Thursday, 11 April 2024

In an exciting development for music in Western Australia, Edith Cowan University has appointed a dynamic new staff member as the Head of WAAPA’s Classical Piano program: the internationally renowned pianist Tonya Lemoh.

“We are thrilled to have made this exciting new appointment to lead our piano students and department into the future,” says Associate Professor Jonathan Paget, WAAPA’s Associate Dean of Music.

“Tonya is an amazing pianist and experienced pedagogue. She has a distinguished record of achievement as a soloist, collaborative musician and recording artist, and impresses with her passion and dedication to teaching.”

The Australian/Sierra Leonean pianist brings a wealth of expertise to her new position as WAAPA’s Head of Classical Piano. Described by Gramophone magazine as “powerful and eloquent”, Tonya has won international awards including First Prizes in the 21st Century Art Competition (International Association of Art and Education in the 21st Century, Helsingor 2003) and the Royal Academy of Music (Aarhus) Concerto Competition, and a Diplôme d’honneur in the International Edvard Grieg Piano Competition.

Tonya has performed across five continents as a leading recitalist, soloist and chamber musician. She has released almost a dozen CD recordings with respected international music labels, and is regularly heard throughout Australia on ABC Classic FM, as both a performer and presenter. Tonya’s CD releases include her award-winning 2021 recording, The Complete Piano Works of Raymond Hanson, on the Grand Piano label (Naxos) – arising from her highly-acclaimed PhD research – which was selected as Critics Choice in Limelight magazine with a 5-star review. She has also just released an ABC Classics solo album, I Dream a World, featuring piano music by composers of African descent, alongside Australia’s own Elena Kats-Chernin and Robert Schumann. The album also includes two original compositions by Tonya and was ABC Classic CD of the Week in March.

Tonya holds performance degrees from conservatoriums in Australia, the US and Denmark, and completed her doctoral studies at NSW’s Newcastle Conservatorium of Music.

A keen interpreter of new music, she has performed in international new music festivals in Australia and throughout Scandinavia. She was a lecturer on the piano faculty of the University of Copenhagen for ten years.

WAAPA postgraduate piano student Izaac Masters says: “Tonya Lemoh is brilliant, I’m so thrilled to hear this news! I love her recordings, and her academic accomplishments are outstanding. She performs and teaches with so much passion and expertise – Tonya is totally inspirational. WAAPA’s piano students are in superb hands.”

“I am truly excited to be joining one of Australia’s leading music institutions,” says Tonya. “WAAPA has an outstanding reputation in the arts, and its progressive, dynamic approach to elite performance and research is very appealing.

“I am looking forward to being part of a remarkable team of people, working together with students on their musical journeys. It is a joy and a privilege to be invited to contribute to this vibrant creative community.”

Tonya has recently returned from a concert tour of Europe, and will take up her new role at WAAPA in July 2024.