This week we are delighted to welcome not just one, but two guest mentors to the programme! Filling in for regular Coady Green is Season 2 2022 resident mentor – pianist, harpsichordist, and countertenor Dean Sky-Lucas. Sitting in the guest mentor chair, we welcome back oboist Briana Leaman who previously appeared in Episode 9 of Season 1 2023. Continue reading to learn more about Dean and Briana.
Dean Sky-Lucas
Outstanding collaborative accompanist on all keyboard instruments and singer, Dean Sky- Lucas has performed all over the world. Widely broadcast in Australia on ABC FM, Radio National and on Radio New Zealand, Dean has often performed live as a pianist and countertenor.
During his appointment from 2010 until 2016 as the Coordinator and Lecturer of Collaborative piano at the University of Auckland, Dean appeared on radio New Zealand as their regular Opera critic and he was a much sought after accompanist with the New Zealand Choral organisation, Choirs Aotearoa, with whom he accompanied Voices New Zealand – the professional ensemble, and toured often with the National Youth Choir throughout the North and South Islands and internationally through Europe and the United Kingdom with this repertoire broadcast on the BBC.
Dean has performed in the Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane International festivals as a pianist and singer and he has performed with the MSO, Orchestra Victoria and TSO on organ, harpsichord and Celeste.
His recordings have received critical acclaim including a 5-star review from the New Zealand Herald for his recording with Ben Hoadley (bassoon) of a CD of works from the 20th and 21st centuries for bassoon and piano.
Briana Leaman
American-Australian oboist Briana Leaman, PhD, has performed and taught throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. In addition to her work as a freelance oboist with groups including Victorian Opera and Orchestra Victoria, Briana enjoys a regular solo and chamber music career. Her ABC Classic recording of Luke Severn’s and other lines with pianist Yasmin Rowe and saxophonist Joseph Lallo (Duo Obax), has become a fixture on ABC Classic’s ‘Best of Australian Classical Music’ playlist since its release in 2021. In October 2023, Briana will appear as a guest soloist with the Australian Doctors Orchestra for a performance of Graeme Koehne’s oboe concerto In-Flight Entertainment.
Briana is the oboe teacher at Loreto Mandeville Hall and tutors chamber music and the Musical Perspectives course at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music where she is also the Chamber Music Assistant. She has been invited to give masterclasses and performances at leading tertiary institutions within Australia and abroad and is an active member of the Australian Double Reed Society, for which she is the Victorian State Representative.
In 2023, Briana received her PhD (Music Performance) from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, the University of Melbourne, where she was a Melbourne Research Scholarship recipient. She completed her MMus(Perf) from the Haute École des Arts du Rhin (Sébastien Giot and Christian Schmitt) and her BMus(Perf) from the University of South Carolina (Dr. Rebecca Nagel). Briana is proud to be a Rigoutat Artist and plays on a model ‘J’ oboe.
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