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"It was the best week of my life! I learnt so much …We have all been staying in close contact… Thank you so very much for the excellent opportunity and the amazing experience. I will never forget it…”.
Natalie Price, writer/journalist
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the ATY Project Program Mentors... |
Our
mentors are the key to the success of ATY Project as they share their skills
and years of experience with the next generation of artists...
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 Fiona Atkin - New Artistic Director and Drama Mentor:
Fiona has been working in theatre in Canberra for ten years, acting and directing with companies including Free Rain, HMT, NUTS, ANU Drama, Bohemian, Paris Hat, moonlight and papermoon. Fiona is the artistic director of Paris Hat Productions as well as moonlight, the ANU’s Graduate student company. In recent years she has directed Blood Wedding (Lorca; moonlight), A Lie of the Mind (Shepard; papermoon), Perfect Cowboys in Action (Mamet/Shepard; moonlight), True West (Shepard; moonlight), A Property of the Clan (Enright; ANU), Closer (Marber; Paris Hat) and Sexual Perversity in Chicago (Mamet; Paris Hat) and appeared in Winnie The Pooh (Free Rain), Alice (Tuffin/Pike after Carroll; NUTS), Perfect Cowboys in Action, Bed (Cowell; NUTS) and True West. Later this year, Fiona will direct Tennessee Williams' classic play A Streetcar Named Desire for Free Rain.
A keen supporter of emerging talent, Fiona has been working as a mentor for Canberra playwright Tim Sanders, supported by The Street Theatre. Tim's new play Sheer Living will hopefully see its world premiere in 2010. In the daylight hours Fiona is working on a PhD on Sam Shepard at the ANU. |
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Pianist Geoffrey Lancaster AM: is one of Australia's most distinguished pianists. His career includes international soloist appearances, conductor and soloist with the Symphony Australia orchestras and the Australian Chamber Orchestra,guest Director with the Tasmanian Symphony Chamber Players and Artistic Director and fortepianist with Ensemble of the Classic Era.
Geoffrey's award winning recordings include Gramophone award for Best Recording, the ARIA Best Classical Recording, and Soundscapes Editor’s Choice.
In recognition of his work Geoffrey has received the Australian Artists Creative Fellowship, Australian of the Year (ACT 2006) and the Order of Australia for service to music and music education. He has been a member of the ANU School of Music since 2002. |  |
Soprano Louise Page: one of Australia’s most highly regarded singers. Her career encompasses opera, operetta, oratorio, cabaret, recital and broadcast appearances throughout Europe and Australia.
Louise has won national and international acclaim with the 1989 ABC Young Performer of the Year vocal final, the 1995 inaugural Mietta’s Song Recital Competition, the Robert Stolz/Apex scholarship to Vienna, the Belgian Radio and Television Opera en Bel Canto Prize and as a member of the young artist program of the Vienna State Opera,
Louise regularly appears with Art Song Canberra, the Royal Military College Band, Stopera, Canberra Choral Society, the Wesley Music Centre and as soloist with various symphony orchestras. Louise is a member of the ANU School of Music vocal department. |  |
Musician: John Mackey has been performing professionally since the age of 14, nationally and internationally. He has appeared on many national television shows and performed with Jazz legends BB King, Ray Charles, Johnny Griffin, Lee Konitz, Jim McNeely, Kenny Werner, Al Cohn, Mike Nock, Nat Adderley, Roy Hargrove, George Shearing and many more.
John spent three years performing throughout Scandinavia, Europe and the U.S.A. He moved to Canberra in mid 1999 and still performs regularly in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
John holds a BMus from Edith Cowan University in Perth and has been a School of Music faculty member since 2000. |  |
Writer: Fiona McIlroy - was born in Melbourne and studied literature at University of Melbourne. After working in Europe she returned overland through Afghanistan to India. For twenty one years, she lived in a remote area of far East Gippsland building a sustainable lifestyle and teaching in tiny local schools.
Fiona is Café Poet at Carlos in Watson Canberra, and has recently published a collection of poetry titled: Taste of a Poem (Ginninderra Press). She also works as a mediator, teacher and community educator, and has run workshops on Finding New Life & Career Directions for ten years.
Fiona has worked extensively with people from diverse backgrounds, in research, and teaching communication skills and literacy. She also travelled across Australia with Kevin Gilbert visiting indigenous communities in 1977. | 
| Artist: Antonia Aitken is a Canberra-based visual artist and arts facilitator. Antonia is an honours graduate of the Australian National University School of Art where she majored in printmaking and drawing. Antonia’s environment-based practice has found her making and exhibiting locally and throughout regional Australia. Antonia has been awarded several residencies including a Bathurst Regional Gallery Hill End Artist-in-Residence (2008) and is soon to undertake a Bundanon Trust Artist-in-Residence.
