The Exotic

Judith Dodsworth is regarded as one of Australia’s finest interpreters of contemporary vocal works and renowned for a range which encompasses both the soprano and mezzo soprano repertoire. A graduate of ANU, ANAM and the University of Melbourne, she has studied in Vienna and London, including with legendary new music soprano, Jane Manning. She has created leading roles in premiere seasons for Canberra Street Theatre, Chambermade Opera, Stopera and Neue Oper Wien in Vienna, has worked with Syzygy Ensemble and the Plexus Collective and been presented in the Sydney Opera House’ Utzon Series.

Alison Mitchell is the Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Flautist and has a vibrant and diverse career, as orchestral musician, chamber musician, soloist and teacher, performing throughout Europe and Australia. She has held Principal positions with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of Scottish Opera, and Associate Principal with the Sydney Symphony as well as performing as guest Principal with ACO, ASO, BBC NOW, LPO, RSNO, the Royal Northern Sinfonia and as a founder member of the Australian World Orchestra. As concerto soloist Alison has performed and recorded with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, ACO, TSO and QSO. She regularly performs in various chamber groups and festivals, such as at the AFCM 2022 in Townsville, and has recently joined, the Brisbane based, Ensemble Q. Alison is a dedicated educator and, alongside her QSO ‘Connect’ projects, is Flute Faculty at the Australian Academy of Music and teaches at the Queensland Conservatorium.

Slava Grigoryan is regarded as a wizard of the guitar and has forged a prolific reputation as a classical guitar virtuoso. Collaborations have played a huge part in Grigoryan’s career, most notable of these are in the trio with legendary USA guitarist Ralph Towner and Austrian guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel and the duo with brother Leonard Grigoryan. He has received four ARIA awards and an incredible 25 ARIA Award nominations. He has been touring internationally since 2003, regularly performing throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and the USA, as well as more exotic performances in Brazil, South Africa, India and the Middle East. Slava is the Artistic Director of the Adelaide Guitar Festival, a position he has held since 2009.

Christopher Moore studied piano and violin before he discovered his passion lay in the rich harmonic and rhythmic complexities of the inner voices – so he bought a viola and the rest is history. After ten years as Principal Viola of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, he is now Principal Viola of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and is in high demand as a soloist and chamber musician in Australia and abroad. He currently holds the position of Creative Producer of Melbourne Symphony’s chamber music programs, including the conductor-free Melbourne Recital Centre concerts. His musical home is often filled with the sounds of his talented family who all play instruments and sing. Christopher also plays Theremin. If you don’t know what that is, just ask him. Christopher is fortunate enough to play on a 1610 Giovanni Paolo Maggini viola - kindly on loan from an anonymous benefactor. He also owns a wonderful 1937 Arthur E. Smith which isn’t for sale, but you could borrow it if you promise to look after it.

Kaylie Melville is a Melbourne-based percussion soloist and chamber musician dedicated to new music performance. Noted for her “extraordinary ability to impart a sense of musicality to even the smallest gestures” (Partial Durations), Kaylie is the Assistant Artistic Director of luminary new music organisation Speak Percussion and co-Artistic Director of the contemporary ensemble Rubiks Collective. As a passionate advocate of Australian music, Kaylie has performed in the world premieres of acclaimed works including Deborah Cheetham’s ‘Article 27’ (2019), Liza Lim’s ‘Atlas of the Sky’ (2018), and Kate Neal's 'Semaphore' (2015).

Alexander Meagher is a versatile Melbourne-based percussionist with an eclectic taste in music, both within the classical repertoire and beyond. Fond of multidisciplinary and theatrical performances, he enjoys bringing new, unique, and rarely performed repertoire to programs, eager to allow curiosity to expand his knowledge and understanding. Completing his studies at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) in 2021, Alex has since worked with Speak Percussion, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Astra Chamber Music Society, and performed in solo & chamber recitals.

Amanda Grigg has enjoyed a diverse musical career since graduating from The Elder Conservatorium of Music. She has worked regularly as an orchestral percussionist, a freelance performer, and a chamber musician. Recent credits include Ukaria 24 with Lawrence Power, and the world Premiere of Watershed: The Death of Dr Duncan for the Adelaide Festival of Arts. Amanda is currently the Head of Brass and Percussion and Associate Director of Honours Programs at the Elder Conservatorium of Music.

Jeffrey Means is an American conductor and percussionist with a special interest in modern and contemporary music. His wide-ranging career has included engagements across North America and Europe, collaborating with many of today’s leading composers and ensembles. He is artist director of the boston-based group, Sound Icon, which has given premieres of numerous major works of the European Avant-Garde. After studying with Pierre Boulez in 2009-2011, he has maintained a close relationship with Boulez’s music. Means is professor of conducting at Berklee College of Music and is an active recording engineer.

Elina Vähälä’s 2022/23 season sees her debut at the Adelaide Festival. Born in the US and raised in Finland, she debuted with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra at twelve years old, since when her international career has won press accolades and praise from audiences and musicians alike. Elina Vähälä appears regularly with the key Finnish orchestras, and is guest performer with countless high-profile orchestras. With a touring schedule covering China, Korea, Japan, Northern Europe, and the Americas, she enjoys fruitful working relationships with leading conductors including Leonard Slatkin, Carlos Kalmar, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Okko Kamu, Jakub Hrůša, Thierry Fischer, Sakari Oramo. A versatile soloist with a wide stylistic repertoire, she has given world premieres of Sallinen’s Chamber Concerto and Curtis-Smith’s Double Concerto. Elina Vähälä performs with a 1780 Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin.

Imaginative and versatile Finnish virtuoso Paavali Jumppanen has established himself as a dynamic musician with a remarkable profile internationally as solo recitalist, orchestral collaborator, recording artist, artistic director, and frequent performer of contemporary and avant-garde music. Performing extensively in the United States, Europe, Japan, China, and Australia and commissioning and collaborating closely with such composers as Boulez, Murail, Dutilleux, Penderecki, as well as many Finnish composers, Mr Jumppanen’s expanding discography includes “the best recorded disc of Boulez’s piano music so far” (The Guardian) and the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas (on Ondine).      

As a dedicated curator of music, Paavali Jumppanen is a co-founder and the lead-curator of the Väyläfestival, a wide-ranging arts festival at venues along the shores of the Torne River in northern Scandinavia; from 2015 to 2021, Mr. also Jumppanen held the position of Artistic Director for the renowned international PianoEspoo Festival, in Finland. In 2022 he moved with his family to Melbourne to assume the duties of Artistic Director to the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM).

Andrea Lam, an Australian pianist pronounced a "real talent" by the Wall Street Journal, performs as soloist with leading orchestras throughout Australasia, Japan, and North America. Based in New York until 2021, she has performed recitals at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to Sydney Opera House, and toured nationally for Musica Viva Australia. Andrea is also a keen chamber music collaborator, performing and recording for Chelsea Music Festival (New York), with Australian String Quartet, baritone Bo Skovhus, violinist Emily Sun, and the Claremont Trio (USA). Performing a wide range of repertoire, from Bach, Schumann and Chopin to Aaron Jay Kernis, Lilya Ugay and Nigel Westlake, Andrea holds degrees from both the Yale, and Manhattan Schools of Music.