Andrew Keith Wailes (born 7 September 1971) is an Australian conductor and

music director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

. Winner of the Australasian International Choral Conducting Competition in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

in 1999, he is the current artistic director and Chief Conductor of the

Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Royal Melbourne Philharmonic (RMP) is a 120-voice choir and orchestra in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1853, and is reportedly Australia's oldest surviving cultural organisation. The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic is Austral ...

Choir and Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the

Melbourne University Choral Society Melbourne University Choral Society (MUCS) is a 120-voice choir in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.The choir is affiliated with the University of Melbourne, but is also open to non-students who are willing and able to perform to the choirs stan ...

, and music director and Conductor of the Box Hill Chorale. From 1999 to 2020 he served as artistic director of The

Australian Children's Choir The Australian Children's Choir (ACC), founded in 1976, is a mixed-voice children's choir based in Melbourne, Australia, and consisting of some 200 boys and girls aged 5 to 20 in six different training ensembles. The choir has developed a stron ...

, and for a decade was Director of the

Australian Catholic University Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome. History Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamation ...

Melbourne Campus Choir. He is a former president of the

Australian Intervarsity Choral Societies Association The Australian Intervarsity Choral Festival is an annual event in which members of university choirs from all state capitals of Australia and the national capital Canberra meet for two weeks to rehearse, socialise and perform combined concer ...

, and is a former Artistic Administrator and artistic director of The Chamber Strings of Melbourne.

Early life

Born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Wailes was educated at

Caulfield Grammar School Caulfield Grammar School is a private, co-educational, Anglican, International Baccalaureate, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as a boys' school, Caulfield Grammar began admitting girls exactly ...

, where he was active as a student musician, performing in a wide range of ensembles as a flautist and also as a singer in various church and community choirs. He began his early music education as a treble in the Choir of St George's Anglican Church ( Malvern), where he eventually rose to the position of Head Chorister, and appeared with various

Royal School of Church Music The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) is a Christian music education organisation dedicated to the promotion of music in Christian worship, in particular the repertoire and traditions of Anglican church music, largely through publications, tr ...

-affiliated choirs.

Middle years

Wailes continued practicing

choral music A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

in various choirs upon leaving school, and played in various amateur orchestras throughout his secondary and early university years. While studying Arts/Law at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

, Wailes became involved with the Monash University Choral Society (MonUCS), eventually accepting an invitation to become Assistant Conductor, and serving in a number of committee positions including several years as MonUCS President. He was subsequently awarded life membership of MonUCS for his involvement in the choir as singer, concert manager, assistant conductor, and on two separate occasions as conductor pro tem. During this time he was also invited to take up the post of conductor at the Melbourne University Choral Society (MUCS), and was actively involved in the Australian National Choral Association (ANCA) as a member of the editorial committee of the National Choral Journal "Sing Out", as well as the Australian Intervarsity Choral Societies Association (AICSA), serving as National President for a number of years, and convening the 49th Australian Intervarsity Choral Festival. Wailes also performed extensively as a soloist with various choirs and early music ensembles, including several seasons with the National Youth Choir of Australia, the Geelong Early Music Group, and The Australian Opera (Opera Australia). He made his debut with The Australian Opera as an apprentice in Wagner's

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (; "The Master-Singers of Nuremberg"), WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is traditio ...

in 1995. Wailes was appointed Principal Conductor of Melbourne University Choral Society (MUCS) in 1992, and since that time has become its longest serving conductor in over 70 years. He was awarded life membership of MUCS in 2005, being only the second person to receive such an honour in the choir's history. He has directed the choir in hundreds of performances, and in 2010 led it on its first international tour, conducting throughout Germany,

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. He also directed performances at the Festival of Voices in

Hobart, Tasmania Hobart ( ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent (Tasmania), River Derwent, it is the southernmo ...

. Wailes took up his position as Assistant Conductor of the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic (RMP) in 1995, and became Director of Music and Chief Conductor at the end of 1998, making him one of the youngest persons to hold that position in over 150 years. Since that time he has led the RMP Choir and Orchestra in hundreds of performances, including two concert tours of The People's Republic of China with the RMP Orchestra. He was awarded Life Membership of the RMP, being only the third conductor to be granted that honour in over 150 years. Artistic Director and Conductor of The Australian Children's Choir from 1999 until 2020.Wailes has led The ACC on numerous international tours, including several tours of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, China, England, Austria, Czech Republic, and was scheduled in 2011 to direct the choir in performances in Germany, Austria and at the International Festival of Children's Choirs at

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...

in England. Wailes has also conducted the Box Hill Chorale (formerly the Box Hill Choral Society) since 1995, and has directed Faculty Choirs at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

, Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music, and the School of Music Conservatorium at Monash University. For four years he directed the Monash Faculty Choir Viva Voce. Since 2000, Wailes has also directed the Campus Choir at the St Patrick's (Melbourne) Campus of the Australian Catholic University, where he has also lectured in conducting.

