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Musical director
Senior Choir
Sandra Milliken
Sandra is based in Brisbane where she works as a composer, conductor, teacher and adjudicator.
She has had a long involvement with choral music. As well as directing the Cambrian Senior Choir, she is the musical director of the Bayside Divas and conducts two junior choirs at Cannon Hill Anglican College. From 1995 to 2008, Sandra was on the staff of Queensland Youth Choir, conducting several of their ensembles and in 2006 was appointed the QYC Artistic Director. In 2008, under her direction, VoiceWorks (QYC’s premiere ensemble) were semi-finalists in the inaugural Channel 7 Battle of the Choirs.
During 2001 Sandra travelled overseas on a Churchill Fellowship studying choral conducting and vocal/choral pedagogy. She visited 56 choirs in England, Sweden, Finland, the United States and Canada, working with and observing many international choral experts.
Since returning from her fellowship, Sandra has achieved international recognition as an Australian composer specialising in choral music. While she displays a particular interest in Finnish music, her compositions also demonstrate a strong Australian influence that reflects her interests in indigenous languages, eclectic influences and texts by contemporary Australian writers. Her works have a fresh melodic and harmonic approach, which translates well to her preferred vocal medium. Her works have been performed by choirs in Scandinavia, Western Europe, the United Kingdom, North America, south-east Asia and Australia. She is published by Edition Peters London and the Finnish company Sulasol.
Sandra has an avid interest in, and commitment to, promoting Australian choral music through her choral workshops and international invitations. As an adjudicator and workshop clinician, Sandra has travelled extensively within Australia and internationally to China, Canada, the United States, England and Finland. As a conductor she has produced a number of highly acclaimed choral recordings including the premiere Australian recordings of the Ramirez Misa Criolla and Navidad Nuestra, and an eclectic collection of new Australian music titled New Leaves.
CLICK here to visit Sandra's website. |
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Accompanist
Senior Choir
Katrina May
Holding a post-Graduate Diploma (Opera Repetiteur) from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, as well as a Bachelor or Music (Performance) and a Certificate of Music from the West Australian Conservatorium of Music, Melbourne-born Katrina works predominantly as associate artist on piano, as a vocal/piano coach and as a choir conductor.
Katrina's accompanying experience is vast, extending from instrumental and vocal, to dance, orchestral and percussion ensembles. Her engagements have covered numerous schools, conservatoire, choirs, opera companies, churches, hotels, as well as cafe-restaurants, theatres and other musical organisations.
Katrina's highlights have included performances at the Perth Concert Hall, the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, and on Australian national television and radio. She was one of three finalists in a state Mozart Bicentenial Piano Concerto Competition and toured Australia with Trio Bel Canto (US saxophonists).
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Musical director
Cambrian Youth Choir
Berniece Hicks OAM
Berniece has been directing the Cambrian Youth Choir since 1996 and is only the second person to hold this position. With performance, teaching and leadership experience developed since childhood, she brings to the position a formidable combination of talent, passion for the arts, expertise and commitment.
A prominent singing, music theory and piano teacher in the Ipswich community, Berniece has entered her students successfully in examinations with AMEB and in local and state eisteddfodau. Her students’ performances utilise the piano accompaniment skills that she also possesses.
For many years, Berniece was a member of the Ipswich Choral Society and has directed many church choirs from Perth to Brisbane, Melbourne to Sydney since the mid 1970s. She always sets her goals high for the ensembles that she directs, exposing them to a variety of repertoire, musical theatre productions, CD recordings and domestic and international tours.
In 2005, Berniece received an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for her contribution to the community and to the development of the arts.
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Accompanist
Cambrian Youth Choir and
Junior Cambrian Choir
Bronwyn French
Bronwyn is presently employed at Ipswich Grammar School as a Musical Assistant / Instrumental Teacher and also teaches piano and voice at her own private studio.
She has been a very proud member of the Blackstone-Ipswich Cambrian Choir for many years, having joined the choir in the late 1970s. During her early years with the choir she enjoyed roles in musicals such as Sound of Music, Brigadoon, and Camelot, and also accompanied the Junior Cambrian Choir, with Blodwyn Whitehead as choral director, for a period in the 1980s.
After a lengthy absence due to the demands of a busy and growing family, Bronwyn returned to the Cambrians in 1996 to accompany the Junior Choir and later that year assumed the role of accompanist for the Cambrian Youth Choir, beginning a new partnership with Berniece Hicks as choral director.
Bronwyn is very proud to have seen her four children Matthew, Adam, Ben and Erin proceed through the ranks of the Junior, Youth and Senior choirs. She remains committed to encouraging, in all young people, a love of singing and choral music. |
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Musical director
Junior Cambrian Choir
Michelle French
Michelle is a graduate of the Queensland University of Technology where she completed degrees in music and education, specialising in primary school classroom music. Since graduating, she has worked as a primary music specialist in three Ipswich schools and has conducted several choirs at these schools. Currently, Michelle is the Junior School Music Co-ordinator at West Moreton Anglican College and the Choir Director at St Paul's Anglican Church, Ipswich.
During the time spent with her various choral programs, Michelle has further developed her skills as an accompanist and is frequently asked to accompany choir rehearsals and performances, as well as many solo competitors in eisteddfodau.
Michelle has been involved with the Blackstone-Ipswich Cambrian choir for many years, beginning as a chorister in the Youth Choir in 1995 and continuing through to her current membership of the Senior Choir. She is delighted to have been appointed conductor of the Junior Cambrian Choir and to be able to encourage young people to enjoy choral music and to continue their participation in music as they grow and develop.
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