Examiner 50
ASA TDip, MOAA, MMTA, MASME, MISME, MUMT, MAATA, MASA
Zeljko Bedic OAM commenced piano and violin studies in Croatia, Europe and subsequently continued with his professional music studies in Sydney, Australia on piano, pedagogy and music theory under the baton of Dr Margaret Brandman, and on accordion, with Maestro Dante Simonelli and Mr Ross Lombardo.
Mr Bedic was included on the Australia Day 2019 Honours List and presented with the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for distinguished services to humanity in Australian and global communities and the performing arts, particularly through music.
He is a university academic (successfully prepared students for their Bachelor of Music Degrees and AMEB Performance Diplomas), and a Sydney Conservatorium of Music and Music Teachers’ Association (NSW) accredited professional music teacher in piano, accordion and theory.
Mr Bedic is the founder, and has been the Owner / Director, of Bedic Music Studio, now Paddington Music Studio for over 35 years. He has over 40 years of professional teaching experience and has been an AMEB Examiner for over 30 years. He was awarded his Teacher’s Diploma in 1983 and received his AMEB Examiner 25 Year Service Award Shield in 2016.
He has successfully prepared and trained numerous music teachers to become AMEB examiners and has written, reviewed and edited AMEB syllabi for many years. Most recently, he led and collaborated with other examiners, on a comprehensive and extensive syllabus review / rewrite which was successfully submitted to the AMEB for publishing.
Mr Bedic has delivered solo and duet performances at the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House, at the Sydney Entertainment Centre and at the Sydney Town Hall. He is a former first prize recipient of the ASA NSW state championships and the City of Sydney Eisteddfod. He was also a former recipient of the second and third prizes in the ASA Australasian Championships. Mr Bedic has adjudicated at international, national and state championships, and the City of Sydney and St. George Eisteddfods on many occasions.
His students have won International, Australasian, Australian National and NSW State Solo Championships. One of his students was selected by the NSW Board of Studies to perform at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, HSC ENCORE Concert. Another one of his students has won the prestigious Music Teachers’ Association (MTA) – Margaret Chalmers Memorial Scholarship and received an invitation to perform as a soloist at the MTA’s Centenary Celebration at Parliament House in Sydney in 2012.
He was the Musical Director and Orchestra Leader of the Koleda and Dubrovnik Croatian folkloric ensembles and the Musical Director of the Klapa Koleda a capella ensemble and choir. Mr Bedic recorded an album at the Sydney Opera House in the capacity of Musical Director / Orchestra Leader with the Koleda ensemble and a studio album with the Dante Simonelli Orchestra and Choir at EMI Studios.
Mr Bedic was the Australian National Coordinator, promoter, manager and publicist for two highly successful charity recordings / CDs, ‘Side by Side – Song for Port Arthur’ and ‘Stop the War in Croatia’. Both were highly successfully on the Coca Cola ARIA Charts (10 weeks in the Top 10), with extensive national television, radio and print media coverage, and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity, but more importantly, provided moral support for the victims’ families. At the time, he received letters of commendation and support from the Prime Minister of Australia, The Hon. Mr. John Howard MP and Premier of NSW, The Hon. Mr. Bob Carr MP and numerous prominent senators.