Artists 2022
ACMF – Albury Chamber Music Festival
Sally-Anne Russell – Artistic Director and Mezzo Soprano
Sally-Anne Russell is a multi-award-winning mezzo soprano and has performed on the concert platform and operatic stage in twenty five countries and discography in over 40 CD’s /DVD’s on ABC Classics, CHANDOS, MOVE, Toccata UK, NAXOS and DECCA labels, including her solo aria disc “Enchanting” with The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Her awards include an ARIA for Pergolesi Stabat Mater with Sara Macliver, and nominations for Young Australian of the Year, Young Achiever of the Year, Green Room and Helpmann Awards.
She has over 80 operatic roles in her repertoire and enjoys working with all the major Opera Companies andSymphony Orchestras in Australia. International highlights include The Spoleto Festival in Italy, Washington National Opera (DC) and a ten-year association with Carmel Bach Festival In California.Projects in 2021 Include Hermia in Brittens A Midsummer Nights Dream for Adelaide Festival, Mahler Das Lied von der Erde for Canberra Festival and Handel’s Messiah with Melbourne Symphony. In 2022, Operas include Wagner’s Die Walküre – Melbourne Opera, Handel’s Alcina – National Opera in Canberra, Strauss’s Elektra – Victorian Opera, Dido and Aeneas in Sydney and concerts with Adelaide Baroque, Sydney Philharmonia , Auckland Philharmonic and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras.
Sally-Anne is also co-artistic director for Albury Chamber Music Festival, a member of the Kathaumixw Festival International Artistic Council in Canada and the Belvedere International Singing Competition in Vienna.
Purchase ticketsMario Dobernig – Artistic Director, Conductor & Percussionist
On a quest to make a difference, innovator Mario Dobernig is one of the most inspiring music makers of his generation. Mario is Artistic Director and Conductor in Chief for the Art of Sound Orchestra, the Victoria Chorale and co-artistic director of the Albury Chamber Music Festival.
He has conducted among others the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, Kapfenberger Symphoniker, the Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra’s YMS program, Orchestra Capella Calliope and at prestigious venues in Europe, the Middle East, China and Australia.
Discography includes online releases for ABC Classics and being a featured guest on various radio programs around the globe. He was awarded his PhD in 2014, holds Master degrees in Percussion, Conducting and Musicology as well as Bachelor Degrees in Percussion and Music Education. He has been a guest lecturer at the University of Melbourne and Monash University.
Mario has produced a number of highly successful festivals in multiple cities and countries (Australia, Austria, China, Germany, Italy) and also organizes unique cultural exchange tours for cultural groups between Australia and his other native Austria. Mario enjoys conversations in English, German, French and Italian, and has a keen interest in geopolitics.
Purchase ticketsAndrew Goodwin – Tenor
Andrew Goodwin has appeared with opera companies and orchestras in Europe, Asia and Australia including the Bolshoi Opera, Gran Theatre Liceu Barcelona, Teatro Real Madrid, La Scala Milan, Opera Australia, Pinchgut Opera, Sydney Chamber Opera, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Auckland Philharmonia, New Zealand, Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland, Adelaide and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, Moscow and Melbourne Chamber Orchestras, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, and in recital with pianist Daniel de Borah at Wigmore Hall, the Oxford Lieder, Port Fairy and Canberra International Music Festivals.
Recent engagements include Lysander, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Adelaide Festival); Jacquino, Fidelio (West Australian Opera); Nadir, The Pearlfishers (State Opera South Australia); Diary of one who disappeared and Rape of Lucretia (Sydney Chamber Opera); Artaxerxes title role, Egeo in Cavalli’s Giasone and Florival in Grétry’s L’amant jaloux (Pinchgut Opera); Berlioz L’Enfance du Christ and Mozart Requiem (MSO); Brett Dean’s The Last Days of Socrates and Mozart Litaniae de venerabili altaris sacramento (SSO); Messiah (Sydney Chamber Choir, NZSO, QSO and MSO); Bach Magnificat and The Rake’s Progress title role (Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra); and performances at Adam Chamber Music Festival New Zealand, Huntington Festival, and Australian Festival of Chamber Music. Andrew is also a founding member of the new Australian Vocal Ensemble, AVE.