Antonia has worked extensively with young people locally and remotely, teaching art and drama for various community organisations and national art institutions including Canberra Youth Theatre Company, Tuggeranong Arts Centre, M16artspace, Bathurst Regional Gallery, the NGA and Megalo Print Studio and Gallery, where she is currently the Press Studio manager. In early 2009 Antonia taught first year printmaking at the ANU School of Art and travelled to the NT where she taught printmaking to remote indigenous communities. |
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Dance: Hayley Schmidt is a graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) and Link Dance Co. During her time at WAAPA she won the Dame Peggy Praagh award and was invited to Taiwan to perform with Shih Gee-Tze’s ACME Physical Theatre. After graduating, Hayley was awarded the Merce Cunningham Scholarship, which enabled her to spend three months at the world renowned Cunningham foundation in New York.
She then joined Diversions Dance Company in Wales, before returning to Australia to work in the ACT with Cadi McCarthy and Company. With this dance theatre company Hayley worked on creative development projects and performance seasons of Shambles; Grappling for the Edge (including a residency in New York in partnership with Chez Bushwick); and Restless.
As part of the Canberra Dance Theatre’s 30th Anniversary celebrations Hayley collaborated with artists from all disciplines for the installation at the National Gallery of Australia sculpture garden. Most recently, Hayley has been Assistant Artistic Director of Quantum Leap Youth Dance Company. In October she joined Buzz Dance Theatre in Perth. |
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Ché Baker - Film Mentor
Over the last ten years, Ché has gained extensive industry and educational experience, working and teaching in the film, television and computer industries. He has produced TV commercials, Music Videos, Corporate Videos and DVDs. Ché works as a freelance director and editor and specialises in Digital Video Technologies - he is one of Australia's leading experts on Digital Video Applications on the Mac Platform and has worked on such projects as: Dawson's Creek, Australia's Funniest Home Videos and a host of documentaries and feature films.
Ché also writes magazine articles and reviews, consults to industry production companies on workflow and trouble shooting issues and runs seminars and workshops. |
We wish to express our continued appreciation of the considerable contribution our past mentors have provided to our students. |
Author: John Clanchy was born in Melbourne but moved to Canberra in 1975 to take up a teaching position at the Australian National University. He has written many books on academic writing, and on methods of teaching and learning in cross-cultural contexts.
John has published five novels but is best known for his long stories, the latest collection of which Vincenzo’s Garden won a total seven awards, including the ACT Book of the Year and the Steele Rudd Award (Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards), both in 2006. His short stories have won major prizes in Europe, the US and New Zealand as well as Australia, and his work has been translated into a number of European languages. His latest collection Her Father’s Daughter will appear in August 2008. |
Artist: Steven Holland lives and works on a sheep farm near Michelago NSW.
His sculptures, installations, performances and drawings are a passionate response to our fragile land.
The sensibilities of these works are often ephemeral and frequently include living animals.
Steven completed a Master of Arts at the Australian National University, School of Art and was awarded a Samstag Scholarship to study Natural History Illustration at the Royal College of Art in London.
He is currently working on a commission by the RSPCA to design a Memorial for Animals in War to be located at the Australian War Memorial. |
Dancer: Zoe Ventoura trained and performed as a dancer in Perth, including 5 years with Steps Youth Dance Company.
A move to Melbourne's Victorian College of the Arts led to several seasons with Opera Australia. Her roles in musical productions include Oh!What A Night, Footloose, We Will Rock You, Grease - The Arena Spectacular and Eurobeat. She has choreographed for Quantum Leap Youth Choreographic Ensemble.
As an actor, Zoe most recently starred in the comedy series "Kick" on SBS, and is currently working on the new tv series for Channel 7, "Packed To The Rafters". |
Film: Matthew Fallon is a filmmaker and film teacher. He has successfully screened work both nationally and internationally.
His primary interest is music videos as they allow for a huge amount of artistic freedom and technical innovation, but also enjoys short drama and documentary as forms.
Presently he works at The Production Hub as a Producer. |
| We also wish to acknowledge our deep appreciation of the work of even earlier mentors. |
Celina Lindsley - Voice
Andrew Gray - Drama
Fiona Freeman - Dance
Robyn Backen - Art
Samantha Maher - Creative Writing
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contact Dr. Jolanta Gallagher for further details and event information
Tel: (02) 6262 8689 E-mail: jolanta@netspeed.com.au. |
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back to ATY Project home page |
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