Queensland Conservatorium alumni Dami Im and Katie Noonan have been honoured at the 2019 Australian Women in Music Awards.
Recognition on the national stage
The awards, now in their second year, celebrate the diversity and talent of women in the Australian music industry.
Dami Im won the Humanitarian Award for her work with Compassion Australia. The X Factor champion and Eurovision finalist began working with the charity while still at university to help alleviate childhood poverty in underdeveloped countries.
Fellow Queensland Conservatorium alumnus Katie Noonan won the Creative Leadership Award, which recognises excellence in creative programming that champions female artists.
The APRA ambassador and ARIA Award-winner was hailed as “one of Australia’s most hardworking, versatile and prolific artists”. The award singled out Noonan’s advocacy of “female-fronted and community projects.”
Queensland Conservatorium alumnus Lisa Cheney was nominated for the Diversity in Music Award for Making Waves, a project that celebrated new Australian composers.
Finding their voice
Both powerhouse vocalists were taught by renowned Queensland Conservatorium vocal coach and senior lecturer, Dr Irene Bartlett.
Dr Bartlett has mentored the country’s best singers, including Megan Washington, Kristin Beradi and Ellie Hoyt. Her students have been finalists and recipients of prestigious music awards including ARIA Awards, the Freedman Jazz Fellowship, Bell Awards, the Montreaux Jazz Festival International Vocalist Competition, James Morrison Generations in Jazz Scholarships and Churchill Fellowships.
“Very quickly I can size up whether there is that special ‘something’, and I saw that in both Katie and Dami,” Dr Bartlett said.
“Their talent is their own, so in those few years that I have with them, if I can somehow be a mentor through their journey and make things a bit clearer for them, that’s the part that warms my heart.”
A dream destination
Queensland Conservatorium Acting Director, Professor Gemma Carey, said the institution remained a dream destination for aspiring singers.
“For a singer to be successful they have to have talent, good teaching and the right atmosphere to thrive,” she said.
“We have the best teachers in the country who give our students a suite of skills that will maximize their opportunities.”
Katie Noonan and Dami Im will perform at iconic Brisbane venue The Tivoli later this month. Dami Im will bring her Dreamer tour to town on 19 October, while Katie Noonan will perform alongside the Australian String Quartet on 31 October.