Guest Artists

Emma Sholl – Flute

Emma Sholl has been Associate Principal Flute with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra since 2003. She graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium with First Class Honours in 2001, and was placed on the Dean’s List of Merits.

Emma has won numerous awards, including 2MBS Young Performer of the Year 1997; Symphony Australia Young Performers Award (Other Instruments) 2001; National Orchestral Flute Competition Winner 1999; and National Solo Flute Competition in 2002. She has performed concertos with the Adelaide, Tasmanian and Sydney Symphony Orchestras, and has performed as Guest Principal Flute with the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

In 2002-3, she studied in Geneva with Jacques Zoon and performed in St Petersburg and Moscow as part of the World Orchestra for Peace.

Georg Pedersen – Cello

Born in Denmark to a musical family, Georg Pedersen received scholarships from the Danish, Finnish and French Governments and studied in Copenhagen, Paris and Los Angeles with teachers including Paul Tortelier and Gregor Piatigorsky.

A former Principal Cellist with the Royal Danish Philharmonic Orchestra, he has played under many of the world’s leading conductors. He has also toured extensively in Europe, USA, Canada, Asia and New Zealand as a recitalist and chamber musician. He was co-founder of the Dania String Quartet and the Copenhagen Chamber Soloists. Georg came to Sydney to join the Sydney String Quartet and the Soloists of Australia. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in Cello at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Paul Rickard-Ford – Piano

After graduating from the Melbourne Conservatorium Paul Rickard-Ford was awarded the Clarke Scholarship to undertake further studies at the Royal College of Music in London, where he won the Dannreuther Prize for the most outstanding Concerto Performance. He was the inaugural Paul Lander scholar and, in the Bicentennial Celebrations, was the only musician to receive the Australian Achiever Award.

In 1994, Paul was appointed as a Lecturer in Piano at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and he is in demand as a recording artist, recitalist, examiner, adjudicator and master teacher throughout Australia. He has been Artistic Director of the Conservatorium’s winter and summer Piano Festivals since their inception in 1995.

George Ellis – Conductor, Pops for Tots

George Ellis (a.k.a. “Big G”) is well known as presenter of PSO’s popular annual children’s concerts, Pops for Tots, as well as the Sydney Opera House Babies Proms.

George studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the University of Colorado. He has conducted the Adelaide and Tasmanian Symphonies and the State Orchestra of Victoria as part of Symphony Australia’s Conductors Program. In 2000, he conducted the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Millennium Choirs for the Sydney Olympics Opening and Closing Ceremonies. He teaches at the Australian Institute of Music and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Access Centre.

Sarah-Grace Williams – Guest Conductor, Family Concert

Sarah-Grace Williams is fast gaining the reputation as one of the leading Australian conductors of her generation. After graduating with First Class Honours from the University of Western Sydney in performance, composition and conducting, she studied conducting in St Petersburg and Amsterdam.

In February 2006, Sarah-Grace was appointed Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Strathfield Symphony Orchestra. She also holds the positions of Associate Conductor with both The Occasional Performing Sinfonia (TOPS), director of the AIM Showcase Vocal Ensemble and has been an annual Guest Conductor with the Penrith Symphony Orchestra (PSO) since 2000.

In addition to her concert commitments with Strathfield Symphony, Penrith Symphony and TOPS, highlights of Sarah-Grace’s 2007 schedule include conducting 6 concerts with Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and presenting an education concert with The Queensland Orchestra.

Sarah-Grace has studied with the esteemed conductors Johannes Fritzsch, Alexander Polishchuk, Jorma Panula, Daniel Porcelijn, Marco Zucarrini, Janos Furst and Christopher Seaman and as one of the principal graduates from the Symphony Australia Conductors Programme, has conducted the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, The Queensland Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra in both rehearsals and concert. She has also toured as a conductor throughout Europe, Asia, Great Britain and New Zealand.

Sarah-Grace lectures in Conducting, Musical Theatre and History at the Australian Institute of Music and works as a Musical Director and Vocal Specialist for the Catholic Schools Performing Arts (CaSPA). Working regularly as a freelance Clarinettist and Pianist, Sarah-Grace is the Principal Clarinettist of PSO.

Joy Ng - Piano

Joy Ng, now seventeen, was introduced to the piano when she was three and a half. She began formal lessons with Betty Goh at the age of five. In 2004, she obtained her A.Mus.A and in 2005 her L.Mus.A with Distinction whilst learning with Estelle Shields. Since then Joy has been studying with with Daniel Herscovitch at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

In 2001, Joy was offered music scholarships at several private schools. Later she was awarded the Philip Dumbrell Piano Scholarship and is currently on the Kathleen Holmes Macre Scholarship from the Sydney Conservatorium Open Academy. Joy has won numerous prizes in various suburban eisteddfods, as well as the NSW United Music Teachers and the Sydney McDonald's Performing Arts Challenge. Awards Joy has won include the Intermediate Championship at the Northern Beaches Eisteddfod, the Open Age Piano Scholarship in the Parramatta Eisteddfod, and the Senior Piano Championship at the St. George Eisteddfod.

In 2006, Joy, with her piano quintet, gave the Australian premiere performance of the Piano Quintet in C minor by Vaughan Williams at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Other performances have included Lunchbreak Concerts, Winter Teacher's Festival Recital, Ensemble Concerts and Gala Concerts at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the Northern Beaches Awards Presentation Gala Concert, and for Friends of the Sydney International Piano Competition. Joy also plays the violin and was a member of the Sydney Youth Orchestra in 2005.