Celebrating our Community Musicians

Event Details

Members of the Con Community Orchestra and Five Islands String Orchestra (FISO) will perform at the Wollongong City Art Gallery

Community Music is Back!

Join us at the Wollongong City Art Gallery as our two community orchestras present the very first Wollcon 50th Birthday event for the year – ‘Celebrating our Community Musicians’.

The Five Islands String Orchestra (conducted by Adrian Davis) will perform works by Katy Abbot, Brian Balmages, Yukiko Nishimura and more.

The Wollcon Community Orchestra (conducted by David Rooney) presents works by Haydn, Respighi and James Ledger with a theme of Journey and travel.

ENTRY IS BY DONATION.

Donations will contribute to ‘Musical Futures’, Wollcon’s Creative Partnerships Australia Plus1 fundraising campaign which is supporting WollCon’s 50th Birthday Activities. Every dollar donated will be matched $ for $ thanks to the Plus 1 program.

WollCon also thanks ‘Friends of WollCon Community Music’ for supporting this event.

About The Orchestras:

Growing out of the long running South Coast Orchestra, the Wollongong Con Community Orchestra presented a one off concert in December 2015 at The Music Lounge, and the following year became established as part of the Wollcon Community Music Program. The orchestra is an all ages amateur symphony orchestra for intermediate to advanced players, presenting 4 concerts per year.

Conducted by Adrian Davis, The Five Islands String Orchestra (FISO) was established in 2019 as an opportunity for adult string players with limited ensemble experience.  FISO is a comprehensive weekly class where participants will work towards a greater understanding of orchestral string playing.

Anne has been a member of the Wollcon Board since 2019. She holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts from UNSW. She is an Accredited Specialist in Family Law and an accredited Mediator and Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner. She has taught family law and other subjects at Wollongong University.

For a number of years she has been a subscriber to the Australian Chamber Orchestra which regularly performs in Wollongong . She has been passionate about music and in particular music education to children and adults.

Jake has worked in the disability sector for 24 years- 17 of these with Interchange and 7 years as their CEO. Jake is passionate about inclusion and equality for both people with disability and their carers.

He holds an MBA, Bachelor of Commerce, Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, as well as completing Diploma’s in Case Management, Community Services Coordination and the AICD Company Directors Course.

Jake is also a committee member on the International Short Breaks Association Board and has been a Director on the Wollongong Conservatorium of Music Board since 2022.

Wayne is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors as well as being a qualified company secretary and accountant with over 35 years experience in banking and finance. He performed for nine of those years as Chief Executive of IMB Ltd, and the preceding seven years as Company Secretary and Chief Financial Officer, also with IMB. Wayne’s primary expertise is in the areas of governance, management, accounting, risk management and banking and finance. He has spent his whole life living in the Illawarra and is passionate about ensuring the Illawarra can provide the best possible opportunities and lifestyle for its residents. In 2024 Wayne was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for services to the community.

Dr Terumi Narushima is a senior lecturer and Music Discipline Leader at the University of Wollongong. She is a composer, performer and sound designer specialising in microtonal tuning systems. Her works include Tritriadic Chimes, a sound installation for LA MicroFest, Hidden Sidetracks, a composition for custom-made instruments premiered by Ensemble Offspring at Sydney Opera House, and a project to build microtonal flutes using 3D printing. She has worked on theatre collaborations which have been presented nationally and internationally, including Yasukichi Murakami: Through a Distant Lens, Lost in Shanghai, and The Story of Chi. She performs with microtonal ensemble Clocks and Clouds, and her book Microtonality and the Tuning Systems of Erv Wilson is published by Routledge.

Nicky is the CEO of Community Industry Group. She has degrees in Dementia Care, Community & Environment and Marketing, and a Grad Dip in Project Management. She is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and an Honorary Fellow of UOW. In addition to Chairing the WollCon Board, she is Deputy Chair of the Regional Development Australia Illawarra Shoalhaven Board and an Independent Non-Executive Director of Warrigal, a large not-for-profit specialising in the provision of services for older people.

Her corporate governance and strategy experience extends through a 20+ year career on boards in the corporate, government and NFP sectors.