Friends of the APO Inc - Meet The Artist

Three members of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (APO) Connecting team, Tom Hamill, Graham Bell, and Miriam McCombe will be our guests. They will play a programme of music interspersed with observation and reminiscence. Tom has been the Director of APO Connecting since 2017 when he arrived here from England. He graduated from the University of Warwick having studied English Literature with honours. As a musician, he quickly fell into teaching where he spent 9 years teaching Music and Drama specifically in a low decile school in South Bristol. It was at this school where Tom transformed the Music department making music part of the culture of South Bristol, building new orchestras, choirs and other ensembles and opening a regional Saturday Music Centre in association with Bristol Plays Music. For this work, he was awarded the national best Music Department 2016.

Alongside this Tom worked on a variety of governmental projects with arts Community Interest Company Superact and was first published with a training guide on for a qualification that took arts across Europe called Supporting Employability and Personal Effectiveness, he has since contributed to several other study guides in relation to centenary commemorations of the First World War and the Big Ideas Company’s Living Memory project. In this time Tom also ran a national competition to perform of the Olympic Park Bandstand at the end of the Paralympics in London 2012 where an arrangement he completed of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida was performed simultaneously around the country to mark the ending of the Cultural Olympiad in the UK.

Graham Bell is the Projects executive in the team. Originally from Scotland, Graham has had a passion for music from a young age, learning to play guitar and bagpipes. After graduating from Edinburgh Napier University having studied Popular Music, he became a full time musician playing in corporate events, theatre shows and accompanying choirs. He moved to New Zealand over 4 years ago and has been involved in musical theatre shows touring as a pit musician and session player. Alongside music, Graham has worked in education as a teacher in South Auckland; combining both passions of music and education, Graham is hoping to create opportunities and pass on his experience to students through APO’s Inspire programme.

Miriam McCombe is the Education Programmes facilitator for APO Connecting. Miriam moved to Auckland from Bristol (UK). After completing her Music Degree at the University of Sheffield in 2014 Miriam began her career in music education, working as an itinerant singing teacher and conductor across Bristol and Bath. She has worked with a number of organizations including Bristol Plays Music, B&NES Music Hub, Bath Abbey’s Specialist Singing Programme and the Fantasy Orchestra. In her spare time, Miriam enjoys writing her own music.

The morning will conclude with a light lunch.