Purchase ticketsAndrea Lam – Piano
Pronounced a “real talent” by the Wall Street Journal, and based in New York City for two decades, pianist Andrea Lam performs with leading orchestras and conductors in Australasia, Japan, China and the United States. From New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to the Sydney Opera House, she has played for Sydney Festival, Musica Viva’s Huntington Festival (Australia), Orford Festival (Canada), Chelsea Music Festival (USA) with works from Bach, Schumann and Chopin to Aaron Jay Kernis, Lilya Ugay, and Nigel Westlake. Pianist for the acclaimed Fairmont Trio and collaborating with cellist Matt Haimovitz, Melinda Lee Masur, the Australian String Quartet, and violinist Emily Sun (including on their 2021 ARIA-nominated Nocturnes album), Andrea also performs and records extensively as pianist of New York’s Claremont Trio including their most recent release “Queen of Heart” Andrea also records new solo piano works by Matthew Hindson for release later this year.
Andrea’s 2022 season includes soloist engagements with the Sydney, Adelaide and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, regional and national touring for Musica Viva, UKARIA Cultural Centre, Melbourne Recital Centre and Sydney Opera House’s Piano Day 2022 streamed event. Andrea Lam was a Semi-finalist in the 2009 Van Cliburn Competition, Silver Medallist in the 2009 San Antonio Piano Competition, and winner of the ABC’s “Young Performer of the Year” Award in the Keyboard section, and the Yale Woolsey competition. She holds degrees from both the Yale, and the Manhattan Schools of Music. www.andrealam.com
Purchase ticketsYi Wang – Violin
Yi was born in Sichuan, China and started learning violin at the age of five with his father, who is also a violinist. Yi studied at Beijing Central Conservatory before travelling to London to continue his post-graduate studies at the Guildhall School of Music with Yfrah Neaman. During his time in London, he was a multi prize winner in international violin competitions and obtained the prestigious “Concert recital diploma “.
Yi came to Australia in 1997 to join the Australian Chamber Orchestra. He was Principal First Violin with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra from 2001 – 2007; he also performed with the TSO as Acting Concertmaster. In 2008, he moved to Melbourne to join Orchestra Victoria as Principal Violin, currently he’s the acting deputy concertmaster.
Yi has played with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the City of Granada Symphony Orchestra, the Welsh National Opera and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. As soloist he has given recitals in London, Beijing, Sydney, Melbourne, Weimar, Hobart, Suffolk (UK) and Hangzhou (China). He is a founding member of the Melbourne-based Waratah String Quartet. Yi’s violin is made by the Italian master Riccardo Antoniazzi.
Purchase ticketsJohn Bolton-Wood – Baritone
Born in Sydney, John Bolton Wood studied voice with Mr Max Speed and opera at the NSW Conservatorium of Music and London Opera Centre. He made his UK debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Bosun in Billy Budd.In Australia he has appeared as a principal artist with all the State Opera companies, Opera Australia and Symphony orchestras in every State.
As Old Deuteronomy in the original Australian production and Asian tour of Cats, he sang 1498 performances. He has won five Green Room Awards – for Papageno, Colonel Frank, Major- General Stanley; Lord Mountararat ; Germont in La Traviatia .
Other notable engagements include Dr Bartolo in Il Barbiere Di Siviglia for Welsh National Opera and the title roles in Rigoletto and Gianni Schicchi for Opera New Zealand. Roles for Opera Australia include Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd, Alcindoro -Benoit-, The Preacher in Batavia, Baron Zeta ; Bruschino padre, Germont , Pooh-Bah , Sir Joseph Porter ;Somarone-Beatrice and Benedict; Counsel for the Plaintiff in Trial By Jury,Major General Stanley.,Bartolo-Barber, Melitone-Forza del Destino, Sacristan-Tosca-and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly for Opera Queensland. John was a guest lecturer in voice at the International academy of voice in Cardiff 2007 and was awarded and A.M for services to Opera in 2009.
David Drury – Organ
Born in 1961, David Drury is well known to Australian audiences as an organist, choral conductor and composer of choral music. A graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, he is the only Australian to win the ‘Tournemire prize’ for improvisation at the St Alban’s International Organ Competition (1987).
He has toured England, France, Germany, Canada, USA and New Zealand as a recitalist, and appeared as soloist with the Sydney, Adelaide and West Australian symphony orchestras, the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
He plays regularly with the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, the Australian Baroque Brass and early music group Camerata Antica. David is Director of Music Emeritus at St Paul’s College at the University of Sydney. His choral music is published by Crescendo Music Publications. David and his nephew Matthew Roberts form the ‘Salisbury Institute’, an EDM collaboration.
