Jungle Fever by Matthew Hindson

Here’s a video of Lucas and I performing the Australian work, Jungle Fever by Matthew Hindson at a lunchtime recital in November 2025 in preparation for Lucas’ diploma exam. He had recently completed LMusA with distinction on piano and within about a month, completed his AMusA with distinction on cello. What an achievement! It was a pleasure to work with Lucas.

Jungle Fever for cello and piano is a vibrant 1998 chamber piece by Australian composer Matthew Hindson, inspired by the techno "jungle" music style and the delirium of tropical diseases, featuring energetic, virtuosic writing and an "emotional relation to the tragic early death of Stuart Challender". The 7-minute work, arranged from an earlier French horn piece, demands strong technical skills from players and is a popular exam piece. 

Beethoven Sonata A maj 1st Movt and Cassado Dance of the Green Devil

This is the rest of Lucas’ program for his diploma exam.
Beethoven 0:00
Popper 9:15
Cassado 11:30

This was a week before his exam, so a more polished playing of the Beethoven.

Gaspar Cassadó's "Dance of the Green Devil" (1926) is a fiery, virtuosic encore piece for cello and piano, known for its relentless energy, complex rhythms, and impressionistic colors, showcasing the cello's power and agility with intense, sometimes "crazy" runs and unison passages, requiring great technical skill and teamwork, often described as a wild, "devilish" showpiece.

About the Beethoven sonata: Composed during his "middle" or "heroic" period in 1807-08, this sonata is celebrated for establishing a true partnership between the cello and piano, a departure from earlier sonatas where the keyboard dominated. In this first movement, it famously opens softly with the cello alone introducing the broad, main theme, an unusual choice at the time. After the cello's initial statement, the piano enters with a short, cadenza-like flourish, and the roles are then partially reversed. This showcases the equal importance of both instruments, a hallmark of the composition.

Sonata Op 67 in A Major, 1st Movement, Allegro ma non tanto by Beethoven

I accompanied Lucas on the cello for his performance at the Musical Society of Victoria concert on 11th October 2025. Lucas was preparing for his AMusA cello exam at the time, and this was his first public performance of this piece from memory.

Ave Maria by Schubert arr. David Ashton-Smith OAM

Accompanying the KilvingTones Vocal Ensemble, a group of alumni from Kilvington Grammar School at their End of Year Concert at Armadale Baptist Church. It has been an absolute joy to be a part of this phenomenal group of women. I joined the group as their accompanist at the start of 2024, when it first came to life through the vision of Sarah L, Sarah M and Ellie P, with David leading as music director. It’s genuinely become one of the highlights of my week, spending Monday nights at the piano for rehearsals. The diversity within the group is a joy — an inspiring collection of women from all kinds of fields, coming together simply to sing

Here’s a snippet of the ensemble singing “Ave Maria” arranged for SSA by David Ashton-Smith OAM, director.

Saint-Saens Clarinet Sonata in E flat Major Op 167, Movt IV Molto Allegro

I worked with Dax for several sessions in Sept and Oct 2025 to prepare for his video recording. Dax competed in the WCMA (World Classical Masters Association) International Music Competition in 2025 and received 2nd place in his age category! What an outstanding achievement!

Meditation by Jules Massenet

Z domoviny (From My Homeland), No 1 Moderato and No 2 Andantino by Bedřich Smetana

I had the pleasure of working with Sharon again on her video recording in July 2025. I last played for her VCE violin exam several years back. Sharon was a joy to work with.

Massenet’s “Méditation” from Thaïs is one of the most cherished lyrical pieces in classical music. Originally written as an orchestral interlude in the opera, it appears at a moment of deep emotional change for the main character. In the violin–piano arrangement, the violin carries a long, expressive melody that feels almost like a wordless prayer, while the piano offers a gentle, shimmering foundation. The simplicity of the accompaniment allows the violin line to shine, giving the piece an intimate and deeply reflective quality. It’s often described as a few minutes of music that seem to suspend time.

Smetana’s Z domoviny (“From the Homeland”) is a pair of pieces for violin and piano written in 1880, late in the composer’s life. Each movement blends lyrical melodies with lively Czech folk rhythms, creating music that feels both intimate and deeply connected to national identity. The violin often sings with a nostalgic, improvisatory quality, while the piano provides a warm, dance‑like foundation. Although not as widely performed as some of Smetana’s orchestral works, it’s considered one of the most colourful and expressive chamber pieces of the 19th century.

Patience by Naomi Brown

Like many others, I’ve found the last few years to be difficult. Being isolated from family and friends, juggling working from home, teaching from home, supervising home learning and the needs of a toddler, plus the exhaustion of pregnancy #3! One of my highlights of 2021 was meeting Melbournian composer Naomi Brown and collaborating with her to record a solo piano suite entitled, “The Orchard”. Here is one of the pieces from the suite, which seems fitting at this time of year in the lead-up to Easter.

Guy Smiley by Nat Bartsch

A lullaby by Melbourne composer Nat Bartsch. This comes from her Forever and No Time At All album. I love it because it is so calming. Trying to create a calm atmosphere in the womb for baby #2 who could arrive any day now! Here’s what Nat had to say about her piece:

“Basically, this song comes from a suite of lullabies that I wrote just after my son Will was born. The idea is to challenge that idea that music for babies is just 'for babies'. As their parents end up hearing it just as much, if not more, than their child. Music therapists have discovered that if the whole family is calm, the baby will be calm. So it seems silly for the parents to be subjected to repeats of Twinkle Twinkle or Brahms lullaby on the baby monitor over and over, if it drives them crazy! So the idea was to write music that would help babies fall asleep, but also be relaxing and enjoyable for adults. Many non-parents I know listen to this music to fall asleep to as well.

The lullabies I wrote are predominately postclassical pieces, with some improvisation, and are informed by music therapy research into the best kind of music for relaxing babies. to sleep. The pieces use repetition, a steady beat at a tempo similar to the mother's heartbeat, soft and consistent timbres and dynamics, simple melodies and harmony. 

The pieces are all named after the different stages of development that my son Will was at at the time of writing. This piece is called Guy Smiley because it was written when my son was first learning to smile. I composed this sitting at the piano with him - baby in one hand, pencil in the other.”

Straight No Chaser

Here’s a piano solo from our stint at Farouk’s Olive in August 2018

Car Park Honky Tonk Improvisation

Here’s some spontaneous piano playing in a car park after seeing a gig in the city! Can you guess the tune halfway through?

Worksong

Here’s another piano solo from our stint at Farouk’s Olive in August 2018

All of My by John Legend

A small snippet of popular wedding song “All of Me” by John Legend at a beautiful special occasion in Mount Dandenong.