The Committee

Margaret Crawford - Patron

Adelaide-born Margaret Crawford played piano and composed from the age of nine. At fifteen she began flute lessons with David Cubbin at the Elder Conservatorium and then moved to Melbourne in 1960 to undertake a tertiary degree at the Melbourne University Conservatorium, studying flute under Leslie Barklamb and piano under Ronald Farren-Price. In 1963 she gained her BMus and two years later a Master of Music majoring in flute performance.

In 1966 she won the ABC Concerto Competition (now Young Performer of the Year), which led to solo performances with all of the State Symphony Orchestras and numerous broadcasts. A major focus for her at this time was the performance of contemporary music. In 1967 she travelled to Vienna where she specialized in baroque music, studying recorder under Professor Hans-Maria Kneihs and flute under Hans Reznicek at the Vienna Academy of Music, graduating with honours in 1969. She also studied flute in Paris under Jean-Pierre Rampal and Alain Marion and attended masterclasses given by Rampal, Gazzeloni, Gerard Schaub and Marcel Moyse.

Since returning to Australia in 1970 Margaret Crawford has taught flute at the Canberra School of Music, the Sydney Conservatorium, the Queensland Conservatorium, the Melbourne University Conservatorium, the Victorian College of the Arts and the Australian National Academy of Music. From 1990 to mid-1997 she held the position of Head of Woodwind, Brass and Percussion at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Returning to Australia, she held the position of Senior Lecturer in Flute at the Sydney Conservatorium from 1998 to 2003. She moved back to Melbourne at the end of 2003.

Margaret Crawford has presented masterclasses and lectures on a wide range of musical and flute-related subjects. As a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician she has toured Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, and South East Asia. She has broadcast extensively in Australia and recorded a number of works by Australian composers.

Margaret Crawford teaches at the VCA and at the Music Faculty of Melbourne University and is Artist in Residence at the Australian National Academy of Music.

David Leviston - Director

David Leviston grew up in Melbourne and started playing at age seven. He has studied with many teachers most notably in Australia with Audrey Walklate, Leslie Barklamb, Margaret Crawford, David Cubbin, Colin Evans and Linda Vogt. Overseas he studied with William Bennett, Peter Lloyd, Michel Debost, John Wion, Julius Baker, Sam Baron and James Pellerite.

Abandoning his course in Law at aged 19, he took a position in the ABC Sinfonia in Sydney and then one year later in 1969 moved to Perth to take a position in the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. During 1968 and 1969 David successfully gained his Associate and Licentiate Diplomas in Performance on Flute. During his 9 years in Perth he travelled many times to Europe and the US to study and participate in competitions being the beneficient of an Australia Council grant for that purpose in 1975.

A founding member of the Perth Wind Quintet saw him performing most of the Wind Quintet repertoire in addition to many solo and recital programmes. David spent most of 1979 playing in the Queensland Theatre Orchestra at the invitation of Georg Tintner. For many years thereafter he freelanced in the various orchestras around Australia, taught at several Universities, was an AMEB examiner at all levels and maintained an extensive private teaching practice based in Sydney.

In 1988 David took an opportunity to start a specialty flute business based around supplying some of the world's leading flutes supported by leading edge servicing. This business, Flutes & Flutists quickly became the leading business of its kind in Australia. During these last fifteen years "Flute Fidelity" has presented many concerts and masterclasses for many Australian and overseas visiting artists. This experience has been foundational to David being able to initiate and lead the development of Sydney Flute Festival, now called the Australian Flute Festival.

Lyndie Leviston - Coordinator/Director

Lyndie began her musical studies on the recorder, studying under Pieter van Dijk and made her debut as a soloist at the age of 13. She studied for her B.Mus (Perf) degree, on the flute, under the guidance of Swiss flutist, Beat Wenger.

In 1996, Lyndie played Sub-Principal flute, doubling piccolo, with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra. She was a member of the Viva Musica Quartet, performing regularly at exclusive game parks around South Africa.

