Piano Teachers

Michelle Griffin

Head of Pianoforte Studies
Bathurst campus

Michelle Griffin grew up in the Bathurst region. She studied piano with Jennie Menzies before being accepted at the Newcastle Conservatorium of Music in 1998, where she studied piano with Gian-Franco Ricci. She graduated in 2003 as a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours, majoring in Piano Performance and Musicology. She began studying voice with Maureen Lewis in 2005 and gained her A.Mus.A diploma in 2011.

Michelle currently teaches piano and voice at Mitchell Conservatorium, Scots All Saints College and St Stanislaus College. She has toured Europe and Asia as a member of various musical ensembles, and has been a featured guest pianist for the Australasian Liszt Society. Locally, she has performed with theatre groups such as Carillon Theatrical Society and is a regular performer at the Local Stages Cabaret Kite series. She has also performed with ensembles such as the Macquarie Philharmonia, Bathurst  Chamber Orchestra and Cantora. She also works extensively as a choral director and accompanist throughout the Bathurst region.

Bethany Carter-Sherlock

BA ED, BA Soc. Sc. (Psy), DipMus and AMusA (Voice)

Bathurst Campus

Bethany is currently completing a research based Master of Music /Music Education through Sydney University. She has many years of teaching experience in ensemble, classroom and studio contexts, and performs on harp (pedal and Celtic/lever), voice and piano across the Blue Mountains and Central Western region as an accompanist, and in orchestral and solo settings. She also is accredited as a classroom teacher for the Department of Education. Bethany has experience conducting and coordinating various ensembles including concert band, string ensemble, harp groups and vocal groups, and is the deputy conductor of the Allegri Singers, Bathurst. Bethany is regularly involved in community theatrical productions as an instrumentalist, musical director and cast member.

As a pedal harpist, Bethany has contributed to orchestras such as the Australian Doctors’ Orchestra and the Macquarie Philharmonia Orchestra. Her particular expertise as a classroom educator (accredited at the level of Proficient Teacher), and capacity to adjust delivery of curriculum to suit individual learning needs, has enabled Bethany to assist other teachers with developing effective pedagogy, and assisted her role as a sessional academic at Charles Sturt University. Her current Masters research involves investigating the impact of group harp learning on students’ self–efficacy and self- concept. She has a passion for making music more accessible to students by continually developing and re-developing teaching practices that enhance both student potential and well- being.

David Hood

Bathurst campus

David started learning trumpet and piano as a child.  He has a Bachelor of Music degree in trumpet performance and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in history from the University of Adelaide. He also has a Master of Music degree majoring in conducting from The Pennsylvania State University and a Doctor of Philosophy degree majoring in history from the University of Adelaide. From the Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB), he has a Certificate of Performance in Singing. As a trumpet teacher and player, he has many years of teaching experience in public and private schools and has played trumpet with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and the Canberra Symphony Orchestra. As a singing teacher, David taught for four years at Tamworth Regional Conservatorium of Music and joined Mitchell Conservatorium in 2018. He also teaches piano and accompanies at student recitals, Eisteddfods and AMEB exams.
Click here to watch David play his piano piece "Afternoon Impromptu"

Carolyn Miller

Bathurst campus

Carolyn has been a music educator for over 30 years. She has a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and a Licentiate degree in Singing and an Associate degree in piano.  Her music experiences have been varied over the years. She has taught classroom music, composed two musicals and directed their performances, conducted school bands, choirs and vocal groups, accompanied students for their performances and privately tutored many students in piano and singing. She also performed extensively as a classical singer. She has been employed by several churches as a Worship Pastor and has a Bachelor of Theology degree. Currently she is composing piano solos for the intermediate performer and is engaged in the project of recording them professionally. She is an encouraging and diligent teacher who not only focuses on technical aspects but is also aware of the physical, cognitive and emotional aspects that affect the overall musical performance.

Lyn Phillips

L. Mus. A, A. Mus. A (AMEB), Perf. Cert (Trinity)

Lithgow campus

Lyn is a teacher of Piano, Singing  and Theory in the Blue Mountains and beyond.  She also is a choral music director. Lyn has many years of teaching experience with students of all ages and stages. While she prefers the AMEB system for students wanting to sit for graded exams, and received an  AMEB award for over 350 exam students, she is equally happy with those who play or sing for a hobby.  Lyn believes that each student is a unique person and her teaching style affirms that.  She relates well to students with disabilities, both physical and mental. Lyn is kind, compassionate and has a great sense of humour.  She enjoys bushwalking, gardening, animals, the ocean and earth sciences.

Robert Saville

Bathurst Campus

Robert commenced piano studies as a child, completing AMEB 8th Grade in his late teens. He continued to play in various community groups and for personal enjoyment, while having a career in the public sector in finance, administration, financial systems administration and management accounting. He studied piano with Lyn Phillips and under her tutelage recently gained a Pass with Honours for his AMEB Certificate of Performance. He is now continuing his piano studies with Carolyn Miller and is working towards his AMEB A.Mus.A Diploma.

Vivian Zhao

Bathurst Campus

Vivian has been training in classical piano and violin from the age of 3 years old, over the last 5 years under AMEB examiner, Sydney Conservatorium lecturer and adjudicator Dr. James Muir. Awarded a High Distinction for her piano LMusA Diploma, she has followed both the AMEB and IMEB syllabus for musical theory up to Grade 6. She has also completed AMEB Grade 6 Violin. Vivian was awarded the Sydney Eisteddfod Alf & Pearl Pollard Memorial Award for Performance Excellence in piano, as well as numerous awards at Castle Hill, Penrith, St. George and Ryde Eisteddfod over the years. Vivian was also nominated for the HSC Encore performance for both Music 2 and Music Extension. She has extensive classical piano and violin experience, but enjoys teaching across all genres, with a focus on technical strength and performance skills and the aim to instil a passion for music in her students. Vivian is also a medical student and is passionate about continuing her music teaching whilst studying.

The image in the header is detail from a sketch by Johann Nepomuk Hoechle showing Beethoven’s studio in Vienna a few days after the composer’s death in March 1827.

Join the MitCon community today
and discover the joy of making music!

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the many lands where we work and live. We celebrate the diversity of Aboriginal people, the ongoing cultures and connections with the lands and water of the country. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge contributions of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians to the inclusion and empowerment of all people in a country we live in and share together.

Learn More

Stay connected

We are very proud of our broad program of tuition offerings, ranging from school-based programs through to quality individual and group tuition for all ages and our array of inclusive community music ensembles.

Facebook Youtube Twitter Instagram
Site developed by Ribbon Gang Media Agency.

Thank you

We have got your message, will contact you soon.