sydney Conservatorium with Susan Blake and has appeared at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville. As an orchestral player Steve has performed with many ensembles including the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, the Sydney Opera House Orchestra and has played principal cello for The Metropolitan Orchestra, the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Chamber Orchestra. As a theatre performer Steve has performed in many stage productions throughout Australia including The Lion King, Les Miserable, Matilda, Ghost Dream Lover, Ladies is Black, Hamilton and Moulin Rouge.  He toured to Broadway New York with Belvoir St Theatre as solo musician in The Book of Everything. Steve has appeared as soloist with Orchestra 143, the Sydney Chamber Orchestra and premiered the cello concerto Cyan Echo by Mark Oliveiro with the Bourbaki Ensemble. In the popular music world Steve has performed with John Farnham, Olivia Newton John, Jimmy Barnes, Elaine Paige, The Church and toured Australia with Air Supply. Steve has taught Chamber Music at the Sydney Conservatorium and is currently a freelance cellist in Sydney performing with the Azumi Quartet and with pianist Catherine McKay.

Catherine McKay, pianist

Catherine was awarded an Associated Board Scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music in London with Irina Zaritskaya and went on to study and work in Canada, initially at the Banff Centre and then to complete the Diplôme d’Études Supérieures Spécialisées under Marc Durand in Piano performance & French at the Université de Montréal.

Catherine is based in Sydney working as piano accompanist & tutor of piano at Kambala, Rose Bay and as accompanist at the Sydney Conservatorium High School. Previously in Wellington NZ she taught piano and coached Chamber Music for Victoria University’s Young Musician’s Programme in amongst freelance Concert Performances throughout NZ, Europe and the US as soloist and chamber musician.

10 March

Merryl Neille (flute) &
Alan Hicks (pianoforte)

Beyond The Forest - A flute and piano recital

Beyond the Forest (2015) - M.Djupstrom (b.1980)

(i) Andantino
(ii) Alert
(iii) Delicate, pointed
(iv) Very slow, freely
(v) Not slow


Quatre Pièces (c.1964) - J.Feld (1925-2007)

(i) Méditation
(iv) Burlesque


Sonata in E Minor Lee III-56 - F. Benda (1709-1789)

(i) Adagio
(ii) Allegro


First Sonata for flute and piano H.306 (1945) - B. Martinů (1890-1959)

(i) Allegro moderato
(ii) Adagio
(iii) Allegro poco moderato

Merryl Neille (DMA in flute performance, University of Michigan) has taught, researched and performed in South Africa, the Netherlands, Canada, the United States and Australia. Her eighteen-year long career as a professional flautist saw Merryl as principal flute of the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, guest principal flutist of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and a member of several international ensembles.

As a composer, Merryl was a prize winner of the Flute Society of NSW Composition Competition for Winter Solstice for Flute and Piano (2020). She has since been commissioned to write several works for Karen North's Allegro Music Publications.

Merryl is Flute Specialist at Flutes and Flutists. She is on the committee of the Flute Society of New South Wales and is the coordinator of the Australian Flute Festival. More information can be found at www.australianflutefestival.com


Alan Hicks is one of Australia's foremost vocal coaches and accompanists. He works in Vocal and Opera Studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music as opera coach, accompanist and tutor in diction. Alan was Head of Voice (2008-2012) at the Canberra School of Music, coordinating a program including opera productions and regular performances at embassies and consular venues.

After postgraduate study at the RNCM in Manchester Alan remained in the UK for 15 years, performing in song and chamber recitals at the Wigmore Hall, St Johns Smith Square, the Purcell Room, Three Choirs Festival, for Yehudi Menuhin’s Live Music Now! and in recordings and broadcasts for the BBC. 

In 2016 Alan recorded songs of Frederick Septimus Kelly for the ABC Classics double CD A Race Against Time. In 2018 he completed a major project for the Australian War Memorial, recording 100 songs and pieces of music from the AWM’s collection of World War One sheet music. This can now be heard and seen on the AWM website: https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions-online/Music-WW1

Alan is an avid exponent of art song. He was awarded life membership of Art Song Canberra in 2016 and recently appeared in the inaugural Songmakers Australia Schubertiade, performing with his wife, mezzosoprano Christina Wilson and with pianist Andrea Katz.

Alan has a secret past as a flutist, holding Licentiate and undergraduate diplomas in flute. For many years he was an official piano accompanist of the Scottish International Flute Summer School and more recently has worked as an accompanist for the Australian Flute Festival. 

17 March

The Sirius Chamber Ensemble

Melissa Coleman (flute)

Ian Sykes (clarinet)

Claire Howard Race (pianoforte)

Portraits of Langston (2007) - Valerie Coleman (1970 –)

i. Prelude: Helen Keller
ii. Danse Africaine
iii. Le grand duc mambo
iv. Silver Rain
v. Parisian Cabaret
vi. Harlem’s Summer Night

Trio for flute, clarinet and piano (1948) - Miriam Hyde (1913 - 2005)

i. Allegro giocoso
ii. Andante calmo
iii. Allegro spiritoso

Updated Program

Melissa Coleman (flute)

Ian Sykes (clarinet)

Mark Quarmby (pianoforte)

American Miniatures (1981) - John Rutter (1945 –)
i. Fanfare and Proclamation
ii. Blues

Abyss of the Birds from The Quartet for the End of Time (1941) - Olivier Messiaen (1908 – 1992)

