Daniel Manera freely admits that his acumen on the clarinet is restricted to playing Mary Had a Little Lamb - but that hasn't stopped him winning a prestigious national music prize.
Three years ago violinist Jonathan Mui scored a triple whammy - he claimed his first major music prize; was the youngest winner in the history of the competition and the first to gain a new international travel scholarship.
Con Alumnus and cornet player David King will lead the Glenorchy City Concert Brass concert in Hobart this weekend as the culmination of a week of intensive workshops.
Tim Chung will take charge of more than 400 performers under his baton for this year's Christmas performance of George Frideric Handel's massive choral work Messiah at Sydney Town Hall.
Con Opera Alumna Margaret Butterworth is preparing to lead for the ninth straight time the choir for the annual Carols in the Park in Epping's Boronia Park on Sunday.
Internationally acclaimed composer and sound artist, Colin Black, has claimed a place among the finalists 22 for the 2010 Prix Phonurgia Nova Awards in Arles, France.
Alumnus Paul Dyer, who this year is celebrating the 21st birthday of the Brandenburg Orchestra, well remembers the prediction of his piano teacher when 17 years old: "She said to me, 'You haven't got the killer instinct, you're not going to make it'. It tore me apart."
Vocal soloists Helen Barnett (soprano), Anna Dowsley (alto), Kaine Hayward (tenor) and Alexander Knight (bass) - all graduates or advanced students of The Con - will perform Handel's Messiah at the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, Penrith, on Sunday, 5 December.
Alumni Michael Whiticker has left his post at the Townsville Music Centre to establish a large studio in the Glasshouse Mountains on the Sunshine Coast.
Daniel Herscovitch, senior lecturer in piano, is in South Carolina for a masterclass and recital at Claflin University as part of an International Piano Series.
Young musicians training at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music have beaten all expectations in claiming an unprecedented level of achievement during the past 12 months.
The Queen of Jazz, Judy Bailey, has revealed it was the velvet-voiced musician Fats Waller that first encouraged her interest in what has become a lifelong love of jazz.
Increasingly, governments all over the world are beginning to understand that music is central and essential to human happiness; that every child deserves an education in music, according to Dean and Principal of The Con, Professor Kim Walker.
Highly accomplished violinist Rebecca Chan has finished in the top 10 in the world in the prestigious International Violin Competition "Citta Di Brescia" in Italy.
For Brazilian-born Henrique Dib, five years of studying for a degree in a foreign country is now paying-off within one year of him becoming a professional composer.
Having first conquered New York and San Francisco, Maestro Imre Palló will be front and centre for a world premiere performance of a new string sonata in Sydney tomorrow night (29 October).
Australia's most revered composer, Peter Sculthorpe, is not one to shirk his feelings when it comes to the natural world and the perils of climate change.
A news item on the website of the world's pre-eminent music education institution, the Juilliard School of New York, describes the enthusiasm of those about to take part in the joint concert with the Chamber Orchestra of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Alumni Chris Komorowski, now a professional solo jazz guitarist, has released his debut album "As I Hear It," which is based around his technique of sounding like several people playing guitars.
Two of Australia's most promising young pianists will be selected to participate in an unprecedented international music collaboration in Germany in 2012.
American Paula Brusky, who completed her doctorate in bassoon performance at The Con, has been appointed to the Faculty of St Norbert College in Wisconsin.
When the music of the great Baroque composers enchanted the world 300 years ago Australia had not been discovered by Europeans, but Neal Peres Da Costa is fast making up for the time lapse.
Professor Keith Howard, the Associate Dean for Research at The Con, is on a mission to prove the research significance of music scholars and musicians.
Gillian Williams plays the French Horn on works by classical composers such as Strauss and Brahms, but often as not she is listening to pop music on Triple J.
Alina Zamfir, a 20-year-old viola player, now in the third year of a performance degree at The Con, finds that eating bananas aids concentration and helps "centre" her ahead of going on stage.
The Con is firmly Sydney-based but over the past 12 months its students, Faculty and performance programs and initiatives have been on an unprecedented international trajectory.
