Regional Adjudicator

Barry Walmsley is a highly respected music educator, pianist, writer, adjudicator, and
examiner whose career has spanned performance, teaching, leadership, and arts
administration. He studied piano at the Sydney Conservatorium with Eunice Gardiner and
Gordon Watson, organ with Robert Ampt and Sharon Raschke, and later completed a
Bachelor of Education, the Master of Music degree from the University of New South Wales,
and Associate and Licentiate diplomas from Trinity College London. He has also lectured in
music at Avondale University and served for 11 years as music critic for The Newcastle
Herald.
Barry has held numerous leadership positions within Australian music education, including
Past President of the Music Teachers' Association of NSW, and has been a member of the
Australian College of Educators, the Australian Council for Educational Leaders, the Institute
of Managers and Leaders, and the Council of the Australian Society of Musicology and
Composition. His 35-year career with Trinity College London culminated in the rare honour
of Honorary Membership, presented by HRH The Duke of Kent at London's Wigmore Hall,
followed by the Chairman's Award in 2002 for his outstanding contribution to music
education.
As a performer and musical director, Barry has appeared in major venues including the
Sydney Opera House, Sydney Town Hall, City Recital Hall, and leading cathedrals
throughout Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. He was Musical Director for the
Australian premiere of Jekyll & Hyde on the Gold Coast and has served as Director of Music
at both The Southport School and The King's School, Parramatta. He currently examines for
the Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) in Queensland, continuing his
longstanding commitment to excellence in music education.

Semi-Finals Adjudictor

Grand Final Adjudicator

Andrew Dunlop is a versatile musician who has performed across the UK, Spain, France, Ireland, Switzerland, USA, Japan, Germany, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. He is currently the Head of Music Staff & Principal Pianist for the Australian Ballet, having formerly served as the Head of Music for Northern Ballet, a Principal Lecturer of Piano at Leeds Conservatoire, and as an ABRSM examiner. As an orchestral pianist he has work with orchestras such as the BBC Philharmonic, Hallé, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Manchester Camerata and the Liverpool Philharmonic performing as a soloist with orchestra including Opera Australia Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony, the Queensland Symphony, Orchestra Victoria and the Northern Chamber Orchestra.

Andrew received his Doctorate from the Eastman School of Music in New York as a Fulbright Scholar graduating 1st in his class having previously studied on Full Scholarship at the RNCM in Manchester (UK), where he won all the major piano/chamber music awards.  From 2011-2012, Andrew was the John Wilson Junior Fellow in Collaborative Piano at the RNCM and was also a Samling Scholar and Concordia Artist. During his student career, he was awarded scholarships from numerous organisations including Fulbright, Eastman, RNCM, Countess of Munster Musical Trust, Craxton Memorial Trust, Musicians’ Benevolent Fund (MBF), Sir James Caird Travelling Scholarship Trust and the Doris Strake Prize from the Worshipful Company of Musicians.

Andrew also enjoys working in the field of Traditional Music and reached the finals of the BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year. He has represented Scotland twice at the Pan Celtic Festival in Ireland where he won First Prize in the New Song and International New Song Competition and Second Prize in the International Harp Competition. More recently, Andrew has regularly served as an adjudicator for the Royal National Mòd in both Scotland and Canada. He has published many compositions/arrangements with ABRSM including Pop Performer and Core Classics and also released a book of arrangements entitled Scottish Piano Vol. I. His CD, Dithis, with his sister Joy Dunlop was released in 2020 to critical acclaim.  

In 2024 he was awarded an MBA with distinction and was made an Associate of the RNCM, for his contribution to the music industry. Andrew was born and raised in the Highlands of Scotland and has called Australia home since 2023.