Ria Andriani is a musician, writer and advocate for disability and the arts. She has been involved with Backstage since 2022.
Ria writes by day and sings whenever she can. She has been involved for several years with Sydney Chamber Choir and has performed solo in Sydney and the UK. Ria is passionate about access for people with disability in all places, including on stage and online. Follow her on www.facebook.com/RiaAndrianiWriterAndMusician
Tony Gorman : Tony’s 50 year professional career as a saxophonist, clarinettist, composer and producer has made him one of the most respected musicians in Australia where he emigrated from Scotland in 1988. A graduate of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Tony’s career has encompassed contemporary jazz and improvised music, rhythm and blues, rock and classical music. He co-led Clarion Fracture Zone and GEST8 and was a member of The Australian Art Orchestra, The Original Otto Orchestra, and Mara!. In 1997 Tony’s performance career changed dramatically when he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Since then he has concentrated on solo clarinet performances, a duo with tabla player Bobby Singh and his improvising ensemble, The Monday Club.
The Monday Club: Tony Gorman: Alto clarinet Boyd: Contrabass clarinet Stephen Morley (Melb): French horn Mary Rapp: Cello, bass Steve Elphick: Bass. The Monday Club grew from a chance meeting between Tony Gorman and Steve Morley. A shared desire to explore sound was enough to start things moving - starting with long notes (to quote Tony - “is there ANYTHING they can’t do?”), it quickly became something more. The sources of this music are varied, elusive and not easily named - the spaces between words, and thoughts; the subtle stirrings of shifting time; flashing inspiration, raging and at once subsiding; a sense of space becoming sound becoming space... There are deep sonorities and ranging explorations, fuelled by the unique instrumentation and broad range of experience and inspiration within the group.
The Emerald Ruby : Imbued with the ethereal textures of folk music, ornate baroque instrumentals, and bardic storytelling, the sonic pallet of multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and ABC Classic commissioned composer The Emerald Ruby share’s musical milieu with Sufjan Stevens, Joanna Newsom and Missy Higgins. Whimsical in nature, her gentle songs are often juxtaposed by dark undertones cultivated in the chaos of late-diagnosed neurodivergence. A kaleidoscope of influences nourishes every performance from this multi-genre powerhouse; The hazy virtuosity of 18th-century French flute music, chaotic abstractions of a moonlit jazz jam, and trading traditional jigs and reels at a folk session are drenched with a mood only decades of musical adventures along Australia’s east coast can inscribe. 2024 will feature the conclusion and releases of multiple long-term projects including “Finding Fondness” (flute duets), “Folksy Dreams volume 3” (instrumental folk music), Patchwork (folk songs) as well as premier new commissions for Backstage Music, Ekstasis Ensemble and Maitland Regional art gallery.
Tessa Gutierrez has taught orchestral percussion, drums, and music theory since 1989. Receiving recognition through Top 5 AMEB percussion/drum teacher awards and ARIA music teacher of the year nominations, in 2020 Tessa was awarded “AMEB NSW Most Outstanding percussion and drum teacher.” Tessa’s keenest students perform as “drumfill percussion ensemble” and were invited to perform at the AMEB percussion syllabus launch (2013), and AMEB awards ceremony (2020). At age 5 Tessa asked for drum lessons. Her mum enrolled her in piano and classical RAD ballet/jazz/tap/Russian character classes. While thoroughly enjoyed these pursuits, she secretly saved birthday/Christmas money, eventually buying drums.
Elias Wilson is a Biripi man, audio describer, classical tenor and Aboriginal arts administrator, whose work occupies the intersection of old art forms and new audiences. Elias has delivered live theatre & event audio description for Riverside Theatres, Darlinghurst Theatre Company, and Sydney WorldPride. He has also described visual art, with a focus on First Nations work, for the National Portrait Gallery Canberra, NGV Melbourne, State Library of Victoria, and galleries at UQ and UNSW. As a singer, Elias is a sought-after opera, oratorio and chamber performer, and has appeared with Pinchgut Opera, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, and Victorian Opera.
Georgia Scott Georgia’s music aims to explore identity and lived experience. Georgia studied a BMus (Hons) at the Royal College of Music, and MMus at the Sydney Conservatorium, participating in the 2018-2019 Composing Women Program. Georgia has worked with the Sydney, Tasmanian and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, Moorambilla Voices, Gondwana Junior, the Australian World Orchestra, SSO Fellows, WA Youth Orchestras, Australian Ballet, Orchestra Victoria, Flautist Claire Chase, the Sydney Bach Society and Sydney Chamber Opera. Georgia has also shared her research into the representation of women with disability in music at Harvard and Columbia universities. In 2021, Georgia’s Opera ‘Her Dark Marauder’ was a finalist for ‘Work of the year: Dramatic' in the APRA AMC Art Music Awards and Georgia received the Australia Council Young Artist Award at the 2021 NADA Awards. Georgia was a participant in the 2022-2023 TSO Composers’ School, and in December 2022 Georgia co-curated a disability-led concert celebrating the music of neurodivergent artists and artists with disability as part of Backstage Music. This concert was performed at Phoenix central park’s venue ‘The Church’ and the fully accessible digital version was recorded at the Sydney Opera House. In 2024 Georgia will have new commissions premiered by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Backstage Music and London-based hand horn specialist, Isaac Shieh.
Will Hansen is a Sydney-based Double Bassist, composer and music educator. He is currently the double bassist for Omega Ensemble and specialises in new music. Will has worked with groups including Ensemble Offspring, Ensemble Apex, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and Victorian Opera, and was a finalist in the 2021 Freedman Classical Fellowship. As a composer, Will has been commissioned by the Brett Whiteley Studio, SCEGGS Darlinghurst and the for 2024 Orange Chamber Music Festival where he was also a featured soloist. Will is a passionate teacher, tutoring over double bassists and conducting 10 ensembles.
Grace Kim enjoys a multifaceted career as musician, creative director, educator, and researcher. As a concerto soloist, Grace has performed with symphony orchestras of Australasia, Belgium, Russia, and Ukraine in some of the most prestigious venues. Grace has won numerous international and national prizes. Grace’s passion for chamber music has seen her regularly work with eminent artists, and in 2007/08 she was the Artistic Director of the Summer Concert Series in the celebrated Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Returning after living and working in the Netherlands for eight years, Grace is now based Sydney. In addition to performing, Grace is the Creative Director of Sensory Concerts®, and teaches in the Rising Stars Program at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Grace is currently undertaking PhD research at The University of Sydney, where she is also a tutor for Psychology of Music.
Lamorna Nightingale is a freelance flautist, concert presenter, educator and publisher who is passionate about the future of art music in Australia. She has many years experience working in the orchestral sector and is a core member of the new music group, Ensemble Offspring. Lamorna is the Artistic Director of ‘BackStage Music’, a concert series in Sydney which fosters a culture for living music. Lamorna has also created several pedagogical volumes of repertoire for young flute players through her publishing company ‘Fluteworthy’.