Join two of Australia’s most compelling young artists, clarinettist Oliver Shermacher and pianist Vatche Jambazian and for a vibrant and intimate duo recital featuring two striking new works by Australian composers, alongside classics from the clarinet and piano repertoire. This program showcases the duo’s unique chemistry, playful spirit, and deep musicality in an evening of stark contrasts and rich sound worlds.

About Oliver Shermacher
Oliver Shermacher is a multi-award winning clarinettist known for his virtuosic, unique and eccentric performances. Oliver won the 2022 Aeolus International Wind Competition and received the Audience Award, and now lives between Australia and Germany performing as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral clarinettist. Oliver completed his Bachelor of Music at the Sydney Conservatorium with Francesco Celata and his Masters at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg with Kilian Herold and Anton Hollich.

Oliver won the 2018 Freedman Fellowship and was an ABC Young Performers Award Finalist, where he also received the Audience Award. He has performed as a soloist with the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Apex Ensemble, Vogtland Philharmonie, Neue Lausitzer Philharmonie and was Artist in Residence with the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra, with whom he premiered the Alice Chance Clarinet Concerto. As a chamber musician he performs regularly at festivals, such as Nicolas Altstaedt's Lockenhaus Festival in summer 2024, as well as the Schleswig Holstein, Kissinger, Rheingau and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festivals. He has played as Principal Clarinet with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Stuttgart Kammerorchester, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Opera Australia Orchestra, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and the Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra as well as principal bass clarinet with the SWR Symphony Orchestra and Australian World Orchestra. Oliver has been a member of the Freiburg Philharmonisches Orchester on bass clarinet since the 2024/2025 season.

Oliver has commissioned many composers to write pieces for clarinet that combine theater, electronics, dance and movement, and has created many solo performances that combine these elements into immersive theatrical installations. He also works closely with the Australian Youth Orchestra to develop creative education projects, with a particular focus on students with disabilities. He plays klezmer and jazz as well as historical clarinets and in his spare time he enjoys cooking, reading and listening to Cat Stevens and Leonard Cohen. 

About Vatche Jambazian
Sydney-born pianist Vatche Jambazian completed his Master of Music at The Juilliard School following studies at the Sydney Conservatorium. Following his international debut in Armenia, Vatche has since performed extensively throughout Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.

 Vatche was awarded the Fine Music Station (2MBS) Young Performer of the Year (NSW) , was a finalist in the ABC Young Performer of the Year and a prizewinner at the Los Angeles International Piano Competition.

Concert engagements have seen him perform at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, City Recital Hall, Hobart Town Hall, The Foundling Museum, Zipper Hall, and Lincoln Centre where he gave the New York premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s Light and Matter Piano Trio through the Rolex Arts Initiative.

Vatche has been featured on ABC Classic FM, Fine Music Station 2MBS, WQXR Radio (NYC), and has performed with baritone David Greco, soprano Eleanor Lyons, and the Orava Quartet.

During the pandemic Vatche has maintained an active performance schedule featuring in the Digital Season at the Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Digital Concert Hall, The Australian Festival of Chamber Music and Phoenix Central Park and additionally holds the position of Guest Artist and Professor at The Piano Institute (Surabaya, Indonesia). 

Vatche was recently appointed Principal Pianist for Omega Ensemble and currently holds the position of Academic lecturer at the Australian Institute of Music.