Pierce hurne - president
Pierce Hurne is an established freelance musician and educator in southeast Queensland. Born and raised on the Gold Coast, Pierce moved to Brisbane to complete a Bachelor of Music with honours in 2014 under the tutelage of Dr. Diana Tolmie.
Pierce has been privileged with several opportunities including his employment as a sessional tutor of saxophone at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music alongside work as a woodwind specialist at Iona College, Padua College, San Sisto College and Emmanuel College.
As an active freelance performer in Brisbane, Pierce is a saxophonist with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and performs in numerous professional and pro-amateur productions in the region.
Sophie Christensen - vice-PRESIDENT
Emily gould - SECRETARY
Emily Gould is a professional clarinettist from England, who graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester in 1995 with an honours degree and a Professional Performance Diploma.
Since her graduation she continued to be a member of a professional chamber ensemble – Chinook Clarinet Quartet. She has performed with this group at many of the UK’s leading venues such as The Bridgewater Hall, the Wigmore Hall and the Purcell Room. They represented the UK at the European Clarinet and Saxophone Society Conferences in Hungary and Poland, won several major competitions, and have had numerous works written for them, including a BBC commissioned work subsequently broadcast on Radio 3.
As well as performing, Emily has always enjoyed a variety of educational work, teaching in many primary and secondary schools, coaching ensembles, and adjudicating competitions.
She moved to Australia in 2002, started a family, and has continued to enjoy a career as a musician, performing in local orchestras and teaching in various schools such as ‘Churchie’, Brisbane Boys’ College, Ipswich Girls’ Grammar School and currently teaches at Lourdes Hill College.
Isaac Reed - Treasurer
Isaac Reed is a saxophonist, performer, and educator based in Brisbane. He holds a Bachelor of Music (Honours – Class I, University Medal) from the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, supervised by triple-Grammy-award winner Tim Munro.
Isaac is a recipient of the QCGU Conservatorium Medal, awarded to the highest achieving student in their graduating year.
Isaac’s passion for new music has taken him around the world, including the Darmstadt Summer Festival in Germany, the 19thWorld Saxophone Congress in Spain, and the 36th European University of Saxophone in France.
Isaac is in-demand as a woodwind educator, conductor, and adjudicator.
Emma Di marco - committee member
Selmer Paris Ambassador and D’Addario Woodwinds Artist, Dr Emma Di Marco is an Australian contemporary musician, composer, educator, and entrepreneur. Emma is widely recognised as an outstanding saxophone soloist and champion of Australian music having given performances in ten countries (and counting!) as well as commissioning over 20 new works.
She has toured Australia twice as a soloist and has three studio albums. The most recent release, Shimmer, was selected as a finalist for a 2026 Queensland Music Award.
Emma is a Churchill Fellow and published researcher and has been an invited TEDx Speaker. She is also active as a composer for the saxophone having recently given the world premiere of her work ‘Sagittarius’.
Emma continues to build an active freelance career including performance work, lecturing at the University of Queensland, and running her sheet music publishing house, Di Marco Music.
RYan Taylor - Committee Member
Saxophonist Ryan Taylor - described as “The future of saxophone” (Back Dock Arts) - is an emerging performer and educator from Brisbane (Meanjin).
Ryan is a passionate advocate for new music by local and emerging artists having commissioned and premiered over a dozen new works in the last year.
A sought-after multi-instrumental tutor and educator, he leads a budding studio of woodwind students at a private school north of Brisbane.
Ryan is an avid supporter and performer of chamber music, aiming to make the artistry of unconducted music more accessible to schools and community programs.
+ Christy Dykes