Merism Duo
Merism Duo was co-founded by saxophonists Michellina Chan and Mary Osborn. The duo was conceptualized in 2017 at the 5th Jean-Marie Londeix International Saxophone Competition in Thailand. Both Michellina and Mary finished their BMus in Australia, at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music – University of Melbourne and Sydney Conservatorium of Music – University of Sydney respectively, before moving to France to further their studies. What they have in common is their dedication to working with composers in their region to create new works for the saxophone. Combining their strengths, they will be premiering pieces from Singaporean composers Jay Ong and Jinjun Lee, as well as Australian composer Kezia Yap at the World Saxophone Congress in Zagreb, Croatia. Michellina is currently pursuing her Master of Music degree at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Arno Bornkamp and Mary is studying at the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Versailles with Vincent David.
Michellina Chan
Michellina Chan (b. 1992, Singapore) is a saxophonist active in both Singapore and Australia. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music (Performance) with First Class Honours from the University of Melbourne, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (MCM) and the Diplôme d’Etudes Musicales (DEM) from the Conservatoire de Bordeaux Jacques Thibaud, Bordeaux, France under the tutelage of Marie-Bernadette Charrier. Currently, she is pursuing her Master of Music at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Arno Bornkamp. She has received several accolades for her musical endeavours, including the First Prize of the Hugo Stockigt Award (Open Unaccompanied Solo) at the CLASAX Performance Competition 2015 and the coveted First Prize of the MCM Chamber Music Competition 2014 as the soprano saxophonist of her quartet, 2.0 Saxophone Quartet. As a passionate chamber musician, she founded one of Singapore’s first professional saxophone chamber group Xin Saxophone Quartet. Their vision is to share their love of all genres of saxophone quartet music and to encourage more local composers to write for this instrumentation. Michellina is very grateful to her family’s never-ceasing support of her musical endeavours.
Mary Osborn
Mary Osborn is a saxophonist from Sydney, Australia who is currently studying with Vincent David in Versailles, France. She dedicates her time to working with composers in creating new works, managing her award-winning saxophone quartet Petrichor Sax, and creating arrangements of a wide variety of works. Mary has premiered over 20 new Australian works for Petrichor Sax, and for solo saxophone including a concerto titled Oil, Steam and Steel by American/Australian composer Adelaide Coles. Petrichor Sax won 1st Prize in the Sydney Eisteddfod Musica Viva Chamber Music Award in 2014, and became the first saxophone quartet to ever win the competition. Mary has received success in many national and international competitions: in 2016 she won 4th Prize at the Andorra Sax Fest Saxophone Soloist Competition; in 2015 she won 3rd Prize at the Gisborne International Music Competition; and in 2014 she won 1st Prize in the Sydney Eisteddfod McDonalds Saxophone Competition. She was also awarded 3rd Prize at the Singapore Woodwind Festival Saxophone Competition. Mary has arranged many works for saxophone including works by Brahms, Schumann, Shostakovich, and Ravel. Her arrangement of the Tallahatchie Concerto by Jacob Ter Veldhuis was published in 2016.