Staff

After completing his Honors Degree in Performance (piano) in 1983, Bernard pursued a diverse career in Adelaide, incorporating a busy accompanist schedule, repetiteur work for the State Opera of South Australia, guest lecturer at the Elder Conservatorium whilst also teaching piano in schools such as Scotch College and at his own private music school.

In the mid 1980’s Bernard won the inaugural Accompanists Guild Award (now known as the Geoffrey Parsons Award) and was a finalist in the Eisteddfod Concerto Competition. 

Since 1990 Bernard and his partner Sarah have been part of the highly successful performing ensemble, the Tea Rose Duo.  Together they have toured nationally and internationally, released eight critically acclaimed CDs and won many industry awards.

Bernard has also managed national tours for various artists including well-known pianist Roy Howat and has participated on a number of boards and committees including National ...more

John Weretka holds an honours degree majoring in history (specialising in Anglo-French literature of the twelfth century) and musicology (specialising in opera in the first half of the eighteenth century). He completed postgraduate study in art history in 2008, writing a thesis on the architecture of Rome in the first half of the eighteenth century, and is currently studying for the Graduate Diploma in Theology at the Catholic Theological College.

John was appointed to the Federal Office in 2001 as General Editor after a period of teaching music theory and history at the University of Melbourne and the Victorian College of the Arts.  In 2007, John was appointed to the newly-created role of Production Manager, a role which sees him responsible for the implementation of the Board’s publications and syllabus development agenda.

John has worked with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Musica Viva, the Music Council of Australia, ...more

Steven Hodgson completed an honours degree in 2004 with a major in composition and minor sequences in voice and musicology. He is currently working towards a masters degree in composition at the University of Melbourne.

Having undertaken a wide variety of freelance editing and proof reading work in Melbourne with the AMEB and in London with Boosey & Hawkes, Faber Music and the BBC, Steven joined the Federal Office of the AMEB as a Project Officer in 2007. In this role he is involved in the development of publications and written examinations, as well as assisting in the implementation of the Federal Board’s publications and syllabus development and review programme.

Steven performs regularly as a vocalist with a number of Melbourne-based groups including the vocal ensemble e21, Astra Chamber Music Society (bass/baritone soloist), Gloriana and the Australian Chamber Choir. He has also appeared as a bass soloist for Bach Cantata project at St Johns, ...more

After studying piano, violin,viola and trombone while at school, Tim finally settled on singing since it was easier to get the instrument on a peak hour train. After many years on campus, he recently graduated with an honours degree in Music with majors in both performance and musicology.

As a performer, Tim's repertoire stretches from twelfth century troubadour song to contemporary classical. He has performed principal roles in operas by Mozart, Haydn, Salieri, Rossini, Verdi, Ravel, Puccini, Britten and others and has toured nationally both with the Adelaide based company Co-Opera and as a guest artist with the VCA Opera Studio. In concert, he has performed song cycles by Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Wolf and appeared as soloist in Handel's Messiah, Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Long a member of many of Melbourne's leading choirs, he continues to sing with the early music group Ensemble Gombert.
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Jo Crabbe grew up in Sydney and always wanted to be a rock guitarist or a rugby league player. Instead, in 1996 she graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons), majoring in Archaeology and English literature. Spurning a life spent in a trench wearing a pith helmet, she decided to move to Melbourne. Once there she studied some subjects in Theology and worked for the AFES Christian student group at La Trobe University. Finding the Melbourne café scene to her liking, Jo settled in the Banyule area and proceeded to study Horticulture at Burnley College. She subsequently worked in the Horticulture industry in plant nurseries and in garden maintenance, spending time attending to the needs of pernickety perennials and other precocious plants. Swapping gardening gloves for computer keys, she also spent 18 months at the Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne working on the Australia’s Virtual Herbarium project.
Not content with spending ...more