About

Early in her career Deborah competed locally and internationally in London and Munich, winning numerous prizes, scholarships and awards, including national and Commonwealth ABC instrumental competitions in 1983. For over 30 years she has performed as a chamber musician most notably with her mother Lauris Elms, soprano Rita Hunter, pianists Geoffrey Parsons, John Winther and Len Vorster. As a concerto soloist she performed with Richard Bonynge and Paul Dyer Brandenburg. She also worked overseas with the Fine Arts Orchestra at St Martin in the Fields and in Vietnam. She regularly broadcasts for the ABC, has recorded over sixteen CDs, and collaborates in chamber recitals, often premiering especially written Australian compositions. Teaching at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Tertiary, High School and Open Academy, she is a Research Affiliate also teaching Clarinet at UNSW and her private Sydney Town Hall studio. Awarded her PhD UNSW 2014 (Practice Strategies of Elite Instrumental Musicians) she received a USYD Large Innovative Grant (2015) applying her PhD Model of Elite Practice (MEP) towards music student motivation at the Conservatorium. Her 2016 publications include a Pitch Error Coding Protocol paper, co-authored with Emery Schubert, published in Music Perception (December 2016 issue). Her new CD titled Rags Bags and Tangos was available on her website from early 2018 and available to order in hard copy. Deborah is currently working on an on-line video and PDF clarinet ‘book’ designed for teachers of clarinet and advanced students wishing to gain the most out of their practice.