Helping young Australians achieve musical excellence for over 30 years

Latest News and Events

25 January 2013. – Applications are now being accepted for the Australian Music Foundation’s 2013 round of auditions. Please visit the Scholarships page to find out more, and complete the Awards Application Form to be considered.

13 January 2013. – AMF North America Inc. is pleased to announce the Orava String Quartet  performance on January 13, 2013 at the National Gallery in Washington D.C. wasa huge success. Please visit our facebook page for more details: AMF

11 December 2012. – On December 11th, the North American chapter of the AMF was hosted at the Australian Embassy in Washington DC. The AMF presented a musical performance for a fundraising effort for those affected by Hurricane Sandy.

28 November 2012. – On November 28, Soprano Yvonne Kenny, along with AMF prize winners for 2012, performed a special recital celebrating the life of Peter Andry. Please follow this link for more information: CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF PETER ANDRY

17 October 2012. – The AMF North American Inc. performed a concert at the Australian Embassy in Washington D.C. to great acclaim. The concert which featured Rupert Boyd, Kellie Rode, Simone Easthope and Ben Winkelman represented the Australian cultural presence in the USA. See the photo’s on our Facebook Page

06 October 2012. Wigmore Hall audition results announced! The AMF is proud to be supporting; Alexander Lewis, Emily Sun, Georgina Oakes, Joseph Havlat, Samantha Crawford and Simone Easthope from this years London auditions. To find out more about these highly talented musicians, please visit our Current Awardees page.

12 September 2012. – Jayson Gillham, 2007 AMF Alumni, is in the final of the Leeds International Piano Competition! This Friday, 14 September, Jayson will be playing Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the Halle Orchestra conducted by Sir Mark Elder, to be broadcast live on BBC Radio.

11 September 2012. – On the 11th September 2012, the AMF will hold auditions at the Wigmore Hall, London, UK, for its Northern Hemisphere finalists for this years round of scholarships. Please return here to see the results of these auditions.

10 June 2012. – Following the Australian auditions in May, the AMF has announced the 2012/2013 Awardees. This year, the AMF has given scholarship opportunities to Thomas Marlin, Jarrad Mathie, Adam Szabo, Dominic Walsh and the Orava String Quartet. To find out more about their projects, please visit our ‘Current Awardees’ page.

29 February 2012. – The AMF congratulates awardee Jayson Gillham for winning the Keyboard section in the Royal Over-Seas League Competition. He will now perform in the *Grand* Final at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 8th May.

26 January 2012. – The AMF extends its warmest congratulations to AMF Life President Maestro Richard Bonynge AC CBE on being made a Companion of the Order of Australia, which is the highest award in the Australian honours system.

12 October 2011. – The AMF today celebrates the launch of The Australian Music Foundation North America, Inc. with a reception hosted by The Australian Consul General in New York, Phillip Scanlan AM.  The AMF North America is a body with tax-exempt status under 501(c)( 3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code, and will help the AMF assists grant recipients as they pursue music studies in America.

9 October 2011. – This year the AMF is pleased to offer the Marjorie Kingston Trust award to seven of its scholarship winners. This year, Maxwell Foster, David Fung, Hadleigh Adams, Glen Donnelly, Sky Ingram, Chris Williams and Vladimir Fanhil are the recipients of the Marjorie Kingston Trust award through the AMF, for their studies internationally.

8 October 2011. – The Guy Parsons Award was given to Jonathan Wilson and Brigid Coleridge this year by the AMF. The Portland House Foundation has generously trusted the AMF with the awarding of a scholarship in the name of Guy Parsons, who’s longstanding relationship with the AMF played an integral part in the development of the Foundation.

7 October 2011. – This year, Morgan Pearse is the recipient of the JB Davros Foundation scholarship through the AMF. Morgan’s studies at the Royal College of Music are supported by AMF through a generous gift from the JB Davros Family Foundation.

6 October 2011. – The AMF Announces Kate Howden as this years Riddiford Trust Scholarship winner. Kate Howden’s sponsorship for her studies at the Royal Academy of Music, London, is proudly made available through the Riddiford Trust’s generous donation.

1 October 2011. – Following the auditions held at the Wigmore Hall in London, on 29th September, the AMF is proud to announce its 2011 winners. This year the AMF is proud to support Hadleigh Adams, Brigid Coleridge, Glen Donnelly, Vladimir Fanshil, Maxwell Foster, David Fung, Kate Howden, Sky Ingram, Morgan Pearse, Chris Williams, Jonathan Wilson.

15 July 2011. – The AMF is delighted to announce the establishment of the Dame Joan Sutherland Award, to be awarded to an applicant studying, or about to commence study, at the Royal College of Music. The award has the value of $20,000, and is the result of the generosity and vision of the Davros Family Foundation.

15 June 2011. – The AMF is delighted to announce the establishment of the Riddiford Trust Scholarship, which is to support a young musician currently resident in Australia with financial need who wishes to study overseas for three years. The award is to the value of $20,000 per year for three years, and is the result of the munificence of the Riddiford Trust, for whom we express our deepest thanks.

29 April 2011. – The AMF Australia Foundation is honoured to announce that at a reception presented by the Australian Music Foundation at
Australia House in London in honour of Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia and in her presence, Her Excellency has accepted the appointment as Patron of the AMF Australia Foundation.

1 March 2011. – AMF Awards FAQs now updated, see here.

15 February 2011. – The Australian Music Foundation, in collaboration with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and the Australian High Commission, London, was honoured to share in the organising of a Service of Thanksgiving for the late Dame Joan Sutherland at Westminster Abbey, attended by our Patron-in-Chief, HRH Prince Charles, on Tuesday 15 Feburary 2011 at 12 noon. A eulogy was presented by UK Trustee Sir John Tooley, and AMF Awardee Valda Wilson sang, accompanied by the orchestra of the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. A news report from ABC Australia can be found here.

14 February 2011. – The Australian Music Foundation is proud to announce the formation of a 61-strong body of distinguished International Advisors to help guide the development of the AMF in the coming years. Click here to view the list.

10 December 2010. – The Australian Music Foundation is sad to announce the passing of long-serving chairman, Dr Peter Andry OBE OAM. Peter and Dame Joan Sutherland DBE, whose recent passing we also mourn, were Life Presidents of the AMF and passionate and long-standing supporters of the work of the Foundation.

The AMF also acknowledges the passing of it’s long standing patron Sir Charles Mackerras CH AC CBE, earlier this year.

22 September 2010. – Audition Finals at Wigmore Hall, London, for AMF Prizes. The 2010 Competition included nine finalists and the judges made four awards: Mr Jonathan Wilson (Piano) for sudy at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (Uk) (The Guy Parsons Award); Ms Tahlia Petrosian (Viola), to support study at the University of Arts, Berlin; Mr Yelian He (Cello) to support study at the Royal Northern College of Music (UK); and Ms Lauren Easton (Mezzo Soprano), to support study with Dennis O’Neal in Cardiff.

Summer Performances – Young AMF musicians took part in two summer festivals in July: the Henley Festival and the Petworth Festival. Performers included Valda Wilson, Anne Veinberg, Simon Powis, Russell Harcourt and Jacob Cordover.