Awards and honours

Wailes was the inaugural winner of the Australasian International Choral Conducting Competition, in Brisbane, held during the National Choralfest, presented by the Australian National Choral Association. He is a life member of the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra, the Melbourne University Choral Society, The Australian Children's Choir, Box Hill Chorale, and the Monash University Choral Society. He is listed in the inaugural edition of Who's Who in Victoria, and the International Edition of Strathmore's Who's Who. In 2019 he was the recipient of a Deakin Community Award, presented by

Michael Sukkar Michael Sven Sukkar (; born 11 September 1981) is an Australian former politician who was the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Housing and as the Minister for Homelessness, Social and Community Housing in the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Lib ...

MP and Susan Alberti AC.

Other arts organisations

Andrew Wailes is a former Principal Guest Conductor of the Australian Classical Players Orchestra, and has appeared as guest conductor of other ensembles including the State Orchestra of Victoria,

Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra The Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (German: ''Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR'') was a German radio orchestra based in Stuttgart in Germany. History The ensemble was founded in 1945 by American occupation authorities as the orches ...

, Orchestra of

Stuttgart University The University of Stuttgart () is a research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany with programs in Civil engineering, civil ...

, and Camerata Academica Freiburg (Germany), the Victorian College of the Arts Symphony Orchestra,

Yale Glee Club The Yale Glee Club is a mixed chorus of men and women, consisting of students of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1861, it is the third oldest collegiate chorus in the United States after the Harvard Glee Club, founded in 1 ...

, Harvard University Collegium Musicum (USA), Melbourne Sinfonia, the Christchurch Sinfonia (

), Melbourne Youth Orchestra, Stonnington Symphony Orchestra, Geelong Philharmonic Orchestra, and has directed student ensembles at both Melbourne University and Victorian College of the Arts. Andrew is also a regular guest conductor of various orchestras and choirs at

summer school Summer school (or summer university) is a school, or a program generally sponsored by a school or a school district, or provided by a private company, that provides lessons and activities during the summer vacation. Participation in summer school ...

s around the country. He has conducted orchestras at the Melbourne Summer Music Camp, Geelong and State Music Camps, and for three years directed the orchestra program at

Blackburn High School Blackburn High School is a co-educational public secondary school for children from years 7 to 12 in Blackburn North, Victoria, Blackburn North, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, founded in 1956. The school has performed in prestigiou ...

. Wailes has assisted Russian maestro

Valery Gergiev Valery Abisalovich Gergiev (, ; ; born 2 May 1953) is a Russian conducting, conductor and opera company director. He is currently general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre and of the Bolshoi Theatre and artistic director o ...

as backstage conductor and extra chorus director for the

Kirov Opera The Mariinsky Theatre (, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic opera house in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces ...

's performances for the Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, and has prepared and directed choirs for the

Perth International Arts Festival Perth Festival, named Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF) between 2000 and 2017, and sometimes referred to as the Festival of Perth, is Australia's longest-running cultural festival, held annually in Western Australia. The program features ...

's performance of

Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-century classical music, ...

's ''

Gurre-Lieder ' (''Songs of Gurre Castle, Gurre'') is a tripartite oratorio followed by a Melodrama, melodramatic epilogue for five vocal soloists, narrator, three choruses, and grand orchestra. The work, which is based on an early song cycle for soprano, te ...

'' with the

Australian Youth Orchestra The Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO), formerly Youth Music Australia, is a training organisation for young musicians. It originitated in the Summer camp, music camps founded by John Bishop (academic), John Bishop and Ruth Alexander in 1948. AYO ...

. He co-conducted the world premiere season of Julian Yu's contemporary opera ''The Possessed'', for

Chamber Made Chamber Made, formerly known as Chamber Made Opera, is an Australian arts organisation based in Melbourne, creating work operating at the intersections of music, sound and contemporary performance. Formed in 1988 by theatre director and libretti ...

Opera and in 2005 he conducted Britten's ''

The Rape of Lucretia ''The Rape of Lucretia'' (Op. 37) is an opera in two acts by Benjamin Britten, written for Kathleen Ferrier, who performed the title role. Ronald Duncan based his English libretto on André Obey's play '. Performance history The opera wa ...

'' for Lyric Opera of Melbourne (receiving a

Green Room Award The Green Room Awards are Australian peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, theatre companies, independent theatre, musical theatre, contemporary and experimental performance, and opera. The awards, which were established in ...

nomination for best opera conductor.)

References

External links