Purchase ticketsKate Amos – Soprano
Melbourne-born lyric coloratura soprano Kate Amos is fast becoming one of Australia’s most artistically versatile and highly sought-after young sopranos. She holds a BMus (Perf) with Honours, Dip. Lang (Italian) and Masters of Music (Opera Performance) from The University of Melbourne. Kate returned from Cardiff in 2017 after attending the Welsh International Academy of Voice under the tutelage of renowned international Welsh tenor Dennis O’Neill.
In 2019, Kate made her principal artist main-stage debut with Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House to critical acclaim as Arkie Whiteley in the highly anticipated world-premiere opera: Whiteley, playing the daughter of iconic Australian artist Brett Whiteley conducted by Tahu Matheson. Following this, she debuted as “Barbarina” in David McVicar’s Le Nozze di Figaro conducted by Guillaume Tournaire also at the SOH.
Kate joined the Young Artist Program with Victorian Opera in 2014 performing leading and supporting roles, including the title role in Cendrillon by Massenet, covering soprano Emma Mathews as Orlando/Selena in world-premiere baroque pastiche opera Voyage to the Moon and study-covering Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor with Victorian Opera sung by Jessica Pratt. She has established herself an artist who excels in a wide range of musical styles; showcasing vocal versatility performing repertoire spanning genres of opera, operetta, musical theatre and song.
Purchase ticketsJack Stephens – Bass & French Horn
Sydney-born bass Jack Stephens has worked in Australia and overseas as a soloist and ensemble singer. He is the Director of Music at St Paul’s College Sydney, and is the Artistic Director of Tarsus Chamber Collective. Jack is also an Associate Artist with the Song Company and a core artist of Canberra-based Luminescence Chamber Singers.
Jack was the Principal Lay Clerk at St Andrew’s Cathedral Choir, and sings regularly with St Mary’s Cathedral Choir and Cantillation. He is currently studying a Doctorate at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, supervised by Dr Erin Helyard and Dr Rowena Cowley, looking at the staging of Bach’s Passions and cantatas.
Jack has performed regularly at the Canberra International Music Festival and the Four Winds Festival Bermagui, and in 2022 toured in Canberra and NSW in a recital programme with pianist Ronan Apcar. In 2017, he was featured on Channel 9’s True Story with Hamish and Andy involving tales of musical tragedy and triumph, where an event in his life was recreated by comedians such as Kitty Flanagan and Ed Kavalee and has been broadcast around the world.
Purchase ticketsRobert Schubert – Clarinet
Robert studied with Isobel Carter-Stockigt, Phillip Miechel, Canadian soloist James Campbell and Larry Combs, Principal Clarinet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. As Principal Clarinet with Hiroyuki Iwaki’s Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, he recorded on Deutsche Grammophon, Victor and Sony.
Hehas released two CD’s of Julian Yu’s music, China Wind and Old and Yu were released in 2012 and 2018 respectively and he has appeared in many international music festivals including: Shanghai International Music Festival, Melbourne International Festival, the Affinis Festival in Japan and the Composers’ Week Festival in Ankara, Turkey. Robert has also appeared in broadcasts on the ABC and SBS.
He has performed with the Melbourne Symphony, Orchestra Victoria and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Robert held the position of lecturer in Woodwind (since 1996) and the Alexander Technique (since 2008) at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and The Victorian College of the Arts until 2017.
Purchase ticketsWilliam Schmidt – Piano
William Schmidt has worked extensively as a solo and chamber pianist, composer, accompanist and music director. He completed a Master of Music Performance at the University of Melbourne, and a Master of Arts with distinction in piano performance at the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität in Vienna, Austria. William has given many solo piano recitals in Melbourne and interstate, including live-to-air performances on 3MBS radio and ABC Classic FM. This year he was a soloist for the 3MBS Kawai Live Sessions, and performed his most recent French-themed solo program at Tempo Rubato in Brunswick VIC.
As an accompanist and collaborative artist William has worked with the Sir Zelman Cowan School of Music and Performance at Monash University, Victoria Chorale, Promac Productions, Box Hill Chorale, the Melbourne University Choral Society, Spark Youth Dance Company, and others.
As a composer William has had works commissioned and performed by musicians and ensembles such as Elyane Laussade, Glenn Riddle, Marianne Rothschild, and the Preston Symphony Orchestra.
