Music with Robert and Juliet
DR ROBERT FAULKNER AND MRS JULIET FAULKNER
About Us
We are instrumental and vocal music teachers, music educators, music researchers and writers, choir directors, accompanists, music consultants and community musicians who live in Västra Torup in Skåne. We have taught and performed around the globe in the most amazing range of settings: from universities and music conservatories to kindergarten and primary schools; from rural music schools to inner city high schools; from age care facilities to correctional facilities and prisons; from private teaching at home to performing at world-leading concert venues. As highly skilled musicians and teachers, we have worked with expert musicians and with people who claim they can’t sing or aren’t musical, with infants, teenagers, university students and adults. Our reputation for commitment, communication, passion and empathy is matched by testimonies of the transformational engagement with music that we facilitate. We can teach at our home in Västra Torup, travel to you, or use digital platforms to provide music teaching across a wide range of instruments and music, catering for all ages and abilities from beginners to experts. We also provide professional development and consultancy for music educators, kindergarten teachers and for those working in other education and community settings. I, Robert, have even used music for team building and growing creativity and empathy in business settings within a variety of corporate environments. We are fluent Icelandic and English speakers and will initially need to teach in English using as much Swedish as we can. But as our Swedish improves - yes, we are taking lessons - we will be able to communicate much more in Swedish. In any event, we can communicate effectively across languages through the most wonderful communicative medium there is - music!
Piano
Whether you are a beginner or an advanced pianist, young child, teenager or adult, I, Juliet, can meet your piano learning needs. I have taught students of all levels and of all ages. Some advanced piano students have gone on to study at university levels and taken part in piano festivals and competitions, including international competitions. I have an outstanding record in preparing students for formal music examinations (ABRSM/Trinity) right up to Diploma levels, university entry and for public performance. I am equally able to work on the reading and playing of chords, songs and piano accompaniment if those are the skills you are interested in developing. The careful matching of repertoire to student’s prior experience, interests and future goals is key to developing the fluency, technique and expression that makes playing the piano such fun and so rewarding.
Please contact us to discuss ideas and needs (in person or via Zoom), availability and fees at julietochrobertmusik@gmail.com
Violin and Viola
Although I, Juliet, primarily am a pianist and accompanist, I also studied viola at the Royal Academy in London. Throughout my career, I have continued to teach viola and violin to beginner and intermediate students. Some of those students have gone on to enjoy professional careers in leading orchestras. Whether playing Nordic folk tunes, unaccompanied Bach or classical and romantic repertoire, I provide an excellent foundation in string playing - not to mention my ability to accompany and coach string players at much more advanced levels.
Please contact us to discuss ideas and needs (in person or via Zoom), availability and fees at julietochrobertmusik@gmail.com
Accompaniment and Coaching
I, Juliet, have extensive experience as a professional accompanist and as a vocal and instrumental coach. I was the winner of accompaniment prizes at the Royal Academy in London and studied as an opera repetiteur with the Head of Music at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. I went on to work as a professional accompanist at the Royal Academy before moving to Iceland. I have accompanied choirs, singers and instrumentalists in the UK, Iceland and Australia, including leading, internationally renowned Icelandic singers, with Western Australian Opera, the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and the University of Western Australia. I have been the official accompanist for Methodist Ladies’ College in Perth, Western Australia for the past ten years, accompanying and coaching a huge array of instrumentalists, singers and choirs from beginners to diploma level students. I am available to accompany for examinations, recitals and festivals by arrangement. I am also able to accompany and coach choirs having regularly accompanied community choirs, church choirs, children’s choirs and high-performance level choirs - even at the World Choir Games. I can provide custom-made recordings of accompaniments at any level for on-going practice or just for fun!
Please contact us to discuss ideas and needs (in person or via Zoom), availability and fees at julietochrobertmusik@gmail.com
Church Music
Whilst I, Juliet, no longer play the pedals of large church organs, I have been church organist and directed church choirs in the English (Anglican), Icelandic (Lutheran) and Australian (Anglican) traditions over many years. I am familiar with a wide range of liturgies and church music styles. You may recognise this church from the movie - Eurovision Song Contest - The Story of Fire Saga. I was organist here for five years. Robert and I have directed a wide range of church choirs and music groups in repertoire from contemporary worship songs to major sacred works.