Con Alumnus and lecturer in the Jazz Unit, Kevin Hunt, will be at the centre of an amazing recording session of the work of Aboriginal warrior Bennelong, first sang in public in London's Mayfair in 1793.
TENOR Brad Cooper, who as a boy delivered the North Shore Times in St Ives, drew a large and enthusiastic audience to the Con for his recital on August 31.
Con Alumni, Jocelyn Ho, turned to a background in pure mathematics to guide her decision to parley a third position two years ago to a first placing in the 2010 Australian National Piano Award on the weekend.
Dean and Principal of The Con, Kim Walker, acknowledged as one of the top five bassoonists in the world, has been invited to perform at a premier music event of the World Expo in Shanghai.
Student musicians from Australia will be aiming for a tour de force when they unite with counterparts from the and the San Francisco Conservatory and College of Music of the University of Colorado in Boulder for two historic concerts on 22 and 26 October.
Teaching disadvantaged Indigenous teenagers to play and hopefully master the flute is a cherished goal of internationally acclaimed flautist Alexa Still.
Sydney trio "Charisma", made up of Con graduates Roslyn Dunlop and Julia Ryder and The Con's Chair of the Ensembles Studies Unit and Senior Lecturer in Accompaniment, David Miller, is currently on a concert tour of Queensland.
Con alumnus Jenny Eriksson, a master of the viola da gamba, is on a national concert tour with her chamber music group, The Marais Project, featuring baroque music.
Young musicians from Australia will be reaching across the ocean divide in October for an historic collaboration with American counterparts as part of a three city concert tour of the USA.
Young pianists studying at The Con, Vatche Jambazian, of Castle Hill, and Jee-Yong Kim, of Carlingford, are vying for the crown of best classical pianist in Australia.
Student Rachel Bate, 25, who has been selected as a finalist in the Mathy Australian Singing Competition, was introduced to music as a child when her family would play all of the old musicals and encourage her to sing along, reports the Illawarra Mercury.
Internationally renowned cellist and teacher Georg Pedersen has seen many gifted young musicians over the past three decades, but not too many better than Sydney teenager and Con student Hyung Suk Bae.
A fan of jazz music has given a young Sydney "cool school" saxophonist the chance to play alongside some of Australia's leading musicians this weekend.
Two of Southland rock 'n' roll's most distinguished sons got deserved recognition from their home town this week. John Coker studied music arranging at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and was recruited as a touring bass player by Marcia Hines then, in 1979, Jon Eng-lish.
A permanent exhibition in a British institution devoted to the works and life of recently deceased legendary Australian conductor, Sir Charles Mackerras, is about to get larger.
Jane Rutter has been appointed Patron of the Conservatorium Mid North Coast (CMNC), a new institution that is moving to full operational status with the help of former Con Head of the Woodwind Unit Michael Scott.
Jazz student Michael Griffin is taking his quintet to Dubai for a three month concert tour, which will involve performing six nights a week, reports the Inner West Courier.
Students from the Conservatorium of Music have been in production with international and Australian film icons in the heart warming, family fantasy/adventure titled 'Spirit-ED'.
Multi-genre music is the way forward for emerging artists growing up with iPods and an incredible amount of information at their fingertips, according to award-winning trumpet player and jazz teacher at The Con, Phil Slater.
Former New South Wales Premier, the [[b||Honourable Bob Carr]], has been appointed the inaugural Patron of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Foundation.
World famous acoustician Dr Leo Beranek will be visiting Sydney Conservatorium of Music in August and giving a special presentation in Verbrugghen Hall for the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning.
Students from The Con have been taking audiences young and old by storm on a concert tour of the NSW Southern Highlands and South Coast from June 17-July 4.
Professor Michael McRobbie AO, world-renowned Australian-born educationalist visited The Con on Tuesday and was surprised to be greeted by a splendid brass fanfare from a twelve-piece band.
Three students from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music have agreed to be thrown in the "deep end" of public performance - concerts on the international stage.
Jazz and more jazz will set the tone of a musical juggernaut involving students from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (SCM) at the biggest cultural event of 2010, the Shanghai World Expo.
