Music Teachers' Association
of New South Wales

Alison Lockwood

Shaun Premnath

Gary Wong-See

Dr Geoffrey Gartner

Dr GEOFFREY GARTNER obtained his B Mus (Hons) from Sydney Conservatorium where he studied cello with Georg Pedersen. He possesses Masters and Doctoral performance degrees from the University of California San Diego.

Dr Gartner has over thirty years experience as a teacher and performer and has appeared as a guest  lecturer at universities and conservatoriums throughout  Australia and the USA. He has acted as mentor to many young string players, guiding them through their  LMusA, HSC examinations and beyond. His recordings appear on ten different labels and he performs a repertoire extending from the baroque to the newest works of today, many written especially for him.

A qualified massage therapist, Dr Gartner takes a holistic approach to teaching the cello; correct posture, technique and good practice habits are fundamental to students enjoying their cello playing and achieving great results.

Dr Gartner is well experienced as a lecturer in music history, theory and aural and is renowned for his work with emerging composers. He teaches at his Woollahra studio and is currently accepting students of all levels.

Andrew Chubb

Andrew Chubb is a recital pianist, composer, and is highly regarded as a piano teacher in Newcastle and Sydney. A former lecturer at the University of Newcastle’s Conservatorium of Music, Andrew currently teaches piano at The King’s School and Cranbrook School in Sydney, in addition to operating a private studio in Newcastle.

​Andrew’s years of performing and teaching have informed his diverse and holistic approach to pianistic development. Helping students progress organically, from the earliest beginners to those at the advanced stage, has become his passion.

Students have excelled under Andrew’s tutelage, achieving many prizes and awards at various eisteddfods and competitions throughout NSW. They have also achieved pleasing AMEB and Trinity Grade Exam results with a number successfully continuing on to the Associate Diploma (AMusA) and Licentiate Diploma (LMusA and LTCL) qualifications under his teaching. Most importantly, Andrew strives to hone their technical, musical, and “thinking” skills, to in turn become independent and nuanced musicians.

​Students have continued beyond Andrew’s tuition to study at Sydney Conservatorium of Music – University of Sydney, Queensland Conservatorium – Griffith University, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music – Melbourne University and Monash University School of Music.

​Andrew is an AMEB (Australian Music Examination Board) Examiner and also an experienced Adjudicator of various eisteddfods and competition awards, and, has delivered piano Masterclasses across the state.

Anthony Van Den Broek

Anthony van den Broek is a passionate and university qualified piano teacher. He studied the piano and organ from the age of 5 and majored in piano and harpsichord performance at UNSW. Anthony's musicological research focussed on historical performance practices of the baroque, classical and romantic repertoire, analysis and interpretation, as well as the keyboard and organ works of Bach and Messiaen.

Anthony is an examiner with the AMEB and has over 25 years teaching experience, providing outstanding piano, theory and pedagogy lessons to students of all ages and levels. An expert in piano technique, Anthony is a certified teacher of the Taubman Approach for Piano (Golandsky Institute, USA) and spends considerable time teaching, mentoring and preparing current and future piano teachers for success in Teaching Diplomas. He has lectured at Australian and international universities, and has adjudicated piano competitions in the UK, USA and Australia.

Anthony has experience preparing students for all levels of AMEB and ABRSM examinations with many of his students successfully auditioning for places at the Conservatorium High School, Sydney Conservatorium of Music and UNSW.

John McCarthy

Dr Brett McKern

Brett is an experienced teacher of theoretical and written subjects at all levels (theory, musicianship, music craft) and is available for lessons either face-to-face or via Skype. Brett also teaches composition, pipe organ, and does coaching for university and HSC music students. Brett is an accredited teacher with the MTA. While teaching at all levels, Brett specialises in teaching adults and diploma-level candidates.

Brett teaches by Skype or Zoom or at studios in Gordon or the Southern Highlands.

Brett also specialises in private tutoring for tertiary music students in a range of subjects for all music degree levels. He is happy to give advice on your compositions if preparing for that aspect of AMEB or Trinity College examinations, or submissions for the HSC. Successful students have achieved Licentiate and Associate diplomas in theory, musicianship and composition as well as the Licentiate diploma in organ.

Brett’s former students of organ, theory and composition have gone on to read for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at various conservatoria and universities in Australia and abroad, and a number are now professional musicians. Other students have learned purely for their own enjoyment and sense of satisfaction.

