Faculty

David McLeod’s rich and varied artistic career spans over 30 years. This includes performance as a singer/songwriter, band leader, session and backup singer, featured artist and actor. He has been in numerous television series’ and received top drawer musical theatre credits, notably a Mo Award nomination for best supporting actor in a musical. His recording career spans three albums and one EP covering jazz, blues, original songs and cast recordings. David speaks conversational Mandarin and sings a repertoire of Chinese material.

As an educator, David has been lecturing as a vocal and performance coach since 2002, specializing in performance anxiety and breathing techniques. David dedicates most of his time to the Australian Institute of Music and holds M.Mus (AIM) – GDMus - GCMus (AIM) Dip Ed St (CoT, Lond); Cert Ed St Coes Theory (CoT, Lond); Cert Coes Practice (CoT, Lond); Cert IV Assessment and Workplace training; Estill voice workshops attendance level one and two. A long-standing mentor to the CaSPA program, David works regularly with senior high school students in group and one on one sessions. He also volunteers his time to the “Blue Guitar Project”.

"Swinging pop .…..veers between easy listening soul and ivory pop, slinky grooves and lounge music with a twist.” - Peter Holmes Sydney Morning Herald.

“McLeod’s singing draws upon several admitted influences in the world of jazz, pop and R&B” - Virgin Encyclopaedia of Jazz - London.

See David's website for his full biography and credits: http://www.davidmcleodaustralia.com/

Professional Musician since 1972 doing concert tours, recording

sessions, and songwriting.

Recording sessions at EMI, Alberts, United Sounds and Trafalgar

studios for various artists in the 80s and 90s.

Recorded Album with CBS band Full Marks 1985

National Tours with Full Marks as support for Van Morrison (1985),

Joan Armatrading (1985), Mick Fleetwood’s Zoo (1985), Mondo Rock,

Midnight Oil, MiSex, Sharon O’Neill, and others.

Toured with Graeme Connors, Jeff St John, Ross Ryan, Air Supply, Col

Joye (MD) and Johnny O’Keefe (MD) and others.

Played in the musical Rent at the Theatre Royal (1999).

Played in the musical Beautiful- The Carole King Story in Dec 2017

and Jan 2018.

Long Way To The Top (2002) National Concert Tour and DVD.

Mildura Country Music Awards Band Live Broadcast (2006-2018)

Tamworth Country Music Awards Band Live broadcast (1980 -1983)

Jingle production with John Gillard !1985-1988) Composing and

recording music for Ads for Coca Cola, Nescafe, Levis and others for

Television, Radio and Cinema.

Compositions/Arrangements

Score for Family Free (Surfing Film) 1972

Full Marks album (CBS) 1985

Big Sky album (Independent) 2012

Currently MD for several shows: Rumours (Fleetwood Mac Show),

Friday on my Mind (Vanda and Young Show), Hotel California (Eagles

Show), Don’t Dream It’s Over (Crowded House Show) as well as a

busy schedule of other live performances.

Brad Miller: Music Director, Pianist & Arranger

Brad Miller began playing the piano at the age of five and completed his musical training in

orchestration, arranging and modern harmony through Boston's prestigious Berklee College

of Music. His numerous theatre credits include In The Heights, Chicago, Ruthless!, A Chorus

Line, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Once On This Island, Hair, Godspell, Jerry’s Girls, Forever Plaid,

The Goodbye Girl and the Broadway revival of Candide on which Brad was invited to serve as

apprentice to legendary theatre director Harold Prince. Brad regularly serves as Musical

Director and pianist for Australian theatre icon Geraldine Turner including the national tour

of her acclaimed one-woman show Turner’s Turn. Brad received the great honour of being

appointed Musical Director, pianist and arranger for Broadway and West End star Ramin

Karimloo on his 2018 Australian concert tour. In addition to his musical direction work, Brad

serves as a Senior Instructor at the Australian Institute of Music and operates Key Change

Productions: an independent theatre production company and boutique music studio

specializing in composition for film, television & new media.

Since relocating from his native Vienna to Sydney, Nick has been heavily involved in the local

music industry as a promoter, DJ, producer, radio host and educator.

Over the course of his career, he has performed at major Australian festivals and live venues,

a wide range of corporate / media events and has been booked in the US, UK, Japan,

Indonesia, Malaysia and Tahiti.

Nick was the first hip hop DJ in Australia to sign a major label deal for a DJ-mixed album

('Blazin' Vol 1 / Universal Music, 2003) and has since released a number of DJ albums,

compilations and singles.

As part of the hip hop trio Foreign Heights he was nominated for an ARIA award in 2007.

