Jane Hammond

Already an accomplished musician, Jane Hammond developed her critical eye for music composition at Monash University and earned herself rave reviews in the process.

Over the years Jane has worked with many major Australian arts organisations including Opera Australia and plays orchestral keyboard regularly with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

"Music is so many things," Jane says, "it's just a part of my life. It's a relationship. It's a dialogue. It's work. It's joy. It's passion. It's engagement with other people, it's the CD collection, it's the things I write. It means so many things. It's like asking me, what does life mean?

"I do like working with other people and that's why I started creating music for situations where we needed music within a theatrical context.

"I'm very comfortable working with other people and generating things as a group and I enjoy that. I like playing chamber music and I like playing in the orchestra, I get a real buzz out of that," she said.

Jane holds a Master of Arts in Music Composition from Monash and is currently undertaking doctoral research at the school.

The music program at Monash attracts some of the finest professionals in their fields. In addition to advanced musicianship, students are exposed to the historical, creative, technical and cultural aspects of music.

"At Monash the structure of the post graduate degree is of interest to me. The idea of it is that you research through the music composition. You produce a folio of music and then you write a critical commentary of the folio you've produced."

Her operas for children have been performed around Australia, in Asia and Europe, including at the Edinburgh Children's Festival.

In 2007 her work Voicing Emily was performed at a sell-out season at the Malthouse Theatre. The Melbourne Age newspaper described the music-theatre production as a work of "ravishing beauty and rare artistic distinction."

The Monash approach to the performing arts is the same as its approach to other areas of arts and heritage studies: it encourages a rigorous and stimulating approach to studies, an enjoyable educational experience and engagement with the world and contemporary issues.

The School of Music - Conservatorium is located within the Performing Arts Centre, at the Clayton campus of Monash University and includes a 240-seat music auditorium, a 220-seat drama theatre, an Asian orchestra room, an early music room, music technology studios and a suite of practice rooms.

I've changed as a person since I've been at Monash. I've had to learn to be more articulate about my working process and to think in a more structured and analytical way about how I work as a musician and as creative artist.

Find out more about studying at Monash University.