Shilong Ye - CANBERRA CITY BAND MD
A sought after musical director, conductor, soloist and event manager, Shilong Ye regularly travels between Canberra, Sydney, Wollongong, and China to work on multiple musical projects each year. A top student in music from Narrabundah College, Shilong went on to complete a Bachelor of Music with Honours at ANU School of Music and later completed his Master of Music Studies in Conducting at Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He’s the recipient of “Alan Bellhouse Award for a Young Conductor” and has conducted in all major performance venues in Canberra, the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Townhall, Chatswood Concourse Concert Hall and enjoyed concertizing in Shanghai, Taiwan and Czech Republic.
Shilong is known to the Canberra community for years of directing community and professional ensembles in local music events. Shilong also appeared as a soloist and emcee at the National Multicultural Festival, and has performed at the Canberra International Music Festival, Floriade, Lanyon Homestead Christmas Carols, Australian National Eisteddfod, Marimbula Jazz Festival and World Harp Congress.
Shilong’s previous MD and conductor roles include Tuggeranong Valley Band, Canberra City Band, Ashfield Community Band, Willoughby Symphony Orchestra, Steel City Strings, Musica da Camera, Forrest National Chamber Orchestra, James McCusker Orchestra, Canberra Youth Orchestra, Arco Music Academy Chamber Orchestra (co-founder), Kuringai Youth Orchestra, Australian New Goldburg Orchestra, Australian Chinese Musicians Association Orchestra and Choir, Rhythm Syndicate Choir, ANU School of Music Orchestra, and Sydney Conservatorium of Music Orchestra.
Jenna Hinton - JOHN AGNEW BAND AND PRISM JAZZ ENSEMBLE MD
Jenna Hinton - Not born, but Canberra bred, Jenna has been involved in Canberran professional and community music scene for almost 20 years.
Having studied at the ANU School of Music, with tutelage from Gary France and Dave Goodman, she has played in a variety of ensembles including professional cover bands, big bands and with well known community ensembles such as the award winning Canberra City Band, Canberra Brass and Spectrum Big Band. She is also a current rank and file member of the Australian Wind Symphony. Jenna is passionate about promoting women in music and founded and directed the CW (Canberra Women’s) Big Band to a sold out IWD event in 2020, and hopes to resurrect the ensemble soon.
She has been involved in musical theatre for over a decade and has played drums and percussion for both professional and community shows such as Annie, The Witches of Eastwick, Funny Girl, High Fidelity, Next to Normal, Strictly Ballroom, Mamma Mia, and many others. She is a sought after Musical Director, previous shows include My Fair Lady, South Pacific, Guys & Dolls, The Wedding Singer, Godspell, Hello, Dolly!, Oliver!, Keating!, and The Sound of Music.
Andrew Kimber SPECTRUM BIG BAND MD
Saxophonist, composer and Band Leader Andrew Kimber was raised on a farm near Canberra. Andrew started learning piano at the age of 5, learning folk and classical music, then took up the saxophone at 10. Andrew began studying his formal musical training completing a Bachelor of Music degree from the Australian National University.
As a saxophonist and woodwind player, Andrew has performed and/or recorded with a diverse schedule of artists across Australia and the USA. Including Baker Boy, Dallas Woods, Art Vs Science, DAEM, Fun Machine, Party Gravy, The Neo, NONIE, Spectrum Big Band, Imogen Spong, and Victor Rufus.
In his early studies and career, Andrew became interested in the inner workings of the music industry. This led to professional work for the Canberra International Music Festival, Melbourne Improvisers Collective, The Australian Ballet, and Orchestra Victoria. Andrew started his own company Blue Groove Industries, the company managed artists, national and international tours. In collaboration with the Melbourne Improvisers Collective, Andrew produced the New Orleans Street Party for Melbourne Music Week in 2015.
Across Andrew’s career he has consistently wanted to provide performance opportunities, and career progression for emerging artists.