Pathway to Platform: Making It in the Music Industry

Shefali Pryor grew up in Sydney where she graduated with first class honours from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. During her studies she participated in numerous programs with the Australian Youth Orchestra and was a member of the Sydney Sinfonia. Upon graduating she joined the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as Second Oboe.

In 2004 and 2005 she was granted leave in order to study with Stefan Schilli at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. Not long after her return to Australia she was appointed Associate Principal Oboe. In 2006 she won the Other Instrumental category of the Symphony Australia Young Performer Awards. She has performed as soloist with the Sydney, Melbourne and Tasmanian symphony orchestras, including performances with violinist Nigel Kennedy in 2006.

Shefali Pryor has performed as guest principal with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Auckland Philharmonia, and as a casual musician with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. She is a founding member of the Sydney Omega Ensemble and has performed with the Australia Ensemble, Sydney Soloists, and Southern Cross Soloists as well as with the staff of the Sydney Conservatorium, where she teaches oboe. 

She is also the Artistic Director of the SSO's Vanguard program for young philanthropists.

Operating under the moniker KLP, Sydney artist Kristy Lee Peters is quickly gaining notoriety as a DJ and radio host, producer, songwriter and vocalist, amassing much deserved national and international attention.

Whether it’s through hosting triple j’s House Party each Saturday night, writing her own solo music or co-writing with numerous other artists, chances are you’ve listened to a KLP track before. With her numerous local and international collaborations, topping Hype Machine at #1 as well claiming the #1 position in Japan’s Electronic Chart, KLP is gaining notoriety as a songwriter as well as a vocalist.

As well as amassing a huge 14 million plays for her work on Soundcloud - KLP's recent single Ember ticked over 800,000 streams on Spotify and was a widely acclaimed by the online tastemaker community. KLP has gained a reputation as a stellar vocalist and performer, working with industry talents such as Skrillex, What So Not, Slumberjack, Young Franco, Terace, Goldfields, Zimmer, Crayon, Satin Jackets, SACHI and many more, KLP is one of Australia’s most in demand artists. 

Dr Rita Crews OAM is currently President of the Music Teachers’ Association of NSW, editor of The Studio journal and Deputy Chair of the Australian Music Examinations Board (NSW) where she represents private music teachers. She has over 30 years teaching experience at private and tertiary levels, has been an AMEB examiner since 1988 and is currently Chief Examiner for written subjects in NSW and for On-line examinations for the Federal AMEB.

Rita has published many articles and reviews, some of her piano works are included in the AMEB syllabus and her biography appears in several international dictionaries. She is currently writing the history of the AMEB for the 2018 Centenary.

Rita was named International Woman of the Year for services to music education by the Cambridge Biographical Centre in 1992-93 and in 2002 created a Fellow of the Australian Society of Musicology and Composition for her contribution to Australian music and composers. The 2008 inaugural edition of Who’s Who in NSW contained her biography as does the 2017 edition of Who's Who of Australian Women. In 2014 Rita was honoured with the Medal of the Order of Australia and in 2015, the Distinguished Alumni Award of the University of New England.

Julie Kerr is the founder of Music Love Australia, a website that shines a spotlight on the vast and diverse talentpool of women in the Australian music industry. Julie is a singer/songwriter who has been performing and recording music since 2002.  

In 2012, Julie was contacted in the middle of the night by Jackson Five singer Jermaine Jackson who found her song Papergirl, while looking through Julie’s video producer’s website at home in LA. Going on to become both Julie’s mentor and friend, he inspired Julie to write her current and third release Carry On, recorded at the iconic Studios 301, and produced by Grammy-nominated producer and engineer Simon Cohen.  

A passionate writer, Julie has been published by Mamamia, The Daily Life, The Canberra Times, marie claire Australia, Sarah Wilson, ABC’s The Drum and (the now defunct) long form website The Global Mail. Julie has previously worked for The Global Poverty Project and ghost written articles and speeches for its founder Hugh Evans, mainly published and given in the United States.

This summer ILUKA unveiled her more soulful side with her brand new EP Blue My Soul. First finding national attention through triple j with the much loved Paper Doll, then solidified with the polished 12th of July, ILUKA has come of age with this record moving effortlessly between retro pop and gospel soul. This is epitomised by lead single Blue Jean Baby , which captures the essence of summer - carefree and upbeat, but filled with longing nostalgia. 

Inspired by her freewheeling travels, the music that ILUKA pours herself into creating is not just music for the sake of music. It is art for the soul's purpose. The songs were born in a Buddhist Monastery in South East Asia, took shape through a utopian human experiment in Southern India, and matured on the vast arid expanses of the American desert. ILUKA has looked to distant lands to capture the essence of movement, light and youthful yearning. As the words fall from her howling tongue they paint a time, a place and a landscape so wildly vivid her journey becomes just as much yours as it is experientially her own. “I crave intensity and I crave wonder. In a world where people are almost afraid to feel, I want to make them feel something. Music out of all art forms has the ability to do that… I believe in the honesty of that.”

Iluka will be performing a song from her new EP at The Pathway To The Platform event.

Sophie Koh has released 4 independent albums, formed her own record label and won awards such as Best Female Artist (The AGE Music Awards) and Best Contemporary Song at IMA (Independent Music Awards USA). She was unearthed by Triple J in Darwin back in 2003 and she has since toured and collaborated with many, such as Ben Lee, The Go-Betweens and The Eels. Sophie was born in New Zealand, to Malaysian Chinese parents and spent her childhood in Singapore. Her new album BOOK OF SONGS sees her divert course into the classical-crossover world, revisiting her classical piano training and her ethnicity. BOOK OF SONGS is a splendour of pop songs, inspired by Chinese poetry, played on predominantly grand piano, cello and viola; with a few songs in Mandarin. She is also a new mum, now attempting to juggling creativity, self-managed music career with motherhood on a daily basis. 

Jacqui’s career spans two decades across film and music, encompassing roles in project development, physical production, post production, film distribution and marketing, for the likes of Channel 9, IF Magazine, George Lucas and Rick McCallum on ‘Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones’, JJ Town Films, Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin on their ‘Chanel No. 5’ campaign and EMI Music.

For the past three years, Jacqui has been working solely on her biggest project to date, an app and website for the music industry: Jaxsta. After beta testing in early 2017, the platform is currently under construction ready for a global launch later this year. Jacqui also spends her time working as the proud founder of Women In Music Sydney, a non-profit organisation bringing together a dynamic group of dedicated music professionals to network, and as an Advocate for Alzheimer’s Australia NSW Dementia.