2027 Conductor Workshop

Prof. Rob McWilliams was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. He holds a Ph. D. in Music/Music Education (conducting focus) from the University of Minnesota, a Master's degree in Instrumental Conducting from Florida State University, and a Bachelor's degree in Music Education from the University of Melbourne. Prof. McWilliams was a United States resident from 1991 to 2014 and served as Professor of Music and Director of Bands and Instrumental Music Education at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh from 1996 where he also served as Head of Music from 2011 to 2014. Rob has conducted and presented at major music conferences in Japan, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Europe, China, all states of Australia, and has been published in the Journal of Band Research, Teaching Music Through Performance, and is a composer/arranger with Alfred's Music. In early 2015 he relocated to Brisbane, Australia where he is currently working for Yamaha Music Australia as their Education Outreach Clinician, as well as teaching sessionally at the Jazz Music Institute and freelancing as a musician, educator, conductor, composer/arranger, and adjudicator.

Simon Hewett is the QYO Director of Music and Conductor of the Queensland Youth Symphony. After completing a Bachelor of Music at the University of Queensland (First Class Honours and a University Medal), Simon received a German Government Scholarship and finished his studies in conducting at the Hochschule für Musik ‘Franz Liszt’ in Weimar, Germany. He made his debut with Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House in 2003, returning in subsequent years to perform a wide range of operas with OA. In 2012 Simon was awarded a Green Room Award for Best Conductor of an Opera.

In 2005 Simon was appointed Kapellmeister and Assistant Music Director to the Hamburg State Opera. He was Principal Conductor of the Stuttgart Opera from 2011 to 2016, and has appeared as a regular guest conductor at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Paris Opera and Vienna State Opera.

Simon was appointed Principal Conductor of the Hamburg Ballet in 2008, and he continues to perform regularly with the Hamburg Ballet at the Hamburg State Opera, and on tour at the Salzburg Festival, the Spoleto Festival, the Baden Baden Festspielhaus, in the USA, Japan, Hong Kong, Moscow and Australia. Alongside his commitments with QYO, Simon continues to perform internationally as a guest conductor, most recently at La Scala, Milan, the Semperoper Dresden, the Hamburg State Opera, and with the Korean National Ballet.

Having worked as a music educator in many varied environments in Australia and in the USA, Dr. Joanne Heaton currently serves as Head of Bands at Haileybury College in Melbourne, Australia. She completed a Bachelor of Education with a music education focus and a Postgraduate Diploma in Education Studies at the University of Melbourne, and a Masters of Music majoring in conducting performance at the University of Utah, USA. Before returning to Australia, Joanne also undertook the position of Band Director at Eastmont Middle School at Sandy, Utah. Most recently, Joanne completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree specialising in Wind Band Conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Joanne is in demand as an adjudicator, conductor, guest lecturer and educative consultant and has been a guest lecturer and conductor at Monash University and The University of Melbourne. In 2001 Joanne served as the music education representative for the curriculum writing project ‘Schools to Careers’ for the Utah State Office of Education. Joanne was invited to be a guest conductor of the Southern Mississippi University Honor Band in February 2007, guest conductor of the Interscholastic Association of Southeast Asian Schools Honour Band in Kuala Lumpur in 2014 and guest conductor for the Colorado State University, Pueblo, Festival of Winds in 2018. Major clinic presentations include the 2012 Mid-West Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, the 2019 World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles Conference in Spain, the 2019 Oxford University International Conducting Studies Conference in Sydney and the 2019 Australian Society for Music Education conference in Perth.

In 2000 Joanne was awarded the Jordan Education Foundation’s Outstanding Educator of the Year for her work in Utah schools, and in February 2017 she was honoured with an ABODA Victoria Excellence in Music Education award. The Victorian branch of the Australian Band and Orchestra Directors’ Association awarded Joanne with a Life Membership award in January 2020.