Sonata in A minor for solo flute, Wq 132 (c.1747) - Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach (1714-1788)
i. Poco Adagio
ii. Allegro
iii. Allegro

Fantasy for clarinet and piano (c.1881) - Carl Nielsen (1865 - 1931)

Pastorale for flute and piano (1919) - Germaine Tailleferre (1892 - 1983)

Portraits of Langston (2007) - Valerie Coleman (1970 –)
i. Prelude: Helen Keller
ii. Le grand duc mambo

24 March

Adelaide Channon (trumpet)

Sumiko Yamamura (pianoforte)

Diane Berger (flute)

Sonata for Trumpet and Piano Op. 137 - Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)
I. Mit Kraft II. Mäßig bewegt III. Trauermusik

This sonata was written in Switzerland after Hindemith left his native Germany due to fear of how the Nazi regime would impact his life and that of his wife, Gertrud, who was of a Jewish background.

A powerful and dramatic opening mvt is followed by an impish one before the very slow Trauermusik (music of mourning). The trumpet reacts to the piano as if it humming a sad memory and then it reaches for emotional heights that leads to the Alle Menschen müssen sterben (All men must die) chorale melody that Bach had set for organ BWV 643.

Hindemith held this sonata in high esteem. To a friend he wrote that ‘it is maybe the best thing I have succeeded in doing in recent times’.

Summer Bird for solo flute - Alan Holley (b1954)

Summer Bird was inspired by the excited activity of the birds in our garden and by the sea birds of the Great Barrier Reef. It was commissioned by the trumpeter Paul Goodchild for performance on a tour of Europe in early 1991.

I had spent a short time observing various seabirds on Lady Elliot Island 80 kms off the Queensland coast. The incessant chatter and stunning aerial acrobatics of some of the birds on that island blended with the manic behavior of various parrots and small birds in my beachside garden on Sydney's northern beaches. In 1995 I made a slightly extended version for solo flute which was premiered on 20.07.1995. Alan Holley

Duo for flute and piano - Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
I. Flowing II. Poetic, somewhat mournful III. Lively, with bounce

Premiered in Philadelphia, October 3rd, 1971 by flautist Elaine Shaffer and pianist Hephzibah Menuhin.

Duo was commissioned by seventy pupils and friends of the celebrated flutist William Kincaid the longtime Principal Flutist of the Philadelphia Orchestra after his death in 1967. Copland described it as lyrical and in a pastoral style. Aaron Copland wrote of the work, ‘The whole is a work of comparatively simple harmonic and melodic outline, direct in expression. Being aware that many of the flutists who were responsible for commissioning the piece would want to play it, I tried to make it grateful for the performer...it requires a good player.’

Updated program

Diane Berger (flute) & Sumiko Yamamura (pianoforte)

Mark Quarmby (organ)

American Dream for flute and piano - Ann Carr-Boyd (b.1938)

O Mensch bewein’ dein’ Sünde groß BWV 622 (organ) - J. S. Bach (1685 - 1750)

Elegy (organ) - Paul Fey (b.1998)

Summer Bird for solo flute - Alan Holley (b.1954)

Duo for flute and piano - Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

I. Flowing
II. Poetic, somewhat mournful
III. Lively, with bounce

Adelaide Channon

Adelaide is a freelance trumpet player in the Sydney area, a graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She plays in several ensembles including the Gagliano ensemble, Warringah Concert Brass and the Sydney Student’s brass quintet. She has been principal trumpet of the Concordia Opera Company and recently took on the role of musical director. She casuals with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and the Sydney Metro Ballet and has two world premiere performance credits.

Sumiko Yamamura

Sumiko is a freelance accompanist born in Japan. She completed Bachelor of Music in performance with Elizabeth Powell, and Graduate Diploma in piano accompaniment with David Miller at Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

She is an active ensemble pianist. She has performed and recorded for ABC FM and Fine Music FM with various musicians and groups including Orana Trio , Sirius Ensemble,The Phoenix Ensemble, Ensemble Vinifera , Kammer Trio, John Cran and Richard Rourke and Jonathon Ramsay. Recently she performed for Lane Cove Music Club with Mark Walton.

Diane Berger

Diane has held the position of Principal Piccolo/Flute with the Opera Australia Orchestra since 1990. Before this time, Diane studied under Rosamund Plummer at the NSW Conservatorium gaining her Bachelor of Music (with Merit) and at Indiana University with Peter Lloyd and Kate Lukas attaining her Graduate Diploma of Performance (with Distinction). This was achieved with the support of a Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship, and grants from the Music Students' Overseas Study Foundation and  the Sydney Conservatorium Association.

Private teaching is also a great passion as well as performing in chamber music recitals.

31 March

Aleks Mitsios (organ)

"Dorian" Toccata BWV 538 - J. S. Bach (1685 - 1750)

Bergamasca from Fiori Musicali (1635) - Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583 - 1643)

Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor BWV 582 - J. S. Bach (1685 - 1750)

"Danse Macabre" - Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1921) arr. E. H. Lemare

Aleks has been a music performer since he was 4 years old, beginning on the piano before finding the organ in his second year at the Conservatorium High School studying under Philip Swanton. Throughout this time Aleks attended multiple organ academies/masterclasses, performed at two Young Organist Day events at the Town Hall, and achieved an LMusA in organ in 2019. He is currently in his final semester of a Bachelor of Music (Performance) degree at the Conservatorium.