He has toured / shared the stage with a multitude of artists such as Kanye West, Justin

Timberlake, Chronixx, De La Soul, Johnny Osbourne, Common, Michael Franti, Talib Kweli,

Pharrell Williams, Missy Elliott, Jungle Brothers, 50 Cent, The Roots, Run DMC, Xzibit, J

Boog, Public Enemy, Ice T, Beatnuts, DJ Krush, QBert, Grandmaster Flash, MixMasterMike,

Jungle Brothers, Lyrics Born, Sean Paul, Cypress Hill, ColdCut, Jazzanova, Black Eyed Peas,

Scribe, Roots Manuva, Slum Village etc and has been booked for celebrity / industry events

like Donna Karan's birthday and Justin Timberlake's private party at the Sydney Opera

House.

He has also produced and recorded with local and international artists including Mr Lif,

Casual, Will I Am, Pigeon John, Murs, Che'nelle, MC Trey, Maya Jupiter, 13th Son, Eternia

and DJ Regal and has licensed his music for TV campaigns in the US and France.

Nick’s Article One Events has been at the forefront of Caribbean / Tropical / Reggae Music in

the Australasian region since 2003 with some of the most successful club nights and

international tours of the genre, including a history-making show with hip hop icons Wu-Tang

Clan in Auckland in December 2018.

Since 1997, he has been sharing his knowledge and experience in the music industry as a

workshop facilitator / educator at institutions such as TAFE, Information & Cultural Exchange

(ICE) and Sydney University and since 2008 as senior instructor at the Australian Institute Of

Music, Sydney.

His latest project, FutureSkool Of Music, opens 2018 and offers a boutique teaching space for

both young people and adults.

Matt is a composer, arranger, trombonist and musical director based in Melbourne.

He has established himself as a versatile arranger that has seen him working in almost every medium from T.V to the concert halls and everywhere in between. His T.V credits include Dancing with the Stars, It Takes Two, Australia’s Got Talent, The Singing Bee and Australian Idol, his movie credits include Death Defying Acts (copyist) and Corporate Animals (orchestrator).  Matt’s arrangements performed worldwide with notable groups including the Auckland Philharmonia, L.A Mambo All-Star orchestra, Miami Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Istanbul Symphony Orchestra.

As a musical director Matt runs his own 17 piece big band, he has been musical director for the Kew Festival and the Great Australian Ball which has seen him work with seasoned entertainers including Kate Cebrano, Jon Stevens, Shane Howard (Goanna), Normie Rowe, Mike Brady, Brian Cadd, Frankie J Holden, Bonnie Anderson, Wendy Matthews and Rose Tattoo (Angry Anderson).

Matt has been working in education for the past 16 years at numerous high schools and private institutions, he has presented workshops at various conferences and served as Head of Arranging and Music Production for the Victorian State School Spectacular. Matt is currently the Victorian representative on the executive board of the Music Arrangers Guild of Australia (MAGA) and has educational big band and concert band compositions publish by Brolga Music Publishing and JEA Jazz Press.

Matt holds a Bachelor of Music (Composition) from the Victorian College of the Arts, a Graduate Certificate of Education (Tertiary studies) from the University of Southern Queensland and is currently completing his Masters of Teaching and Learning while still maintain a hectic freelance and teaching schedule.

Andrew Smith is a Sydney based saxophonist who is at the forefront of classical saxophone in Australia. A highly active performer, Andrew can be frequently seen performing in chamber (Nexas Quartet, The Sax Summit) orchestral (Sydney Symphony) and solo settings.

One of the hallmarks of Andrew’s musical endeavors has been his close collaborations with a number of composers resulting in countless premiers of new works. Composers Andrew has worked with include Cyrus Meurant, Tristan Coelho, Paul Castles, Lachlan Skipworth, Mark Oliviero,  Mark Bradshaw and Matthew Hindson.

As a member of the Nexas Saxophone Quartet and the Chronology Arts core ensemble Andrew has attempted to further the repertoire of the saxophone through initiating a number of commissions and transcriptions, as well as exploring a number of collaborations with associate artists and cross art collaborations.

Notable festival performances include the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Adelaide Cabaret, Sydney Festival, Aurora Festival, International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM), and World Saxophone Congress. International performances have seen travels to Scotland, France, Hong Kong and China. Andrew has also been involved in a number of live to air radio broadcasts for ABC Classic FM and Fine Music 2MBS. CD releases include: "Ballads of a Pleasant Life" Nexas Quartet/Peter Coleman-Wright (ABC Classics) and "Current" (Nexas Quartet). Through performances with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Andrew has also had the pleasure to perform solos with pop artists including Natalie Cole, Ben Folds and Conchita Wurst. Andrew has also recorded for a number of soundtracks including the recent HBO/BBC production "Top of the Lake: China Girl" with music by Mark Bradshaw.

In his saxophone study Andrew was awarded both a B.Mus (Hons) and M.Mus from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. The study of the latter was undertaken with the assistance of the prestigious Henderson Postgraduate Award. Throughout his tertiary study Andrew won numerous competitions and received a number of scholarships as well as furthering his studies with numerous European sojourns.