Please contact us to discuss ideas and needs (in person or via Zoom), availability and fees at julietochrobertmusik@gmail.com
Music Theory and Aural
We have both taught Music Theory, Aural, and Music Appreciation and History at all levels from beginners to university levels. We can offer individual lessons in any of these areas and tailor those sessions to specific student needs, interests and aspirations.
Please contact us to discuss ideas and needs (in person or via Zoom), availability and fees at julietochrobertmusik@gmail.com
Singing
If singing is your thing I, Robert, am a qualified singing teacher with extensive experience teaching individuals, small vocal ensembles and choirs. Having studied singing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and at the Royal Academy of Music in London, my own vocal performances focussed on classical music, song, lied, oratorio and opera. Many of my students have gone on to study voice at higher levels (University of Melbourne, West Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Universität Mozarteum Salzburg, Royal Northern College of Music) and a couple are on the verge of professional careers. At the other end of the spectrum, I have worked with adults who lack the confidence and skills to sing at all. My popular So you think you can’t sing? workshops attracted large numbers
through adult education programmes in Australia. I can engage with a wide range of vocal styles focusing on healthy vocal technique and good vocal production. Singing lessons are available to individuals at any level of ability. Whilst I am also a pianist, Juliet is available for accompaniment in singing lessons, depending on song choices. I have conducted a wide range of opera and music theatre productions including Carmen, Semele, Così fan tutte, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Oliver!, The Wizard of Oz, Kardemommubærinn and Dýrin í Hálsaskógi - Icelandic productions of the famous Thorbjørn Egner’s classics.
Please contact us to discuss ideas and needs (in person or via Zoom), availability and fees at julietochrobertmusik@gmail.com
I, Robert, can provide clarinet lessons for beginners to intermediate levels. I played the clarinet for many years and taught it in the community music school system in Iceland for nearly two decades.
Please contact us to discuss ideas and needs (in person or via Zoom), availability and fees at julietochrobertmusik@gmail.com
Clarinet
Choral Conductor
Since my late teens, I, Robert, have conducted a wide range of choirs and vocal ensembles. From children’s choirs to large male voice choirs in Iceland, to community and ’pop-up’ choirs, not to mention award winning girls and young women’s choirs in Australia, I have extensive experience from informal social singing groups to high level choral performance. I have been the director of choirs on international tours (England, Finland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Latvia, Slovenia and Australia) and at national and international festivals and venues including the World Choir Games (Latvia - Silver Medals). Musikverein Vienna, MuTh Vienna, Leonardo da Vinci International Choral
Festival Florence (Silver Diplomas) and in the cathedrals of Salzburg, Assisi, Riga and St Mark’s Venice. I have commissioned new works and arrangements for choirs I have directed, including works by internationally renowned composers, Ross Edwards (Wabiny - SSSAAA/flute) and Ēriks Ešenvalds (Long Road - SSSAAA). I have extensive experience as a choral and vocal clinician working with children and adults of all ages and abilities. Whilst in Australia I held a series of popular community workshops entitled So you think you can’t sing? at the University of Western Australia where I was Associate Professor.
Please contact us to discuss ideas and needs (in person or via Zoom), availability and fees at julietochrobertmusik@gmail.com
Orchestra Conductor
For the past decade I, Robert, have been principal conductor of the Methodist Ladies’ College Symphony Orchestra, one of Australia’s leading school symphony orchestras. Its repertoire in recent years has included works by Mozart, Beethoven, Sibelius, Handel, Haydn, Bizet, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Mascagni, Puccini, Verdi, Lalo, Mendelsohn, Boulanger, Copland and Shostakovich along with Australian composers such as Grandage, Ledger, Grainger, Kats-Chernin and Sculthorpe. The orchestra was the festival orchestra for the inaugural Leonardo da Vinci International Choral Festival performing at the Teatro
Verdi opera house in Florence under American conductor Tim Sharp in 2017. I have conducted the orchestra in concerts in Western Australia and at venues in Italy, Slovenia, Switzerland and Austria, including the Archbishop’s Palace in Salzburg and Duomo di San Rufino in Assisi. Previously, I have been director of various instrumental ensembles including wind/concert bands and string ensembles. I am available to coach and/or direct small and large ensembles. I can provide tailor-made workshops for school or community ensembles.
