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Methodist Ladies’ College, Perth, Western Australia was founded in 1907. The campus is located in a wonderful setting on Freshwater Bay in the suburb of Claremont, close to the city of Perth. The College enrolls over 1000 students from kindergarten to Year 12.

The Music Department is a vibrant and exciting one and the Chorale performs regularly at concerts and assemblies at the College and in the wider community. The Chorale consists of 60 auditioned girls, between the ages of twelve and seventeen and rehearses twice a week. It boasts a large and diverse repertoire, much of which is sung a cappella. Over many years the College has developed an outstanding reputation as a leading music school in Australia. Its choirs regularly win awards in Western Australia and it is internationally recognized for its choral program.

The Chorale has previously toured to the Llangollen International Music Festival in Wales, Vienna International Youth and Music Festival, World Choir Games in Graz and the Summa Cum Laude Festival in Vienna, achieving outstanding results that include a Gold Medal in the 2011 Games in Graz. In 2014 Methodist Ladies College is undertaking a tour that will include performances in Venice, Vienna and Riga. Its present director is Dr Robert Faulkner.

Robert Faulkner

Conductor

Robert Faulkner graduated with Honours from the Royal Academy of Music in London. A first study singer, Robert was a member of the Academy Opera Class, studied choral and orchestral conducting, and was awarded the Peter Latham Scholarship. Previously, Robert had studied singing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with the distinguished English baritone and singing teacher, Mr Arthur Reckless.
Robert also holds a licentiate diploma in singing teaching and a postgraduate certificate in education from the University of Reading. He later completed an MA with Distinction in music psychology and a PhD in music from Sheffield University.
In a career in music education spanning almost three decades, Robert has been based in England, Iceland and Australia. He is an internationally recognized music educator and researcher with significant publications from leading publishing houses including Oxford University Press, Indiana University Press, Springer and Ashgate. He played a key role in music and arts education in Iceland, developing and writing national music curriculum and was deputy chair of the Icelandic Music Examinations Board. He lectured at the University of Akureyri, the Icelandic Academy of Arts and the University School of Education, Iceland. He moved to Australia in 2006, becoming Associate Professor in the School of Music and at the Faculty of Education, The University of Western Australia, where he continues to hold an honorary position.
He has conducted clinics and given papers and keynotes in Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, the UK, Northern Ireland, Canada and the USA, as well as in Australia.
As choral conductor and occasional soloist, Robert has performed at venues in Iceland, the UK, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Finland and Australia and has made 4 full-length CD recordings with an Icelandic male-voice choir. He has specialized in male voice-, children’s and youth choirs and has conducted music theatre and opera performances, including collaborations with The Icelandic Opera and at The University of Western Australia. Robert is currently Director of Music at Methodist Ladies' College, Claremont, Western Australia where he conducts the College Symphony Orchestra and Chorale.

The Methodist Ladies' College Barbershop consists of 20 auditioned girls between the ages of fourteen and seventeen who are also members of the Methodist Ladies' College Chorale. The Barbershop has been an integral part of the Music Department at the College for over ten years and continues to delight audiences with their mixture of contemporary tunes, jazz, classics and old favourites. The girls have received numerous awards and accolades and are often in demand to perform at local festivals and community events. In 2011, they competed at the World Choir Championships and achieved a Silver Medal. The Barbershop girls have also been building close ties with the local barbershop community, including Perth Harmony Chorus (2013 Gold Medallists at the Australian Championships), and have been working with their director and barbershop expert Carole Macintyre as they prepare for the 2014 European Music Tour and the World Choir Games.

Carole Macintyre

Conductor

Carole’s career in singing began officially in 1985 when she entered the world of Barbershop singing. Since that time Carole has dedicated herself to learning and training; absorbing as much information as possible and developing her own technique and teaching craft through study and performance of a variety of singing methods. During the past 29 years she has represented Australia at an international level many times in both a’cappella quartets and choruses. In 2010 Carole attained Master Director status from Sweet Adelines International when Perth Harmony Chorus won the Australian National Barbershop competition. Under her direction the chorus attained its highest world ranking in 2008, at the Hawaii International Championships. Carole completed a Bachelor of Education and has experience teaching music to both primary and high school students, providing learning experiences in solo, choral and music theatre performances. In 2011, under Carole’s direction, The Methodist Ladies College Barbershop Group received a silver medal at the World Choir Games in Graz.

Methodist Ladies’ College Jazz Band is made up of around 20 girls between the ages of 13 and 17. One of only several school jazz ensembles to have performed regularly at the Montreux International Jazz Festival in Switzerland (2008/11), the MLC Jazz Band enjoys a reputation as a leading girls' jazz ensemble.

The MLC Jazz Band returns to Montreux in 2014 and it will also be host to a series of workshops at Methodist Ladies College, entitled "Girls in Jazz".
The collaboration, aimed at increasing girls participation in jazz is in collaboration with the WA Youth Jazz Orchestra and Sydney Improvised Music Association.

The Jazz Band plays a wide range of classic repertoire and is introducing a couple of Australian charts to its program in 2014. Along with the usual Jazz Band instrumentation, vocal soloists from the College also line up from time to time. The Jazz Band is conducted by West Australian Academy of Performing Arts graduate Mr Brett Smith.

Brett Smith

Conductor

Brett Smith is a saxophonist, composer and sound designer based in Perth, Western Australia.  A 2008 WAAPA graduate, Brett was the recipient of the Bendat Family Trust Scholarship for musical excellence. From 2009 to 2010 Brett travelled extensively throughout Europe where he undertook a secondment with minimalist composer Marin Pavon and the Museum of Flamenco Dance in Seville. He then utilised scholarship funding to study free improvisation and composition with Tony Malaby, Ellery Eskelin and Angelica Sanchez in New York. On returning to Perth, Brett completed his honours in Jazz Performance and since has studied percussion and contemporary dance accompaniment under Wency D’Souza whilst working as an accompanist at WAAPA.

Brett has conducted several workshops with high school big bands in Perth and has been conducting the Methodist Ladies College Jazz Band since 2013. As an instrumentalist, Brett has performed with The Chemist, Mace Francis Orchestra, Johannes Luebbers Septet, The Ben Vanderwal Experience, West Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra (WAYJO), James Morrison, Kate Ceberano, Daryl Somers, David Campbell, Rhonda Burchmore & Grace Knight. Brett has produced music for choreographers such as Jo Pollitt, Michael Whaites (LINK Dance Company), Laura Boynes, Chrissie Parrott, Unkempt Dance and Isabella Stone. As a percussionist, he has accompanied for choreographers such as Nanette Hassall, Leigh Warren, Xiaoxiong Zhang, Michael Whaites, Sue Peacock, Justin Rutzou, Claudia Alessi, Shona Erskine and Rachael Ogle.

Brett is currently an emerging artist with Black Swan State Theatre Company and is performing at the Montreux Jazz Festival with the Methodist Ladies College Jazz Band in 2014.