Conservatorium trombone student wins prestigious Margaret Sutherland Bursary Competition
Melbourne Conservatorium Bachelor of Music student Jessica Gillham has won the Margaret Sutherland Bursary competition 2020.
The Melbourne Conservatorium's Associate Director (Music Performance) and Associate Professor of Music (Performance, Trombone) Don Immel said: "We are thrilled that Jessica has received this recognition for her ongoing hard work and focus. The trombone has such potential for lyrical, artistic expression, and Jessica is one of the best young players in Australia. I’m lucky to have her as my student, and of course proud of her accomplishments to date."
The Margaret Sutherland Bursary is an annual music competition supported by The Lyceum Club where the top musicians from Monash University’s Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and the Melbourne Conservatorium compete by presenting a music recital, including one work by the late Australian composer Margaret Sutherland AO OBE (1897–1984).
"I was extremely honoured to be nominated to perform at The Lyceum Club's 2020 Margaret Sutherland Bursary Fund concert," says Gillham.
"Having spent the majority of this last year during the COVID lockdowns performing to my cats, it was definitely a shock to the system to actually perform in front of real people. I have to admit I was a bit shaky the morning of the performance but, as I often do, I managed to talk off most of my nervous jitters with the other performers.
"I went into the performance just wanting to enjoy myself and have fun in the moment, and in the end that's what happened. I had a great night, and I'd like to think that this enjoyment came across. It was a complete shock to find out that I'd won, but it means a lot for my future as a musician."
Gillham graduated with a Bachelor of Music (Music Performance) in 2020, and will do an Honours (Performance) with the Conservatorium in 2021.