New Australian Music for Violin and Piano: HSC Core Music Requirements workshop

Violinist Vov Dylan has been curating over recent years a series of recordings of brand new Australian music for Violin and Piano. The first release Kismet: Vignettes for Violin and Piano by Elena Kats Chernin spent 2 years in the classical ARIA charts, The second release La Vida Apasionada with music by Margaret Brandman comes out in March 2025 and the next release Elevation with 6 different composers is due to arrive in late 2025.

Part of the impetus for creating this collection was borne from Vov’s teaching of HSC music students and struggling to find new sheet music with reference recordings. From here Vov through a combination of commissioning of works, being gifted works and spending hours scrolling through the AMC site has curated a collection nearly 50 new works.

Together with composer and educator Margaret Brandman, Vov has helped to use this as the foundation to create a new series of in-school workshops for year 11 and 12 students. These workshops are built around a) composition masterclasses with Dr Brandman b) instrumental and performance masterclasses on core Australian music c) ensemble masterclasses while working with the composer and lastly d) performance.

Vov will present and introduce a number of the new works and the educational program with a particular focus on “La Vida Apasionada”. Vov will be joined by Dr Brandman in this presentation.

Vov Dylan and Margaret Brandman are established figures in Australian music, with contributions to performance, composition, and music education.

Vov Dylan is a violinist, recording artist, and educator whose work spans classical, crossover, and popular styles. With over 15 albums released, he has collaborated with leading Australian composers, including Margaret Brandman, Elena Kats-Chernin, and Ann Carr-Boyd. His album “Kismet: Vignettes for Violin and Piano” was the highest-selling Australian classical album on the ARIA charts of original content in 2022 and 2023. Dylan has toured internationally and been featured on ABC Classic FM, Fine Music FM, and commercial radio, as well as in film and television. Dylan is also vested in music education as a private teacher, ensemble conductor, sponsor of Australian Music segments in local Eistedfodds and his involvement with overseas charity Keys Of Change

Margaret Brandman is an award-winning composer, pianist, and educator whose works span orchestral, chamber, solo instrumental, vocal, and choral genres, incorporating classical, jazz, and Latin-American influences. A represented composer at the Australian Music Centre, her works are published internationally and frequently performed. Brandman’s music has been recorded on labels such as Navona and Ambition Records, with her Binna Burra Dreaming album reaching No. 1 on the ARIA Classical and Crossover charts in 2023. She is also a respected pedagogue, with her compositions featured in multiple examination syllabuses in Australia and the UK.