Brett maintains an international career as a composer with his music being performed in at least six countries in Europe and Australasia. Within Australia, his music has been performed in four states and broadcast on radio in three. Brett is also an award-winning composer (Australia & Canada) and has published over sixty works in Australia and abroad. His music has been performed at such prestigious venues as Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral, London; and Washington National Cathedral. Brett has been commissioned by professional soloists, liturgical choirs, school choirs and orchestras, the AMEB, and the Song Company, to name a few.

Brett holds degrees and diplomas in music, education, and two doctorates in musical composition. He has lectured at various universities rising to the rank of Adjunct Associate Professor, and examines written music grades and diplomas and online for the AMEB, as well as being called upon to examine university research and performance degrees. Brett has adjudicated multiple composition competitions, and is a Represented Composer of the Australian Music Centre.

Brett has performed as an organist and choir director in four countries, and been recorded for DVD, CD and movie soundtrack. He makes a specialty of improvisation at the organ.

Patrick O’Donnell

Dr Rita Crews OAM

Having first joined Council in 1987 and over the years served three terms in the capacity of Vice-President, Dr Rita Crews was President of the Music Teachers’ Association from 2004 to 2019 and is still editor of The Studio journal. In 2019 she had the privilege of becoming a Patron of the Association. With some 40 years teaching experience at the private and tertiary levels, including distance education, she has been an AMEB written examiner since 1988 and is currently Chief Examiner for written subjects at both State and Federal [online] levels.

Rita was a member of the AMEB [NSW] Board from 1990 to 2017, and during that time Deputy Chairperson for 21 years. She was previously Head of Professional Development at the Australian International Conservatorium of Music where she taught research and co-ordinated the pedagogy stream of the BMus programme. For many years Rita lectured Professional Development courses for private music teachers through the University of New England and she continues to conduct similar sessions as well as workshops at the behest of various music teacher, conservatoria and examination organisations, nationally and internationally.

Apart from numerous reviews and articles in publications such as Ossia, Sounds Australian, The Studio, Piano Rendezvous, Music and the Teacher, Music in Action and the British Music Society’s Newsletter, Rita’s own publications include piano music for children, some of which appear on the AMEB syllabus; she is the author of several articles in the Oxford Companion to Australian Music; two musicology courses, Music of the Classical Era and Piano Music of the 19th Century published by the University of New England; the liner notes for the CDs The Australian Album, Anthology of the Chamber Music of Miriam Hyde, and The Songs of Miriam Hyde and the author of the Introductions and text for The Six Piano Sonatas of Roy Agnew, The Piano Miniatures of Roy Agnew and Tribute to Miriam Hyde, published by The Keys Press; her poem Uluru, published in the USA, has been set for a capella female voices and subsequently recorded.

She is the co-author with Julie Spithill of 100 Years: Music Teachers' Association of NSW 1912 to 2012 written for the Centenary of the MTA in 2012, and published by Wirripang, and she wrote the Handbooks for the AMEB No.17 Series Piano, analysing over one hundred works. She is also the author of A Centenary Celebration: the Australian Music Examinations Board 1918 to 2018 published by the AMEB for the 2018 centenary as well as Past, Present and Future: One Hundred Years of AMEB NSW 1918-2018 published by AMEB [NSW]. The series of 'Blessings' by composer Brett McKern for choir and published by Wirripang are set to her texts.  Her latest publication is A Musical Missionary: The Life and Music of Dulcie Holland co-authored with Dr Jeanell Carrigan AM published by Wirripang in 2020.

With a special interest in the history and analysis of Australian music, Rita’s honours thesis concentrated on the keyboard works of Miriam Hyde while her doctoral thesis is an exhaustive analytical study of the piano works of Roy Agnew, Dulcie Holland and Margaret Sutherland. The Masonic music of Mozart is also a particular field of interest and she often lectures on this topic. 

Rita is a member of many professional organisations and her biography appears in several international dictionaries including the Dictionary of International Biography (from 23rd edition) The World's Who's Who of Women (from 12th edition), and The World’s Who’s Who of Business and Professional Women (from 3rd edition). She is also included in the 2008 inaugural Who’s Who in NSW and the 2017 edition of Who's Who of Australian Women. In 1992-93 the Cambridge Biographical Centre honoured her with the award of International Woman of the Year for services to music education. In 2002, she was created a Fellow of the Australian Society of Musicology and Composition for her contribution to Australian music and composers. In 2014 she was honoured with the award of the Medal of the Order of Australia [OAM] for "services to the Performing Arts as a music teacher, examiner and composer". In 2015, she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of New England for a "distinguished career in music education and long-standing connections with student and teacher musicians."

Since a teenager, Rita has been involved in, and committed to, various avenues of community work but for recreation, she plays the drums, has travelled thousands of kilometres in the outback and indulges her life-long interest in astronomy.