Katia Beaugeais has joined a select group of commissioned composers whose work will help celebrate the centenary of one of the nation's most prestigious institutions - The Con.
Internationally renowned euphonium artist and PhD student at The Con, Matthew van Emmerik, will be front and centre this weekend when he plays with the US Air Force Band.
Thursday 6 May is an auspicious day in The Con's history. On The Con's 95th anniversary this Thursday, The SCM Chamber Orchestra will be flying to Germany to be the resident orchestra at the Bronnbach Festival.
When revered jazz educator and conductor William Motzing teams up with Australian-born and American-based composer Tim Davies on 5 May for "The Biggest Band Concert," it will be a film and television conjunction as well as a world premiere music confection.
World New Music Days 2010 is being held in the Southern Hemisphere for the first time in the International Society of Contemporary Music's 88 year history, which is significant both for ISCM and Australia.
Ancient dance routines, a newly created instrument called the Hang, music never heard before in public in Australia - these are but three highlights of the inaugural Asian Symposium at The Con in April.
Doing some lunchtime business at the bank in the City this week will come complete with free musical accompaniment. At the Westpac Royal Exchange branch at 50 Pitt Street, buskers will be providing mini-concert performances each day in support of the Sydney Conservatorium's annual Open Day festival.
A cello crafted in 1812 that was the pride and joy of the wife of convict-era Governor Lachlan Macquarie will be featured in a special performance at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music's annual Open Day next Sunday.
Rap artists they're not, but eminent percussionist Daryl Pratt and acclaimed Australian writer David Malouf certainly know how to mix text with music. The two leading practitioners of their craft have come together to perfect a "soundscape" that will be a highlight performance of The Con's Open Day festival this Sunday.
The great musical conjunction - Open Day 2010 - is shaping as a blockbuster. The festival, on Sunday 28 March, will present the biggest array of concerts, displays, performances and lectures on record - involving a broad range of musicians, composers, researchers and artists, from apprentices to masters.
The momentum is surging for the major music development project, 101 Compositions for 100 Years, with two works to be performed back-to-back in Sydney. On 26 and 27 March The Con will host a premiere of the chamber orchestra version of Symphony No 4, Los Angeles - by Arvo Pärt - together with the Australian premiere Aulis Sallinen's Chamber Music VIII Op. 94 The Trees, All their Green.
When teenager Harry Ward heard master pianist Gerard Willems play at a major concert, he thought out loud: 'I want to have what he's having.' Now the 13-year-old from Killara is about to see his wish come true.
Dame Janet Ritterman (nee Palmer) is recognized as Australia's most honoured and credentialed music educator. She is one of several thousand young scholars who attended the former NSW Conservatorium of Music (now the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and a faculty of the University of Sydney) between 1940 and 1990 and who are now being recognized as Alumni of the University.
Nancy Tuck and Robert Dunn will join more than 240 other former students of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music on Thursday for induction into the cherished ranks of Alumni of the University of Sydney.
Rafael Bonachela, Artistic Director of the Sydney Dance Company, will have little trouble conversing with the audience at the inaugural Friends of The Con - Music Collaboration session.
Neta Maughan, a teacher at The Con for 36 years has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day 2010 Honours List for her services to pedagogy and improving the talent of young people.
Expand all
Harry Ward travels the world playing classical music, but this weekend his trusty violin will turn to pop-rock - Michael Jackson, no less.
Increasingly, governments all over the world are beginning to understand that music is central and essential to human happiness; that every child deserves an education in music, according to Dean and Principal of The Con, Professor Kim Walker.
Highly accomplished violinist Rebecca Chan has finished in the top 10 in the world in the prestigious International Violin Competition "Citta Di Brescia" in Italy.
Australia's most revered composer, Peter Sculthorpe, is not one to shirk his feelings when it comes to the natural world and the perils of climate change.
Felicity Doukakis is only 22 years old but for her, a rising star of the violin, music is timeless.
When the music of the great Baroque composers enchanted the world 300 years ago Australia had not been discovered by Europeans, but Neal Peres Da Costa is fast making up for the time lapse.
