OUR STAFF:

Founder - Ms Yau Wang (Registered Music Therapist and Psychotherapist).

Ms Yau Wang has been a Registered Music Therapist with the Australian Music Therapy Association since 2002. Her credentials include a Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy from The University of Melbourne, and a Master in Counselling degree from Monash University. Ms Yau has been in demand, conducting Music Therapy Programmes in both Hong Kong/China and Australia. Ms Yau was also the Secretary of the International Chinese Music Therapy Association.

Under the supervision of Prof. Denise Grocke, who is President of The World Federation of Music Therapy, Ms Yau is well trained and experienced to deal with different clients in organisations including Early Intervention Centres, Specialist Development Schools, Hostels, Nursing Homes, and Pssychiatric Hospitals. With her track record sh has been invited to deliver training courses, seminars, and workshops for various organisations including The Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Piano Music Association, B21, Haven of Hope Christian Service, Heep Hong Society, Children’s Cancer Foundation, Society for the promotion of Hospice Care, Hong Kong Downs Syndrome Association, David Trench Rehabilitation Centre and the Hong Kong Lutheran Social Service.

In addition Ms Yau has been a part time lecturer at the Open University of Hong Kong and the Association of Hong Kong Nursing Staff (AHKNS). In 2016, Ms Yau was chosen amongst a select few Music Therapists from Hong Kong to tale part in a Music Therapy Project in conjunction with MOOV to compile music therapy playlists. She has also run a successful private practice, Do Re Mi Music Therapy Centre (Australia) for more than 20 years, as well as teaching at the Australian Piano Institute.

Since returning to Melbourne in 2022, Ms Yau has been working with children and elderly under the NDIS scheme, as well as continuing her teaching career at MLC (Methodist Ladies College) in Kew, VIC, Australia.

Honorable Advisor - Prof. Denise Grocke (Former President of The World Federation of Music Therapy)

Emeritus Professor Denise Grocke has held almost all the key positions in Music Therapy in Australia, including President of the Australian Music Therapy Association from 1978 to 1981, and from 1988 to 1991. She trained at a time when there was no music therapy course in Australia, so she travelled to The University of Michigan for her undergraduate studies. On returning to Australia she created a key clinical position in psychiatry whilst working to establish the first Australian course at The University of Melbourne, which opened in 1978. She continued to lead innovation in music therapy training, with the first graduate program, establishing the National Music Therapy Research Unit at The University of Melbourne, and more recently implementing the first blended learning Master of Music Therapy. She was Chair of the Education and Training Committee of The World Federation of Music Therapy (1992 to 1999) and became the President of The World Federation of Music Therapy (1999 to 2002). She is now retired from her academic roles, but continues to play an active part in the music therapy community.

Specialist teacher in Piano - Mr Robert Sipos-Ori (Piano examiner with the Australian Music Examinations Board AMEB)

Robert Sipos-Ori was born in Australia, of Hungarian parentage. His formal studies were completed at The University of Melbourne under the tutelage of Prof. Ian Holtham, Prof. Attila Nemethy at the prestigious Franz Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest, and Geoffrey Tozer, a distinguished pupilof the famed pianist and teacher Maria Curcio.

Prior to joining the teaching staff at the Escola Superior de Artes, Instituto Politecnico de Macau in 2010, Robert Sipos-Ori taught piano performance at The University of Melbourne for 8 years. He was also an official accompanist at the University of Melbourne during this time. In his late 20’s he became one of the youngest to be appointed as a specialist examiner in piano with the Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB), a post he currently still holds since 2002.

Robert Sipos-Ori has been the recipient of numerous prominent awards. These include the Una Bourne Scholarship in Music, Eric and Linda Jullyan Memorial Scholarship in Music, the Maude Harrington Prize in Music, the Rosemarie Kenny Prize in Music, the Allans Award, the Doris F, Chandler Memorial Bursary, two consecutive Australian Post Graduate Awards (APA), and an RTS Scholarship funded by the Federal Government of Australia. Robert has also received the Silver Cross Medal by the Order of Vitez, Budapest, Hungary, for contributions to music and the arts.

Since moving to Hong Kong in 2008, Robert Sipos-Ori has given several master classes and lecture recitals for the Hong Kong Piano Music Association at the invitation of Prof. Choi Sown Le. These have included topics such as The Elements of Piano Technique, and Interpreting Bartok’s piano works. Robert Sipos-Ori has been invited as Jury member for numerous National and International piano competitions. Since 2008, he has been an Honorable Jury member at the Hong Kong-Asia Piano Open Competition, Chairman of Jury at the Inaugural 2010 Macau-Asia Piano Open Competition, and Chairman of Jury at the 2012 IMA International Liszt Piano Competition. In 2012 and 2017 he was invited to the renowned Yeoncheon DMZ International Music Festival in Seoul, South Korea, as well as other International Music Festivals in Singapore, Taiwan,and Italy.

Robert Sipos-Ori has also received wide critical acclaim for his book “Bela Bartok - A Performer’s Guide to the Ten Easy Pieces and Allegro Barbaro”, published by LAP Lambert Academic Publishing in Koln, Germany.

Robert Sipos-Ori is also a keen advocate of Australian contemporary music, and has given world premier performances of piano works by the renowned Australian-Chilean composer Andrian Pertout.