His compositions were the focus of a 2-hour episode of the 3MBS program “Illuminations” in 2017.
William has received awards and scholarships from the Australian Music Foundation, the Australian National Piano Award, the University of Melbourne, and many competitions.
Nikki Jian – Piano
Nikki Jian is thirteen years old and started learning the piano at the age of four. She passed Amus.A at 9 years old and passed Lmus.A with distinction at 11 years old.
Nikki has been awarded 1st Place for the Ringwood Eisteddfod Open Final and 2nd prize in the final for the Scotch College Piano Competition. She has won many awards at Melbourne eisteddfods including 1st prize in the 18 years and under, at Monash Arts Festival and the Mrs Mary Corboy Memorial Encouragement Award.
Nikki is currently studying with Alison Kirkpatrick and attends Firbank Grammar School. She will continue her passion for music by studying to become a professional musician.
Purchase ticketsSusan Pierotti – Violin
Susan Pierotti began learning the violin at the age of six with Stella Nemet, and continued her studies with her daughter Mary Nemet at the Victorian College of the Arts, and in London with Emanuel Hurwitz.
Susan has enjoyed career experience that spans symphony orchestras, opera, ballet, chamber music, teaching, theatre, film, recordings, live broadcasts, radio, television, reviewing and adjudicating. She was closely involved in commissioning, performing and recording contemporary music for over two decades. She was the 1st Violin Section Leader of Orchestra Victoria for 18 years. She has been the concertmaster of Zelman Memorial Symphony Orchestra since 2016.
Susan is also an Accredited Editor with the Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd) and an indexer. She is the National Editor of the Australian String Association magazine, Stringendo. She has written and published two books, Manuscript to Market and Losing My Parents.
Purchase ticketsRosanne Hunt – Cello
Rosanne Hunt was born into a cello-loving family. She started cello with her mother, Marian Hunt, and later chose to study Medicine at the University of Melbourne. After two years she returned to music, learning from Christian Wojtowicz in Hobart, and at 21 she led the cellos of the Australian Youth Orchestra on their 1984 European Tour, staying on to study with Anner Bylsma in The Hague. After a detour into organic farming, she returned to Melbourne and established a rich freelance cello life. With the help of an Ian Potter Foundation grant, she has twice taken time out to hone her cello skills with renowned pedagogue Irene Sharp in San Francisco.
On modern cello she has worked with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony,
Orchestra Victoria, and the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra. As a contemporary music specialist, she was
the founding member of ELISION, and has also played with the Libra Ensemble, Chambermade Opera,
Aphids, and, currently, with Forest Collective. Among her extensive discography are recordings with
indigenous musicians Richard Frankland, Archie Roach and Gurrumul. On period cello, she has been principal cello of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, the Australian Classical and Romantic Orchestra, Accademia Arcadia and the Melbourne Baroque Orchestra, of which she is a founding member.
In addition, she is the treasurer of the Melbourne Baroque Orchestra, and administers and raises funds for
the Hunt Family Memorial Fund (in memory of her parents and her sister) which helps send
disadvantaged young musicians to the Australian Youth Orchestra’s annual National Music Camp.
Jiacheng Ding – Tenor
Jiacheng Ding began learning the piano at the age of 3. He studied both voice and piano at the prestigious Nanjing Normal University in China where he graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Music Performance and teaching. He was also the recipient of the Changjiang Cup – the First Prize of the national Normal Students Singing Competition.
In 2017 he moved to Australia to commence postgraduate study at the Elder
Conservatorium and in 2018 he graduated with High Distinction from The University of Adelaide with a Masters of Music (Performance).
For the 2021/22 seasons Jiacheng has been a member of the prestigious Opera Academy for the State Opera of South Australia as a Young Artist and has worked with Nicholas Braithwaite, Graham Abbott, Sharolyn Kimmorly, Anthony Hunt, Rosalind Martin, Sally-Anne Russell and Glenn Winslade.
Performances for the SOSA as a member of the chorus include Donizetti’s Don Pasquale,
Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. For Co-Opera – Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Concert repertoire as tenor soloist includes Gounod’s Requiem and Orff’s Carmina Burana for Victoria Chorale in Melbourne, appearances at The Queen Adelaide Club, Handel’s Messiah with The Adelaide Harmony Choir and Corinthian Singers of Adelaide, Britten’s Chichester Psalms and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Adelaide Chamber Singers, Mozart’s Requiem and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with CoOpera, Haydn’s Nelson Mass with Adelaide Philharmonia Choir and recitals of Schumann’s Die Schöne Müllerin and Dichterliebe Flinders St Baptist Church “Tuesdays on Flinders” 2018/2019
and at Elder Hall.
