The Board

Chair: Max Holzner

BMus (hons), MAICD, MMTA

Governance Committee (Chair) / Management Committee / Benevolent Fund Committee / Accreditation Committee

Maximilian Holzner is a non-executive director (Chair) of the MTA with an extensive background in corporate governance, especially in the NFP space, and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD). His musical background is as a violinist and educator, having studied violin with Josette Esquedin-Morgan and Barbara Jane Gilby, and is an alumnus of the University of Cambridge and the ANU.

Over the years, Max has collaborated with many of Australia’s leading performers and professional orchestras, with chamber groups and in festivals across Australia and the UK, where he was assistant to the late Christopher Hogwood, Academy of Ancient Music.

Max is deeply passionate about teaching and standards of music education and access. He has held positions at Radford College, Canberra, and in the pre-tertiary program at the ANU. He has also tutored undergraduates in music at the ANU and at Churchill College, Cambridge.

For the last decade, since making Sydney his home, Max has also sought engagement through broader community and business to lift the profile of music and raise awareness of teaching standards, particularly in Western Sydney, and to provide quality music teaching programs in rural and remote schools and communities.

Apart from serving on the Board of the MTA, Max is Chair of Sydney Eisteddfod, and also Chair and founding member of the NFP, West Phil, which is aimed at bringing students and top professional performers together while raising the profile of music in the region. He is also CEO of Gradus Software, a provider of close-curriculum online support for Australian music teachers, and which is supported by NSW Treasury. He remains concerned with issues of corporate governance, particularly in the NFP space.

Deputy Chair: Anthony van den Broek

B.Mus, L.Mus (Piano), A.Mus (Piano), A.Mus.A (Harmony and Counterpoint), LRSM, Dip.ABRSM

Governance Committee (Chair) / Management Committee / Benevolent Fund Committee / Accreditation Committee

Anthony began studying the organ and piano at the age of five and majored in piano and harpsichord performance practice at the University of NSW, in Sydney. He studied piano with concert pianist Julie Adam and continues to take lessons with John Bloomfield and Dr Therese Milanovic.

Anthony is an experienced examiner, pianist, harpsichordist and teacher and is in demand as a soloist and collaborative pianist. As well as adjudicating and lecturing in Australia and internationally, Anthony teaches all ages and levels in his studio in Sydney and gives lectures and masterclasses on performance practices of the Baroque and Classical repertoire and piano pedagogy. He is a sought after mentor for concert classical and jazz pianists as well as several piano teachers and is a Certified Instructor the Taubman Approach for Piano (Golandsky Institute, USA).

Non-Member Director: Tracy Harber

A.Mus.A, B.Acc, M.A. (International Studies), D.A.L.F., GAICD

Tracy has been at Google for over 11 years, working in a sales, marketing & tech consulting capacity with Google’s largest advertisers in Australia, specialising in the travel and fintech industries.

Prior to Google, Tracy worked in a marketing agency managing the account management team as Director of Client Services.

She is a non-executive board director on St Anthony’s Family Care and Music Teacher’s Association, and also volunteers with ADHD Australia and Wesley Mission. Tracy is a formal mentor to three others, and a mum to four children.

Director: Meryl Jackson-Kew OAM

BMus.BEd, AMusA, ATCL, MMTA

Illawarra Branch President / Accreditation Committee

Meryl is a professional music educator, conductor of choirs and orchestras, composer, music therapist and music examiner. She also holds a Certificate III in Media and Live Entertainment, a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, and a Yamaha Teaching Certificate.

Meryl has been the Music Director of the Illawarra Choral Society since 2008, and Music Director of many music theatre productions.

Meryl has over 40 years experience teaching early childhood music, secondary music and in tertiary music education, as well as her private studio teaching. Since 1994, Meryl has organised and co-ordinated HSC Music workshops, publishing study/skill booklets and CDs for all Music 1 and Music 2 students attending the workshops.

From her many years in senior music education, Meryl noticed a lack of resource material based on topics for senior music students. Hence, as a co-author with Aleksandar Vujic, she has recently released her 8th published textbook, through Wirripang Publications. Recognition for Meryl’s work in education has resulted in her being awarded with two awards for Excellence in Teaching, a production team award From The National Trust for the musical Quarry (Music Direction and Orchestration), and an Order of Australia Medal in the 2016 Queens Birthday Honours.

Non-Member Director: Rachael Zavodnyik

LLM, Grad. Dip. Law (International), Grad. Dip. Legal Prac., LLB (Hons)

Rachael is Assoc. Vice President and Assistant General Counsel - Head of Legal APAC – at Infosys.

She is an accomplished executive who brings extensive governance and legal knowledge experience, along with a life-long passion for music and music education, to the MTANSW.