This coming Tuesday 6th August, we welcome pianist Vanessa Sharman as our guest mentor for this episode!

Vanessa Sharman is a highly experienced lecturer and pianist, with a passionate interest in French piano music and contemporary Australian piano music.

Vanessa studied piano at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music, University of Tasmania under Geoffrey Lancaster and Beryl Sedivka.  She was awarded a Tasmanian Arts Advisory Council grant to study in Paris with renowned concert pianist Cecile Ousset and University of Wollongong grants to study Olivier Messiaen’s piano works with his widow, concert pianist Yvonne Loriod-Messiaen.  Vanessa was invited by Mme. Loriod-Messiaen to perform at a Messiaen Music Festival in Paris and went on to lecture on Messiaen’s piano works at the Australian National Piano Pedagogy Conference in 1999.

Vanessa has performed concerts throughout Australia, New Zealand and France and has recorded with Australia’s leading classical music broadcasters.  She has a particular interest in Australian contemporary music and has premiered works for solo piano as well as chamber groups, including music of Don Kay, Andrew Schultz, Richard Vella, Houston Dunleavy and Bruce Crossman.  In 2010, Vanessa released a CD of the solo piano works of Don Kay, Bird Chants, on the Tall Poppies label. Vanessa spent part of July at the Melbourne Recital Centre recording a second CD of Don Kay’s piano works on the Tall Poppies Label and she also works as Head of Keyboard at Wesley College.