Professor Keith Howard, the Associate Dean for Research at The Con, is on a mission to prove the research significance of music scholars and musicians.
Gillian Williams plays the French Horn on works by classical composers such as Strauss and Brahms, but often as not she is listening to pop music on Triple J.
Alina Zamfir, a 20-year-old viola player, now in the third year of a performance degree at The Con, finds that eating bananas aids concentration and helps "centre" her ahead of going on stage.
The Con is firmly Sydney-based but over the past 12 months its students, Faculty and performance programs and initiatives have been on an unprecedented international trajectory.
Con Alumnus and lecturer in the Jazz Unit, Kevin Hunt, will be at the centre of an amazing recording session of the work of Aboriginal warrior Bennelong, first sang in public in London's Mayfair in 1793.
Internationally renowned cellist and teacher Georg Pedersen has seen many gifted young musicians over the past three decades, but not too many better than Sydney teenager and Con student Hyung Suk Bae.
A fan of jazz music has given a young Sydney "cool school" saxophonist the chance to play alongside some of Australia's leading musicians this weekend.
A stone's throw from Imre Palló's office is a venue that has eluded the world renowned conductor - until now.
Shaun Tarring and Andrew Brown are regarded by their peers as talented, hard working percussion students, but angels? Not normally.
Performances by Con students at the World Expo in Shanghai attracted more than 1,000 people every 20 minutes.
Greg Pattillo is making the flute cool again.
Professor Michael McRobbie AO, world-renowned Australian-born educationalist visited The Con on Tuesday and was surprised to be greeted by a splendid brass fanfare from a twelve-piece band.
Jazz and more jazz will set the tone of a musical juggernaut involving students from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (SCM) at the biggest cultural event of 2010, the Shanghai World Expo.
Katia Beaugeais has joined a select group of commissioned composers whose work will help celebrate the centenary of one of the nation's most prestigious institutions - The Con.
Thursday 6 May is an auspicious day in The Con's history. On The Con's 95th anniversary this Thursday, The SCM Chamber Orchestra will be flying to Germany to be the resident orchestra at the Bronnbach Festival. 
When revered jazz educator and conductor William Motzing teams up with Australian-born and American-based composer Tim Davies on 5 May for "The Biggest Band Concert," it will be a film and television conjunction as well as a world premiere music confection.
Ancient dance routines, a newly created instrument called the Hang, music never heard before in public in Australia - these are but three highlights of the inaugural Asian Symposium at The Con in April.
A cello crafted in 1812 that was the pride and joy of the wife of convict-era Governor Lachlan Macquarie will be featured in a special performance at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music's annual Open Day next Sunday.
Rap artists they're not, but eminent percussionist Daryl Pratt and acclaimed Australian writer David Malouf certainly know how to mix text with music. The two leading practitioners of their craft have come together to perfect a "soundscape" that will be a highlight performance of The Con's Open Day festival this Sunday.
Performances by a host of musicians from Regional NSW will be an integral part of a special festival at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music next month.
When teenager Harry Ward heard master pianist Gerard Willems play at a major concert, he thought out loud: 'I want to have what he's having.' Now the 13-year-old from Killara is about to see his wish come true.
Dame Janet Ritterman (nee Palmer) is recognized as Australia's most honoured and credentialed music educator. She is one of several thousand young scholars who attended the former NSW Conservatorium of Music (now the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and a faculty of the University of Sydney) between 1940 and 1990 and who are now being recognized as Alumni of the University.
Nancy Tuck and Robert Dunn will join more than 240 other former students of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music on Thursday for induction into the cherished ranks of Alumni of the University of Sydney.
Rafael Bonachela, Artistic Director of the Sydney Dance Company, will have little trouble conversing with the audience at the inaugural Friends of The Con - Music Collaboration session.
Eminent composer Matthew Hindson is sharing in the glory of a prestigious South Bank Show Award for the Royal Birmingham Ballet announced in London.
Neta Maughan, a teacher at The Con for 36 years has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day 2010 Honours List for her services to pedagogy and improving the talent of young people.
Aspiring Sydney composer Peter McNamara is the inaugural winner of the 101 Compositions Competition.