In 2022, performances include The Golden Cockerel for Adelaide Festival, Rinuccio in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi for Co-Opera, Puccini’s Messa di Gloria for Victoria Chorale, Handel’s Messiah at Coriole Winery, Parpinol in Puccini’s La Boheme and Topp in Meale’s Voss both for the State Opera of South Australia.
Purchase ticketsLisette Bolton – Soprano
Wagga Wagga-born soprano Lisette Bolton is a student at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (MCM) soon to finish her Honours year in performance.
Lisette is an alumna of Opera Australia’s Regional Student Scholarship program, the Young Songmakers Development program, and Opera Scholars Australia (OSA) where she was recipient of the White Foundation Scholarship.
She has understudied the roles of Blanche (Dialogues des Carmélites, Poulenc) with the MCM and Countess (Le Nozze di Figaro, Mozart) with Australian International Productions.
In 2019, Lisette debuted as Olive in Barry Conyngham’s Fly which saw her nominated for a Green Room Award.
Instagram: @lisetteboltonsoprano
Facebook: Lisette Bolton – Soprano
Purchase ticketsScott Marshall – Oboe
Originally from Sydney, Scott began his musical studies at the age of fourteen. After graduation from the Conservatorium High School, he continued at the Sydney Conservatorium to complete his Bachelor of Music, graduating with merit in 1992. In the same year Scott was awarded a Big Brother Scholarship coupled with an Australian Music Foundation in London Scholarship to further his studies in the United Kingdom.
Upon return from the UK Scott travelled to Los Angeles to study with one of Americas finest Oboists, Allan Vogel. It was during this time he had the opportunity to perform in the National Repertory Orchestra, in summer residence at the Breckenridge Music Festival. Scott has performed with the Adelaide, Sydney and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras as well as touring with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and The Brandenburg Orchestra.
Scott was an examiner of woodwind for the Australian Music Examinations Board for 14 years before moving to Wodonga in 2019. He is currently a Learning Support and Instrumental Music Teacher at Trinity Anglican College, Albury.
Purchase ticketsDean Frenkel – Overtone Singer & Didgeridoo
Dean is one of the world’s finest harmonic overtone singers, and is also a didgeridoo player and recording artist with Move Records.
Dean adjusts his vocal projection to draw out the ambient resonance of any acoustic space. He loves to take harmonic resonance to new and old places – most recently sang 40,000 feet in an aeroplane (higher than Mt Everest) and the ancient vocal techniques he practices have an extraordinary impact on many species; Dean finds it a privilege to sing to animals. He has also stretched his harmonic vocals far and wide in combination with modern jazz, classical, ambient, Georgian, and creative music genres.
Dean has sung for multi-award winning documentaries including ‘Salt’, ‘Meta’ and ‘A Little Bit Mongolian’ was a member of Aajinta, Mantramancy and the Eternal Choir and in 2005 smashed the Guinness world record for longest continuous vocal note on ABC TV’s ‘Enough Rope with Andrew Denton’. He adapted his training regimen into his Wellness Breathing to train people with various breathing and vocal challenges, anxiety sufferers, singers and actors. As a speech coach, he trains a spectrum of clients including an aspiring prime ministerial candidate (2016). Dean has been performing Sarah Hopkins’ harmonic pieces since 1995.
Purchase ticketsAriana Ricci – Soprano
Ariana Ricci is a third year Bachelor of Music Performance student studying classical voice as a full scholarship student, under the Ted and Susan Meller Memorial Scholarship at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She made her solo debut with orchestra on the violin at the age of nine and has performed as a soloist with orchestra many times since, on violin and voice in Australia and overseas.
In 2020 she received first prize in the Voice – Young Artist category of the 2nd Vienna International Music Competition and a Silver Medal in the Voice – Young Artist category of the Manhattan International Music Competition. In 2021, she won a slew of first prizes in the Sydney Eisteddfod, including the Intermediate Vocal Award. Ariana studies voice with Dr Rowena Cowley. She also sings regularly with the chapel choir at St Paul’s College as a choral scholar.
Purchase ticketsStephen Marino – Tenor
Stephen Marino is a versatile musician with a breadth of experience traversing opera, oratorio and classical concert work, musical theatre and cabaret.
