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Sonia Sozio

Piano

What do you teach at the Con?

Piano.

What genres do you teach?

All genres.

What is it that you love about teaching music – particularly at Wollongong Conservatorium?

I love teaching at the Conservatorium due to its attractive surroundings for music study and performance. I am proud to be part of the learning and teaching community as it is a most upstanding, well established and hence important music establishment in Wollongong, providing quality music education and many opportunities for students to develop holistically. My aim is to develop piano technique, integrate music theory, encourage creativity, and foster a love of music in students of all ages and abilities in a safe learning environment. I love to see students grow and develop as musicians and I believe music plays an important part in unlocking self-expression, intelligence and creativity in every composer, performer and listener.

Please share a particular career highlight and why it’s special to you.

During COVID last year, I decided to bring my passion of composing to the forefront. I wrote and submitted works to Wirripang and on the 8th July 2020 I read this Facebook message: “Welcome to Wirripang ‘Sonia Sozio’. Sonia has brought three new works for varying ensembles as an introduction to a promising composing career.”

I am proud to be an Australian composer whose works are being published. I love to share my passion for composition with my students through immersing students in improvisation on the piano.

What’s one piece of music that you’d recommend people listen to?

Immerse yourself into L’Isle Joyeuse by Claude Debussy. One of my favourite composers among many others. This piece was inspired by Jean-Antoine Watteau’s 1717 painting titled ‘L’embarquement pour Cythère’ (‘The Embarkation for Cythera’). The painting depicts a happy group of revellers departing from the mythical island of Cythera in the Mediterranean, birthplace of Venus, the goddess of love. The central female figure in the painting looks back at the island with fondness. Debussy’s music captures the expectation and excitement of the Island, beginning with the opening soft trills which pause and then fall, winding around in a descending, chromatic spiral. Leaping thirds boldly interrupt, before a whole-tone scale moves the trills and spirals down an octave, and then the piece continues, calling us to the Island through its excitement, quiet mystery, pandemonium and brilliant fanfares. How can one refuse?

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Anne Mowbray

Director

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 Pearson

Director

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 Morris

Director

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

Deputy Chair

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 Sloan

Chair

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.