After immigrating to New Zealand in 1999, Lyndie became the Vice-President of the New Zealand Recorder Society and the Secretary of the New Zealand Flute Society and was involved in the organization of the Auckland Flute Convention in 2004. She was invited to play First and Second Flute in the Auckland Symphony Orchestra, and formed a flute/piano duo called Tui's Company, freelancing in and around Auckland.

Lyndie was the resident flute teacher at the Corelli School of the Arts and taught at the Auckland University Academy of Music before immigrating to Australia.

Vernon Hill - Artistic Advisor

Vernon was Principal Flute in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for more than 10 years. He represented Australia in the World Symphony Orchestra in the USA in 1971 and has played guest principal flute with many orchestras including the London Symphony, the BBC, and the Sydney Symphony Orchestras.

He has performed many concertos with all of the Australian Symphony Orchestras in addition to numerous solo recitals in all four capital cities. On his European solo concert tours he has performed in London, Hungary and the former Yugoslavia, at the Jerash Festival in Jordan, for the Israel Philharmonic Society in Tel Aviv, and with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in Greece.

His overseas concert tours with the Canberra Wind Soloists have also been quite extensive, taking him through Japan, Russia, Yugoslavia,New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Korea and Vietnam, and in 1996 he toured Asia as Guest Principal Flute with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

He has recorded for EMI, Festival, Peter Mann, Move,Fluteworks and the ABC, in addition to playing on many film soundtracks and an Olivia Newton John CD. His EMI recording of the Colin Brumby Concerto received wide acclaim and sold out almost immediately.

It has since been re-released on a CD featuring Australian compositions, and the slow movement of this concerto is also featured in a ?swoon? collection CD!

He has also recorded all of the Bach flute sonatas on 2 CD's on the Move label.

Vernon is a highly respected master teacher of the flute and is the author of "The Flute Players Book with Demonstration CD" by Vernon Hill, which is now in its third edition,and continues to be sold throughout the world.

Mr. Hill's teaching career spans more than 40 years and in that time he has had a profound influence on helping to raise the quality of flute playing in Australia. He joined the faculty of the Canberra School of Music in 1980, was Head of the Woodwind Department from 1983 - 1999, and is now continuing his association at the School as a Distinguished Artist for the Australian National University.

Virginia Taylor - Artistic Advisor

Virginia Taylor was the winner of The National Australian Flute Competition. This was followed shortly being awarded, 1st Prize in the ABC's ?Young Performer of the Year?, winning outright in the overall category section.

Virginia has given recitals in all Capital cities of Australia, and performed as soloist with almost all of the Symphony Australia Orchestras, as well as having been guest Principal Flute for many of these Orchestras on numerous occasions.

Virginia equally enjoys playing chamber music with some of her long-standing friends and colleagues, including many performances at The Australian Festival of Chamber Music and concerts with The Australian String Quartet and The Goldner Quartet. Her collaboration with guitarist Timothy Kain has continued for more than 15 years, and together they have recorded 3 CDs for the Tall Poppies and ABC labels. Their CD entitled ?For Flute and Guitar? was listed as a best selling classical release.

Overseas concerts have taken Virginia to the USA, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, India and Saudi Arabia. She has appeared as Soloist with many orchestras in China including The Shanghai, Hang Zhou, Guangzhou and Xiamen Symphony Orchestras.

Virginia was Principal Flute with Australia's leading Chamber Orchestra, The Australian Chamber Orchestra for over 10 years.

2011 sees Virginia return to Hong Kong and China performing and teaching at a number of Festivals. Virginia is guest lecturer and performer at many national and international flute events and festivals. In 2011 as Associate Professor of Flute at the Australian National University, Virginia, the ANU and ?Flutes & Flutists? will host the Australian Flute Festival, a bi-annual event which attracts hundreds of national and international flute players and delegates.

The ANU flute class constitutes pre-tertiary, tertiary and postgraduate students. Many of the students from the ANU have gone on to hold major positions in orchestras both nationally and internationally. The flute class is recognised as a leader in the field of performance both nationally and internationally.