Australia Day Honours For Musicians

Congratulations to two outstanding Australian musicians have been recognised in the Australia Day Honours for 2016!

Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra since 2001, Dr Nicholas Milton, has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to the arts, particularly to classical orchestral music performance, as a musician, conductor and artistic director.

London-based Classical Brit Award winning saxophonist Amy Dickson has been awarded the UK Young Australian Achiever of the Year Award for 2016.

In addition to his appointment with the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra, Dr Milton was appointed General Music Director and Chief Conductor of the State Opera House of Saarbrücken, Germany in 2014. In December 2015, Dr Milton was nominated for a Grammy for his direction of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken.His career also includes concert engagements with leading orchestras in Europe and Asia. In December 2015, Dr Milton was nominated for a Grammy for his direction of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken.

Dr Milton was Concertmaster of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the youngest ever to be appointed to that position with a major state orchestra. He was also violinist with the Macquarie Trio for eight years. Dr Milton is a graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and at the Juilliard School. He also holds four Master’s degrees and a Doctorate in Music from the City University of New York.

Saxophonist Amy Dickson has been twice nominated for a Grammy Award and was also named 2013 Mastercard Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the Classical Brit Awards. In 2004 she won the ABC Symphony Australia Young performer of the Year Award, after which, aged 19 she moved to London where she has since performed at major classical music venues including the Wigmore Hall and the Royal Albert Hall. She has several recordings to her name and returns to Sydney in July 2016 to perform with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House, premiering Ross Edwards’ double concerto Frog and Star Cycle.

Presented by the Australia Day Foundation in London, the UK Young Australian Achiever of the Year Award honours those who have shared the Australian spirit in the United Kingdom.