Dr Tonya Lemoh

Tonya is Head of Classical Piano at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

Current teaching

• Principal Study
• Ensemble

Background

Australian/Sierra Leonean pianist, teacher and researcher Tonya Lemoh has performed across five continents as a leading recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician. Described by Gramophone magazine as “powerful and eloquent”, she is a prize-winner in international piano competitions and has a substantial recording catalogue. Other significant awards include the prestigious annual Danish Radio P2 Prize for best solo release for her recording of works by Svend Erik Tarp, and a Creative Fellowship residency at the National Library of Australia in 2022.

Tonya has released almost a dozen critically acclaimed solo and collaborative recordings with respected international music labels, including Chandos and Dacapo, and is regularly heard throughout Australia on ABC Classic FM. Her most recent solo release “I Dream a World” was selected as ABC Classic FM’s CD of the Week in March 2024. A passionate advocate of Australian music, other releases include her landmark 2021 recording, The Complete Piano Works of Raymond Hanson, on the Grand Piano label (Naxos) which was awarded Critic’s Choice by Limelight magazine. This album included several world premiere recordings.

Tonya holds performance degrees from conservatoriums in Australia, the US and Denmark, and completed her doctoral studies at NSW’s Newcastle Conservatorium of Music. She has performed in international new music festivals throughout Scandinavia, where she was a lecturer on the piano faculty of the University of Copenhagen for ten years. During this period, her interest in 20th century Scandinavian piano music led to commercial recordings and performances of works by Niels Viggo Bentzon, Svend Erik Tarp and Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgren. She has written articles for Limelight Magazine and was interviewed by Andrew Ford on "The Music Show" in 2023.

Creative research includes documenting work by marginalised composers whose contribution lies outside the traditional canon. Her ground-breaking Chandos recording of Austrian composer Joseph Marx piano works included several world premieres and was selected as "Discovery of the month" by Classica Magazine, France.

Professional associations

• 2019 - Musicological Society of Australia, MSA (Member)

Awards and recognition

National and International awards

• 2011 - Danish Radio P2 prize
• Critic's Choice Limelight Magazine (Raymond Hanson Piano Works)
• 1st Prize, 21st Century Art Competition (Helsingor 2003)
• 1st Prize, Royal Academy of Music (Aarhus) Concerto Competition
• Diplôme d’honneur, International Edvard Grieg Piano Competition

National and International research awards

• 2022 - Creative Fellowship, National Library of Australia

Research areas and interests

• Diversifying the canon: piano works by composers of African descent
• The musical world of Henry Handel Richardson
• 20th-century Danish piano music
• Raymond Hanson: legacy and influence in Australian music of the 20th century

Qualifications

• Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Newcastle, 2020.
• Mastter of Music, United States of America, 1999.
• Graduate Diploma in Music (Performance), The University of Sydney, 1996.
• Bachelor of Music, The University of Sydney, 1995.

Research Student Supervision