Brachi Tilles, piano

When it comes to musical journeys, pianist Brachi Tilles and violinist Spiros Rantos have had one of the sweetest. It was at a train station in Vienna, the city of music, where Greek-born Spiros Rantos and Israeli-born Brachi Tilles first met and started their musical partnership. Brachi is a graduate of Tel-Aviv University, but she continued her studies in Italy and the USA.

Brachi performed and recorded in most of the musical centres of the world including two years of successful seasons, together with Spiros Rantos, at the Musicverein and the Vienna Concert Hall. In 1976 Brachi visited Australia for a six-month Artists-in-Residence program at the (then) Victorian College of the Arts and so enjoyed her time that she decided to stay here with her partner Spiros! From 1978 to 1985 she taught at the University of Southern Queensland. She then spent a decade in Melbourne before settling in Brisbane where Spiros was a senior lecturer at the University of Queensland.

It is a great privilege that Brachi has agreed to be available for this competition as the official accompanist.