Recent opera performances include chorus work with Melbourne opera in Tristan and Isolde, The Flying Dutchman and Fidelio. Stephen was chorus master for National Touring Opera’s production of Pagliacci and debuted as Tenor Soloist in Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music with Preston Symphony.
Stephen is particularly active as a singer, accompanist and assistant chorus master on the Melbourne Choral circuit and has performed in many concerts primarily with Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir and Melbourne University Choral Society. He currently holds a choir scholarship at St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Eastern Hill.
Stephen’s musical theatre experience includes principal roles in Jesus Christ Superstar, Les Misérables, Fame and Annie with the Cairns Choral Society. He holds a bachelor of Music in classical voice from Monash University and is currently in his final year of a Masters of Teaching at the University of Melbourne.
Purchase ticketsMichael Burden – Countertenor
Michael Burden is a Sydney-based countertenor rapidly establishing himself as an experienced and versatile artist. He is currently studying his Master of Music Studies (Opera Performance) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with the guidance of Dr David Greco.
His operatic credits include Ottone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea (Trentino Music Festival), Oberon in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Sydney Conservatorium), Une Scythe in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride (The Cooperative), Second Witch/Spirit in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (The Other Theatre Co), and Hyacinthus in Mozart’s Apollo et Hyacinthus (Flamingo Opera).
Chorus credits include Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice and Iphigénie en Tauride (The Cooperative), Dido and Aeneas and Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (Sydney Conservatorium).
Solo concert credits include performances with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra (Paradisum and
Noël Noël!), Joad in Handel’s Athalia (Concordia Ensemble), Handel’s Dixit Dominus, numerous Bach
Cantatas and Alto/Soprano 2 solos in Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit pour Noël and Pergolesi’s/Durante’s Magnificat.
Chris Gelok – Double Bass
Chris studied at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne and then travelled to live in Amsterdam, studying double bass with Henk Guldemond and Carol Harte at the Conservatories of Amsterdam and Maastricht, graduating with distinction – Uitvoerend Musicus and Docerend Musicus.
On returning to Australia, she also completed a Post Graduate Diploma of Education at Monash University. She has performed in The Netherlands, Germany, England and Australia as a double bassist in a wide range of styles and settings – symphonic orchestras, ballet, opera, chamber music, baroque, tango, touring orchestras, jazz & folk festivals and for recordings. Ensembles have included the Art of Sound Orchestra, Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra, Melbourne Opera Orchestra, Van Diemen’s Band, Limburg Symfonie Orkest, Camerata Antonio Lucia, Ricciotti Ensemble and Nederlands Ballet Orkest. Chris is also a founding member of the Melbourne Tango Orchestra.
Chris is an active double bass teacher – currently teaching at Melbourne High School, St Kevin’s College, St Margaret’s/Berwick Grammar and Xavier – and is a regular tutor with the Melbourne Youth Music Ensemble Program and State Music Camp. She is also President of the Nicholas Chamber Orchestra, her local community orchestra.
Purchase ticketsCath Turnbull – Viola
Cath Turnbull is a freelance viola player, who very much enjoys the wide variety of musical pursuits that this brings. As well as playing whenever the opportunity arises, she teaches both at a school and privately, as well as working part time at Alex Grant Violins violin shop. Cath began her tertiary musical studies at the School of Music in Canberra, after which she studied with Patricia Pollett in Brisbane. Having completed her Masters degree there, she then moved to Melbourne in 2003 to study at the Australian National Academy of Music, and has remained based in Melbourne since then.
Cath has worked with most of the major orchestras around the country, including Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria and Melbourne Opera; as well as numerous smaller chamber ensembles, and projects such as film recordings. She has toured extensively around regional Australia with CoOpera and AusOpera.! Other favourite ways to occupy herself include plants, her cat, and listening to a variety of podcasts. She is also very involved in her local church.
Purchase ticketsLux Alba – Chamber Choir
Lux Alba Founded by its director Rebekah Beall, the choir debuted in December 2017. Typically, the repertoire performed by the choir is sacred a cappella music.
The name ‘Lux Alba’ when translated means ‘white light’ and was inspired by a quote from Arvo Part, ‘I could compare my music to white light which contains all colours.
Only a prism can divide the colours and make them appear; this prism could be the spirit of the listener’. We were drawn together because of our love for music and feel blessed for every opportunity we can share this passion with you, our prism.
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