Please contact us to discuss ideas and needs (in person or via Zoom), availability and fees at julietochrobertmusik@gmail.com
Music Education Consultancy and Professional Development
I, Robert, have been involved with professional development for music educators, early childhood, primary and secondary school educators for over three decades. I have led programmes and summer courses and given workshops and papers on Music Education and Music in the Community across the globe, from Denmark, Sweden and Iceland to the UK, from Australia and New Zealand to the USA and Canada. I have supervised countless music teacher practicum placements in schools at every level in the UK, Iceland and Australia and have been the Co-ordinator and principal lecturer for undergraduate and postgraduate music education courses. I have held presentations and workshops for specialist music teachers and music practitioners, for primary and kindergarten teachers in both Music and the Arts more generally. I have supervised students at Honours, Masters and Doctoral levels. With this experience and with my research accomplishments outlined in Publications and Research, I have a demonstrated ability to guide, support and mentor individuals based on their own, or their organisational needs. I am offering mentorship to professionals, researchers and higher degree students, who may be seeking this expertise for their own career, study or research trajectory.
From one-off music making workshops for Early Childhood Educators (I was Associate Professor of Music and Early Childhood Education at the University of Western Australia) to developing longer-term institutional or individual development and training programmes, and the development of music and arts curriculum including the writing of national music curriculum (Iceland), I am renowned for my inspirational and transformational approach to engagement with music participation in educational and community settings. A particular passion as a consultant has been enabling general kindergarten and primary educators, and carers at / in residential care homes to realise their own musicality and apply it in their work with infants, children and care homes residents / elderly residents.
Please contact us to discuss ideas and needs (in person or via Zoom), availability and fees at julietochrobertmusik@gmail.com
Early Childhood Music - Workshop Sessions with Children, Carers and Parents - Professional Development with Educators
I provide one off workshops for kindergarten staff development, for sessions with staff and students, or for sessions for parents and carers. These can range from short one-hour practical sessions to longer term programmes, depending on the needs and resources of the local community. The courses encourage educators and carers to understand the role that music plays in the early years and its links to a wide range of developmental domains. They aim to increase the confidence, skills and “artfulness” of educators and carers to engage in a range of musical activities in centres and in the home, by sharing ideas and resources.
Additionally, I offer mentoring for Early Childhood Educators, teachers and leaders.
Please contact us to discuss ideas and needs (in person or via Zoom), availability and fees at julietochrobertmusik@gmail.com
Mindful that music has the potential to make such an extraordinary impact on the wholistic development of very young people, I, Robert, have spent a great deal of my career working in Early Childhood settings myself, as a consultant with kindergartens in Iceland and Australia, as coordinator and Course Designer of the first Master of Teacher (Early Childhood) at the University of Western Australia. Right up until 2021, I provided music sessions on a weekly basis in an Early Learning Centre, developing multi-media resources and implementing programmes to support early childhood educators, parents and carers there.
Publications and Research
Music in Our Lives sums up our major life purpose and achievements. It is also the title of a publication written by me, Robert, with two of the world’s leading Music Education researchers - Professor Gary McPherson and Professor Jane Davidson. The book, Music in Our Lives: Rethinking Musical Ability, Development and Identity (2012), is a seminal account of musical development based upon a 14-year research project amongst young people in Australia and published by Oxford University Press. It can be found on the book lists of university courses around the world.
I have made other significant contributions to music research and education literature published by leading international journals and publishers. They include work on musical prodigies, music and well-being, singing, and music and gender.
I am the sole author of Icelandic Men and Me: Sagas of Singing, Self and Everyday Life (2013), published by Routledge in their acclaimed SOAS Ethnomusicology Series. In addition, I have contributed chapters to the following edited volumes by leading international publishers:
Musical Prodigies (2016) Oxford University Press (ed. Gary McPherson)
Men and Singing (2012) Springer Press (eds. Scott Harrison and Graeme Welch)
Learning, Teaching and Musical Identity (2011). Indiana University Press (ed. Lucy Green)
Music in Our Lives - Gary E. McPherson, Jane W. Davidson, Robert Faulkner - Oxford University Press
I have taken part in a wide range of research projects and have been the joint recipient of prestigious Australian Research Council Grants and several other research grants for studies into musical development, music education, music and gender, music in the community (including diaspora groups, age care and music and wellbeing). Outside of music, I have worked on research projects on leadership in small rural schools and on mobile technologies in schools.
