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Sophie Van Dijk (Class of  2015) is an Australian composer and violinist, currently studying a Bachelor of Music (Composition) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She has studied under composers Sandy Evans, Paul Stanhope, Trevor Pearce and Tristan Coelho, and is currently studying with Gerard Brophy.

Sophie has written for solo instruments, chamber ensembles and choirs, and has experimented with electroacoustic music.

Radford College commissioned Sophie to write a new piece for the 2018 Foundation Day Concert. Sophie says that it has “been an absolute pleasure – there’s something really special about knowing the particular ensembles that you are writing for – it makes writing the piece and then hearing the notes come to life all the more exciting”.

She also said that “it has been really lovely to come back, see the younger students grown up and in leadership roles, reconnect with staff and see them all put so much love into my piece. I can’t wait to hear it performed!”

Sophie has always been into music. She said that her “family is very musical, so it has always been ‘in my veins’. My involvement in music at Radford helped me develop as a musician and to think that pursuing music beyond school might be possible”.

In June 2017, Sophie was selected to participate in the Coro Innominata Women Composers’ Development Program, working with Sally Whitwell, Jessica Wells and Jos Markerink. Her chamber piece Inside the Mosaic was performed in November at the Brett Whiteley Studio. She also, wrote, recorded and produced the music for the short documentary Merge by Michelle Chanique and Karen Lee in conjunction with Fairfield City Council.

Sophie is a founding member of Sydney-based composer-performer collective Konzertprojekt, and will continue to work with them in 2018 to present concerts and perform new chamber works.

Anthony Chen (Class of 2013) has also been invited back to play “Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58 (1st movt)” Frédéric Chopin.

Currently, Anthony Chen is the Keyboard Fellow of Sydney Grammar School where he works as an accompanist, repetiteur, teacher and ensemble leader.

He says that he has “loved music for as long as I remember! I started playing the piano when I was 5. My parents always said I loved singing when I was a baby, and recognising my love for music then, put me into music lessons right away!”

When asked if he had been particularly inspired by someone, he said “I would struggle to single out a single person and doing so would be an injustice to the numerous piano teachers and the wonderful music staff at Radford who have been very nurturing, patient and developmental to my musical career.”

Anthony Chen is an emerging pianist that recently graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with Honours in Piano Performance in 2017. He was born in Guangzhou and raised in Canberra. Growing up under the tutelage of Laura Wong, Ann Thompson and Wendy Lorenz, Anthony was awarded an AMusA in Piano Performance in 2011 and later an LMusA in 2012 with Distinction.

Throughout his high school and university years, Anthony excelled at local competitions and festivals including the National, Sydney, Shoalhaven and St. George Eisteddfods and the Janice Battison Award, receiving numerous 1^st places and scholarships. Anthony was a multiple scholarship holder for academic excellence at the Conservatorium and at St Andrews College. His most notable achievements occurred in 2017, where he participated in the Lev Vlassenko National Piano Competition in Brisbane, was runner-up in the Sydney Conservatorium Concerto Competition, partook in the Estivo Chamber
Music Summer School in Verona, Italy and was also runner-up in the inaugural Conservatorium Chamber Music Competition.

Ethan McAlister (Class of 2013) will also be performing. Ethan McAlister is currently an instrumental tutor at Radford College, Canberra Girls Grammar School, and Canberra Music Tuition. He studied performance in contemporary classical electric guitar, before transitioning to composition at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne. During his time in Melbourne he received the ‘Truby Williams Conservatorium Endowment 2015’, the ‘Ellinor Gertrude Harris Bequest 2016’ and a ‘MCM IgniteLab Student Grant 2016.’ Last year, Ethan returned to Canberra to complete his honours year at the ANU School of Music, looking at experimental composition under the supervision of Kim Cunio.

Ethan’s plans for the future include the development of a unique and broad teaching method for all forms of guitar, a return to contemporary classical performance, and the continuation of his experimental composition practise.

Ethan says that he “is excited to now be a part of the music department I spent far too much time in during College”.

 You can hear some of Sophie’s work here:

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