Dr Deborah de Graaff

Deborah de Graaff – clarinet, competed internationally (in London and Munich) winning numerous prizes (National and Commonwealth ABC Instrumental and Vocal Competitions -1983), scholarships and awards. For over 30yrs she has performed as chamber musician, (with her mother Lauris Elms, soprano Rita Hunter, pianists Geoffrey Parsons, John Winther and Len Vorster), concerto soloist (Richard Bonynge, Paul Dyer Brandenburg) and overseas (Fine Arts Orchestra at St Martin in the Fields, London and Vietnam). She broadcasts for the ABC, has recorded over 16 CDs, and collaborates in chamber recital often premiering especially written Australian compositions. Teaching at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Teritary, High School, Open Academy, she is a Research Affiliate and also teaches Clarinet at UNSW and her private Sydney Town Hall studio. Awarded her PhD UNSW 2014 (Practice Strategies of Elite Instrumental Musicians), she received a USYD Large Innovative Grant (2015) applying her PhD Model of Elite Practice (MEP) towards music student motivation at Conservatorium. Her 2016 publications include a Pitch Error Coding Protocol paper, co-authored with Emery Schubert, published in Music Perception (December 2016 issue).