I provide mentorship to those undertaking their own research projects and in the preparation of publications.
Please contact us to discuss ideas and needs (in person or via Zoom), availability and fees, or for a full research and publications profile at julietochrobertmusik@gmail.com
Profiler
Our skills as musicians and music educators have taken us around the globe and we now find ourselves in the lovely village of Västra Torup in Skåne. Our love for Sweden dates to the early days of our partnership as students at the Royal Academy of Music in London where we made friends with Swedish musicians. We spent summer holidays all over Sweden and made work visits to both Arvika and Stockholm, collaborated with the Zimbabwean marimba and African drumming community in Malmö and Lund - especially our dear friend, the late and great Peta Axelsson. More recently, we have spent Christmases with our son, who runs a centre for Icelandic Horses in Skåne.
Apart from spending lots of time together working as musicians in England, Iceland and Australia, I, Robert, have also given workshops, papers, guest lectures and professional development in Sweden, Denmark, New Zealand, USA and Canada. I am the author of significant international publications in music education and musicology and have held appointments at The University of Western Australia (Associate Professor), Listaháskóli Íslands and Háskólinn á Akureyri. Whilst my primary performance expertise is in conducting (choral and orchestral) and singing, I also play the clarinet and piano. I studied at the Guildhall School of Music in London and I am a graduate of The Royal Academy of Music in London, The University of Reading and The University of Sheffield (MA in Music Psychology and PhD in Music).
In 2023, I was invited to accept a position as Honorary Principal Fellow at the University of Melbourne, one of the world's leading universities. I am working from home in Västra Torup on exciting work about singing and everyday life with dear friend and collaborator Professor Jane Davidson from the University of Melbourne.
I, Juliet, was employed as a piano accompanist, repetiteur and coach at the Royal Academy of Music in London, of which I am a graduate myself. At the Academy, I was a joint-first study pianist and viola player and specialised in piano accompaniment and opera repetiteur. As a teenager, I was also a Junior Exhibitioner at the Royal Academy. I have worked at the University of Western Australia, the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Western Australian Opera, as well as a freelance accompanist, coach and teacher in the UK, Iceland and Australia. I teach piano, viola and violin and have worked with children with special educational needs and with children of exceptional musical ability.
For the past ten years we have worked together at Methodist Ladies’ College in Perth, Australia where I, Robert, have led a team of over 40 instrumental, vocal and classroom music teachers as Director of Music at one of Australia’s leading school music departments. The school enjoys a prestigious international reputation for excellence in music performance with its award-winning Symphony Orchestra, Jazz Orchestra and choirs, a world music curriculum (Balinese gamelan, West African drumming, Chinese guzheng), chamber music programme and an inclusive music programme for children from the age of six months to 18 years. Some of those ensembles have performed at leading international festivals and venues (Montreux Jazz Festival, World Choir Games, Musikverein Vienna, St. Marks Duomo Venice and Archbishop’s Palace Salzburg).
We have worked extensively together throughout our careers - typically with me, Robert, as the conductor of choirs (Male Voice Choirs, Children’s Choirs, Youth Choirs, Church and Community Choirs) and of Music Theatre and opera productions, and with Juliet as accompanist and coach. We have performed at leading European music venues and festivals, and in Australia. Between us we can teach piano and voice from beginners to diploma levels, viola, violin and clarinet from beginners to intermediate levels, music theory and aural. We are also able to support a wide range of community music making from church music and ’pop-up’ choirs to music in kindergarten.
We are delighted to have relocated to Västra Torup in Skåne where we hope to offer some of our skills to the local community. We have already started working together with a newly founded "Choir for Everyone" in the village of Västra Torup and with a male voice choir from Ängelholm. We also have some private voice and piano students.
So, whether you are looking for a piano or singing teacher, musicians to lead community choirs or professional development, mentorship for music educators, kindergarten teachers, schoolteachers and leaders, or researchers, please contact us to discuss how we might be able to meet your needs.
Contact Us
To check fees, book lessons or discuss ideas, projects and our availability, please send us an e-mail and we will get back to you immediately.