Tripwire concert series

Joseph Lallo is a Senior Lecturer and Associate Director at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and Artistic Director of the Melbourne International Saxophone Festival. Passionate about performing new Australian music, he has commissioned and premiered over 70 works for saxophone, and his recording for ABC Classic was featured on both the ABC ‘Best of Australian Classical Music’ and ‘Swoon’ playlists. Joseph is a member of the Australian Saxophone Quartet, recently touring throughout Asia and Australia and recording their debut album, Echo Chamber. He is featured on Nat Bartsch’s album, Hope Renewed, and in 2023 toured the United States where he launched his new album, Traces, featuring all new music for two saxophones and piano. 

Nat Bartsch is a twice ARIA-nominated pianist, composer, producer and advocate from Melbourne, Australia. She is known for creating soothing, beautiful music that blends neoclassical composition with jazz harmony, improvisation and ethereal ambient effects. Her sound at the piano is distinctively gentle and warm, enriched by lyrical, ethereal melodies. Her music is played across the world by people from all walks of life, often in deeply personal moments: literally from the birthing suite, to the final hours before death.  

American-Australian oboist Briana Leaman, PhD, has performed and taught throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. A native of South Carolina, Briana completed her Bachelor of Music Performance degree at the University of South Carolina with Dr. Rebecca Nagel, and received her Master of Music Performance at the Haute École des Arts du Rhin with Sébastien Giot and Christian Schmitt. In 2023, Briana received her PhD in Music Performance for her research on Francis Poulenc’s Sonate pour hautbois et piano, FP 184 from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music at the University of Melbourne, for which she was a Melbourne Research Scholarship recipient. Briana served as the Victorian State Representative for the Australasian Double Reed Society (ADRS) from 2019-2024.

Melbourne percussionist Anna Camara developed a passion for African drumming from the age of ten. This has led her to play a broad range of percussion instruments and styles, and she has completed a Bachelor of Music Performance with Honours at the Victorian College of the Arts, specialising in Repertoire Percussion. Having completed an Honours research paper on the traditional Guinean and Western repertoire percussion pedagogies, Anna has developed a unique understanding of the different teaching methods and their benefits.  

Mohamed Camara is a performer, songwriter, and Guinean music educator whose rich Manding heritage has shaped a life-long passion and creative practice. Trained under internationally renowned master drummer Ton Ton Sylla, Camara performed with Guinea’s leading drum and dance ensembles, including Ballet Bolonta and Les Sorciers de Guinée (directed by Miriam Makeba’s percussionist Papa Kouyaté), and was a founding member and djembe leader of Ballet Destin. Based in Melbourne since 2007, Camara shares his Manding heritage with Australian audiences to inspire cultural awareness and exchange. He delivers cultural incursions to preschools, schools and leading tertiary institutions across Victoria. Camara seeks musical innovation through unique collaborations with western musicians and styles, taking creative risks inspired by respectful musical exchange.   

Nick Russoniello is a highly accomplished and dynamic saxophonist, composer, ensemble leader and educator. A graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Conservatorio di Musica “Giuseppe Verdi” di Milano, Nick has appeared as a soloist or guest musician with many of Australia’s premier arts organisations including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Australian World Orchestra, the Australian Opera & Ballet Orchestra, The Metropolitan Orchestra and the Acacia Quartet. He has been the recipient of major awards including the ABC Symphony Australian Young Performer of the Year Award, Fine Music Kruger Scholarship and a finalist for the Australian Freedman Fellowship. Nick holds a doctorate from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, is a Yamaha Australia Artist, D’Addario Woodwind Artist and a Represented Artist with the Australian Music centre.