Robert Ampt
Robert Ampt is the Sydney City Organist and Organist/Choirmaster of Sydney's German Lutheran Church. An active recitalist, teacher and composer for the organ, he has written children's introductions to the instrument and an extensive history of the Sydney Town Hall organ.
Robert Ampt has been the Sydney City Organist since his return from Vienna to Australia in 1978, after four years of study with Anton Heiller.
Apart from his work at the Sydney Town Hall, his Australian performances have included the Sydney Opera House, the organ festivals of Adelaide and Melbourne, the arts festivals of Armidale and Goulburn, the Newcastle Cathedral Festival and the Sydney Festival, with many appearances on national ABC radio (including The Improvisation of Chorale Preludes in 1988 and New Sydney Organs in 1989) and on television. International performing has taken him to Europe, Japan, the United States and New Zealand.
A former teacher and lecturer at the Sydney Conservatorium, Sydney University and the University of Wollongong, he is the organist and choirmaster of Sydney's Lutheran Church, a regular lecturer for the WEA Adult Education Centre, and a frequent adjudicator in organ competitions. From 1980 until 1983 he was Artistic Director of the City of Wollongong Pipe Organ Festival, and in September 1988 he directed the first Sydney Organ Academy. He has had prize-winning students in Australian organ-playing competitions.
He has published in national and international organ journals, was founding co-editor of the Adelaide Organ Music Society Newsletter, and has written an extensive history of the Sydney Town Hall organ. He has also composed and arranged for the instrument, including two children's introductions: The Magic Forest and Quest for Organoblast.
In his free time he has restored two old houses, enjoys gardening, and performs regularly on stage with the Brook Community Theatre in the Blue Mountains, where he lives.
Robert Ampt has recorded with the ABC, Michael Woodward and Move Records, including Centenary Plus (MD 3148) on the Sydney Town Hall Grand Organ, and has made three recordings of that instrument.
Robert Ampt is featured on the following titles
Joy to the World
Christmas at the Sydney Town Hall, presented annually by the City of Sydney, began in 1978 when Robert Ampt became the fourth Sydney City Organist. The event has since grown into one of the city’s major Christmas celebrations.
Arranger
Organ at the Opera
One of Move's all-time best sellers. Sydney City organist Robert Ampt and Amy Johansen play popular organ duets on the famous Ronald Sharp organ in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.
Composer
Centenary Plus
Sydney City Organist Robert Ampt plays the restored William Hill and Son Grand Organ at Sydney Town Hall in a programme spanning more than a century of music linked with the instrument, from Handel and Bach to Koehne, Dubois, Best and Ampt.
Composer
Compositions by Robert Ampt also appear on
Great Hall Grandeur
Amy Johansen plays the Rudolf von Beckerath organ in the Great Hall at the University of Sydney. Great Hall Grandeur presents one of Australia’s most beautiful and versatile pipe organs – among Beckerath’s last masterpieces – in the hands of one of the country’s finest concert organists.
Organ Miniatures
A collection of 33 short organ works on the 1882 T.C. Lewis organ at St George’s Uniting Church, East St Kilda. The programme samples music written for small pipe organs and harmoniums, from Baroque chorales to twentieth-century miniatures.
Carillon and Organ
Enjoy the spectacular sound of organ and carillon as never before. Recorded at the University of Sydney, this disc features organist Amy Johansen and master carillonneur Jill Forrest in music drawn from the University's ceremonial life.
Robert Ampt also appears on
Sydney Opera House Concert Hall Grand Organ
Historic recordings from the 1979 inaugural recital series that launched the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall Grand Organ, Ronald Sharp’s vast mechanical-action instrument.