Kevin Cameron

Kevin Cameron is an acclaimed Australian conductor and music educator. He is Principal Conductor of the Band of the South Australia Police and is in demand as an adjudicator and guest conductor throughout Australia.

He received his initial musical training at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and has studied music in London, Perth, the United States, and finally Newcastle, where he was the first recipient of the award of Doctor of Philosophy in Music at the University of Newcastle.

Dr Cameron has studied conducting with the eminent American composer/conductor Edward Applebaum, the Italian maestro Gian Luigi Gelmetti, and the world-renowned conducting teacher Gustav Meier. Dr Cameron has appeared with the Sydney, Tasmanian, West Australian, and Darwin Symphony Orchestras, the State Orchestra of Victoria, the Auckland Philharmonia, the National Orchestra of Ukraine, and many youth and community orchestras across Australia. In 1994, he was the inaugural winner of the ABC’s Young Conductor of the Year competition, and has subsequently held numerous musical posts, including Assistant Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, ABC Conductor in Residence, and Music Director positions at Murdoch University, Newcastle University Choir, and the University of Newcastle Symphony Orchestra. During his time in Newcastle, Dr Cameron served as the founding Artistic Director of the Upper Hunter Conservatorium of Music.

As an educator, Dr Cameron has held teaching posts in a variety of primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions. He has recently concluded his term as Director of Music at Pembroke School, where he also served as Music Director of the Pembroke Chamber Singers and the Pembroke Symphony Orchestra. In January, 2008, Dr Cameron lead the Pembroke Symphony Orchestra’s tour to the United States where the orchestra performed to great acclaim at the Lincoln Centre in New York City and the Kennedy Centre in Washington D.C. He continues to pursue active research and performing interests, and currently serves as President of the South Australian Band Association and South Australian Convenor of Orchestras Australia.

Dr Cameron has received acknowledgement for his work in community music and music education. In 1998, he was named the City of Newcastle’s Young Citizen of the Year in recognition of his contribution to the artistic and cultural life of the Hunter region. In South Australia, he was named the SA Band Association’s Music Director of the Year in 2003, and in 2006 was the recipient of the prestigious SABA Award of Merit. More recently, he was selected by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to participate in the Australian-Malaysia Institute’s Young Leaders Exchange Program from a national field of nominees.

Dr Cameron has maintained a passion for music and education, and continues to assist the development of musicians through his involvement in professional and community music ensembles as a conductor, coach, adjudicator, advisor, artistic administrator, and teacher.