The Australian
National Marimba Festival

Daryl Pratt is Chair of the Percussion Unit at The Sydney Conservatorium of Music since 1991. He also teaches in the Composition and Jazz Units and conducts the Modern Music Ensemble. Pratt’s broad musical background has an emphasis in contemporary ‘classical’ music and jazz. His most recent creative project involves compositions and performances with MATCH Percussion, a duet he founded with his wife Alison Pratt in 2001. Since formation they have embarked on tours in Australia and the USA and released the CD Water Settings (Tall Poppies, 2005). His career includes numerous solo, chamber and orchestral recordings on labels such as ABC, Lovely, Naxos, CRI, Rufus Records, EFA, VoxAustralis, Fleur de Son Classics, and Tall Poppies. His compositions for percussion are featured on the Tall Poppies CD Pratt’s Alchemy. Other compositions include works for chamber ensemble and voice. Pratt was a member of Sonor, directed by Bernard Rands (1977-1984), co-founded Pipeline with Simone deHaan (1987-1995) was a member of The Australia Art Orchestra, director Paul Grabowsky, (1994-2001), AtmaSphere, with David Jones (1991-) and The Chad Wackerman Group (1997-).

In the early 1990s he formed the electric Jazz group Sonic Fiction and released CDs between 1993 and 1997 on Tall Poppies and NAXOS. His orchestral background includes timpanist with The La Jolla Civic Orchestra (1978-1980) and Canberra Symphony Orchestra (1985-1990). He has performed as a percussionist with the San Diego Symphony, Sydney Symphony and Australia Opera and Ballet orchestras. Mr Pratt’s chamber music experience includes performances and recordings with Synergy, The Australia Ensemble and The Australia Chamber Orchestra. Born and raised in Sacramento California, Pratt migrated to Australia in 1985. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from California Institute of the Arts and a Master of Fine Arts from The University of California, San Diego. Mr Pratt has also taught at the University of California, San Diego and The Canberra School of Music.

Perth born and educated Alison Pratt (nee Eddington) (BMUS Performance:WA Conservatorium, Edith Cowan University; Graduate Diploma Performance: Sydney Conservatorium of Music) has been working as a free-lance percussionist since 1990. Following her landmark achievement of being the first percussionist to win the prestigious ABC Young Performer of the Year in 1995 she has been active with Australia’s leading ensembles including The Sydney Symphony, The Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, The Seymour Group and The Song Company. In 1996 Alison won the Arts category in Western Australia for the Young Australian of the Year Award and in 2000 she was awarded a Grant from the Australia Council to study for 6 months at the Royal Music College in Stockholm under Anders Loguin, artistic director of the highly acclaimed Kroumata percussion ensemble.

Alison has also performed and toured in North America, Europe and Asia with Graham Murphy’s Sydney Dance Company since the creation of ‘Free Radicals’ in 1996, a work featuring three percussionists. She has been a member of Australia’s flagship percussion ensemble Synergy since 1997 and is a founding member of the duo Match Percussion with percussionist Daryl Pratt.

Alison has appeared on television for the ABC and has recorded with many ensembles including The Sydney Symphony, The Song Company, Match Percussion and Synergy. In 2002 she was the featured soloist with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in the Australian premier of Michael Torke’s percussion concerto, ‘Rapture’.
In addition to her work as a free-lance percussionist Alison also teaches privately and is on staff at The Sydney Conservatorium of Music.