Artist Bio

Kay is a pianist equally at home playing a Piazzolla tango, a Sunday hymn arrangement, a wedding ceremony or on a concert stage. She has performed at venues including the Melbourne Recital Centre, Robert Blackwood Hall, National Gallery of Victoria, BMW Edge at Federation Square, Stones of the Yarra Valley Winery, Melbourne Exhibition Centre and Zonzo Estate Yarra Valley, bringing the same sensitivity and versatility to each. She has accompanied Bachelor of Music Theatre students for recitals at the Victorian College of the Arts, and recorded Sombras, an album of Astor Piazzolla's music with La Tin Shed Orquesta, as well as Melbourne composer Naomi Brown's piano suites The Orchard (2022) and Bright Wings and Dappled Things (2026).

Kay holds a Bachelor of Music Performance from the Victorian College of the Arts, a Master of Teaching from the University of Melbourne, and a Licentiate Diploma in Music (with distinction). A summer intensive at the New York Jazz Academy in 2014 sharpened Kay's love of jazz improvisation, which now shapes her playing across the board — from leading her church's worship band and arranging contemporary hymns, to accompanying singers, instrumentalists and ensembles and arranging pop songs for weddings.

Kay has worked in schools as a classroom music teacher and choir director, preparing students for performances in front of the whole school and wider community. She now teaches piano, theory and accompanies at several independent schools, alongside casual relief teaching across primary and secondary. Outside these commitments, she loves working with highly motivated students on exam preparation — both as an accompanist playing alongside them, and as a coach helping to sharpen their technical work, aural skills, sight reading and general knowledge.

She has directed, choreographed and produced several major school productions, including Finding Nemo JR (2023, two nights at the Drum Theatre, Dandenong), Born Again Identity (2021, delivered through both face-to-face and online rehearsals), Arts Night Spectacular (2017, 2018), The Peace Child (2016, 1330 Theatre, Scoresby) and King of the Jungle (2013, Robert Blackwood Hall, Clayton).

One of Kay's personal goals as an accompanist was to gain a working knowledge of every instrument family, so alongside piano she has learnt violin, trumpet, trombone, alto sax, drum kit, voice, ukulele and guitar to a basic level.

She has shared the stage with violinists, cellists, violists, opera singers, music theatre and jazz singers, clarinettists, flautists, harpists, trumpeters, trombonists, tuba players, euphonium players and chamber, church, tango and jazz ensembles, and has accompanied students through AMEB and VCE examinations, university auditions and several university level recitals.

In 2008 Kay co-directed the inaugural Music for Life concert at the University of Melbourne's Melba Hall, raising funds for Young Musicians Together, a program helping Sudanese refugees integrate through music. The following year she directed the Jazz Night concert, pairing emerging young musicians with seasoned players for a night that also raised over $2000 for the venue's renovation.

Weddings and special events are a particular joy — a piano trio at Quat Quatta, the Wakeley Pipe Organ at Hawthorn Presbyterian Church, ceremonies at Helen's Hill Winery and Sandringham Yacht Club, each one its own kind of performance.

Off the piano bench, Kay was once a competitive figure skater, choreographing her own programs for local competitions. She's also come to love surfing, and despite limited experience so far, would happily spend far more time in the water whenever life allows.