Our Team Artistic
Assistant Conductor Program
In 2019, River City Voices established its Assistant Conductor Scholarship program to foster and support theprofessional development of emerging choral conductors. REcipients observe, participate and received mentoring from RCV's Artistic Director, Dr Sarah Penicka-Smith, in addition to a stipend which was supported by Ars Musica Australis.
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Here's what Alex Siegers had to say about the inaugural program!
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"Working with Sarah and River City Voices was a truly wonderful experience. Not only did I learn a lot about choral conducting and how to run a symphonic choir, but I was welcomed as part of a family. I highly recommend this program for any conductor looking for more experience working with classical choral repertoire. I also encourage everyone to get involved to support this fantastic new program, bringing new experiences to the residents of Western Sydney."
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Assistant Conductor 2020
Assistant Conductors 2019
Assistant Conductors 2019
ALEX SIEGERS
Alexandria Siegers has amassed considerable experience as both chorister and soloist across jazz, sacred, classical and pop genres with leading ensembles throughout Australia.
Since relocating to Sydney in 2012, Alex has been a full time chorister with the Choir of St. James King Street. She has also performed with The Song Company, The Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney Chamber Choir, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Luminescence Chamber Singers, Cantillation, Vocal Australia Singers, and The Choir Lab.
In 2017 she completed a Bachelor of Music and Arts in Jazz Voice and Linguistics at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and has performed and recorded with contemporary musicians including Felix Riebl, Ollie McGill, Julia Jacklin, Alex The Astronaut, Bobby Fox, Liz Hughes, Goldheist. When she isn’t singing and exploring conducting, Alex is the Operations and Communications Assistant at UNSW.
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Engagement of these artists was supported by Ars Musica Australis
Dr PHILIP EAMES
A pianist with a penchant for 20th/21st century repertoire and an active composer, Dr Philip Eames has worked with choirs for over a decade, both as a director and accompanist.
His first leadership role was with the Greater Manchester Police Male Voice choir in 2012, and since moving to Sydney, he has conducted community choirs, in addition to becoming a presence in the musical theatre scene.
In 2017 he completed a PhD focusing on the choral polyphony of Percy Grainger at the Sydney Conservatorium, where he now lectures in musicology.
He holds two Master of Music degrees with a scholarship from the Royal Northern College of Music and the Queensland Conservatorium, also having been awarded the Bachelor of Music in Advanced Performance with First Class Honours. Most notably, Philip was a category finalist in the 2010 ABC Young Performers Awards, and has featured in the ANAM Piano! Festival, the Australian Percussion Gathering, the Per Nørgård Festival, and the Ligeti Academy in the Netherlands.
As a composer his commission highlights include writing for The Australian Voices, Queensland Ballet, the Australian National Piano Award and the Black Square Quartet. Philip was also a featured composer in New Music New York, Making Waves, the Music Box Project and the Flinders Quartet 2018 Composer Development Program.