Dr. John Ferguson

Dr. John Ferguson was born in London, and before coming to Australia, worked as a Musical Director for theatres, brass bands and choirs, as well as some arranging and conducting for Television South West (TSW) and Thames Television, London.

As a conductor, John studied with Dr. Roy Truby in the UK, and with Robert Rosen, Myer Fredman and Barry Bignell.  He holds a Master’s degree in conducting from the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, and a PhD from the University of Melbourne. In 2001 he received a Symphony Australia scholarship to study with Jorma Panula, and later a scholarship to the International Conducting Academy in Romania. Past engagements have included conducting the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra strings, the Tasmanian Discovery Orchestra, the Australian Discovery Orchestra and engagements in Singapore as well as Shanghai, Nanjing and Beijing in China, including being guest conductor for the Xiamen International Piano Festival in 2016 and for a tribute concert for Chu Wanghua with the Xiamen Philharmonic in 2019. John also worked as a conductor for the VCA Opera School for four years, notably conducting Dvorak’s Rusalka in 1999. Other operatic experience includes conducting for Melbourne City Opera and Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Victoria. In 2007 he conducted the Yellow River Concerto with the distinguished Chinese pianist Yin Chengzong, and the world premiere of Chu Wanghua’s ‘Silk Road’ symphony, broadcast throughout China by China Central Television. John has received the Theatre Guild ‘Musical Director of the Year’ award three times and was made a life member of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society in 2017.

John is regularly invited to adjudicate festivals and eisteddfods, has been an AMEB examiner since 1988, and has been a guest lecturer at Beijing and Chengdu Normal Universities and the Tianjin, Xiamen and Sichuan Conservatories in China. Dr Ferguson has undertaken musicology research at the University of Melbourne in recent years, as well as being Director of Music at Scotch College, a position he has held since 1991.

Ms. Michelle Stanic

Michelle has taught all levels of classroom Music in a variety of Schools since 1981, and recently retired after 35 years at Trinity Grammar School, Kew, where she was Director of Music. She plays a variety of instruments, and has performed with and conducted many School, University, and Community orchestras and societies, including the Melbourne and Monash University Engineering Orchestras, Pro Musica, Stagestruck Productions and the Gilbert and Sullivan Society.

Michelle most recently won a Lyrebird award in 2019 for best Musical Director for the Trinity/ Ruyton production of Les Miserables. She enjoys classical, jazz, country and world music, with a particular fondness for the tone poems of Richard Strauss and the later repertoire of George Michael, which she fifinds an interesting combination. Michelle is delighted to be conducting the Emerging Cloud Orchestra, and looks forward to making music with these talented and enthusiastic young musicians!

Mr. Peter Mander

Peter graduated from the University of Melbourne (B.Mus.Ed.&A.Mus.A).
He performed with the Victorian State Opera and in several professional productions before leaving for Germany in 1982, where he performed as a character and lyric tenor in 50 roles in opera, operetta and musicals, as well as regularly appearing as tenor soloist in concert and Lieder recitals throughout Germany and Austria, including all the major religious works of Bach, Haydn and Mozart, before returning to Australia in 1994.

Peter teaches voice at Melbourne, Monash and the Australian Catholic Universities, the Victorian College of the Arts, the Melba Conservatorium of Music, and Scotch College, while maintaining a busy concert performance schedule. He returns regularly to Germany to perform as a concert artist.
He continues to be increasingly in demand as an adjudicator and examiner.
His students can be found in most professional productions, in both opera and musical in Australia, and in Germany and England.

Mr. Brett Kelly

Brett has regularly conducted the Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Tasmanian, Queensland and West Australian symphony orchestras, The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, and Dunedin’s Southern Sinfonia. He has conducted for Victorian Opera and been resident conductor of Chamber Made Opera.
He has been the featured on recordings for NAXOS, Tall Poppies and ABC Classics with his recording of the Rodrigo Guitar Concertos featuring Slava and Leonard Grigoryan nominated for an Aria Award. His conducting of The Hive by Nicolas Vines for Chamber Made Opera was nominated for a Green Room Award as Best Conductor of Opera.
He has conducted the orchestral scores for video games and numerous feature films including Beneath Hill 60, Baz Luhrmann’s epic, Australia and Happy Feet II. Brett is an experienced radio broadcaster, was Principal Trombonist with the Melbourne
Symphony until 2019 and was the founder of the acclaimed Academy of Melbourne which,over some fifteen years, became regarded as one of Australia’s most outstanding chamber ensembles.
He holds the position of Music Director of Melbourne Youth Orchestras.