2019 Artists

Albury Chamber Music Festival 2019 Performers

Thorwald Jørgensen

Thorwald Jørgensen is known as one of the leading classical theremin players in the world. After graduating from the conservatory he quickly established himself as one of the most prominent players of the instrument and made full time career of playing the instrument. Since the playing technique also resembles that of a string instrument, Thorwald was coached by Saskia Boon, former cellist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Thorwald played as a soloist with numerous orchestras around the world, such as  Philharmonie Zuid-Nederland, Brussels Philharmonic, Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, Zeeland Symphony Orchestra, Opera2Day, Kammerphilharmonie bremen, Dutch Theatre Orchestra, Antalya Symphony Orchestra, Ottawa Chamber Players, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Bursa State Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonie, Bremen Philharmonic, norrköping symphony orchestra, Izmir Symphony Orchestra and the Presidential Orchestra of Turkey.

Thorwald is an advocate for new theremin repertoire and composers from all over the world have written pieces for him. Recently Thorwald also started composing himself, resulting in several solo pieces for theremin. His first composition ​Distant Shores
​ for theremin, voice and loop-station was an instant success and was recorded for TV and radio in Canada, Turkey, Cuba, Russia, USA and the Netherlands.

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Merlyn Quaife

Merlyn Quaife

A performer of great versatility, the distinguished soprano Merlyn Quaife has performed opera, oratorio, Lieder, chamber music and contemporary music to great acclaim throughout Australia, Europe and the USA for over forty years. She has also performed as soloist with the Singapore Symphony and the Voronesz Philharmonic (Russia). She has appeared with all the State Opera Companies in roles ranging from the bel canto Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor) to the minimalist Chiang Ch’ing (Nixon in China).

She has performed with all the Symphony Australia orchestras, featured in repertoire of every conceivable style from Handel to Ligeti. She has recorded a number of CDs including ‘Aria for John Edward Eyre’ by David Lumsdaine which won her a Sounds Australia Award, she also appears on Naxos, Move, Tall Poppies and ABC Classics. She has had the privilege of performing twice under the baton of Vladimir Ashkenazy and the SSO. In 2004 she combined her two loves, horses and singing, performing the fiendishly difficult Queen of the Night on horseback. In 2013 Merlyn sang Ortlinde in ‘Die Walküre’ in Opera Australia’s acclaimed RING CYCLE. In the same year she was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for ‘services to music’.

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Seraphim Trio & Martin Alexander

Winners of the Piano Trio Prize and the Audience Choice Award at the Australian National Chamber Music Competition in 2001 (now the Asia-Pacific Chamber Music Competition), the Seraphim Trio, comprises of Helen Ayers (violin), Anna Goldsworthy (piano) and Timothy Nankervis (cello). Seraphim has performed regularly at the Melbourne International Arts Festival, the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival, the Adelaide Festival of Arts, Adelaide French Festival, Peninsula Summer Music Festival and in 2013, Opera Australia’s Ring Festival in Melbourne. Seraphim has recorded numerous CDs for ABC  Classics and is currently completing a series of recordings for ABC Classic FM titled The History of the Piano Trio.

Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Martin Alexander (viola) commenced his tertiary studies in piano before switching to the viola. He graduated with a Bachelor of Music from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music with Graeme Jennings, and achieved honours at the University of Tasmania with Jo St Leon.

Seraphim “are very excited to be collaborating with Martin Alexander. Martin has a very fluid and imaginative musical voice, which fits perfectly with the spontaneity that Seraphim strives for in every performance. The addition of the viola completely changes the sound; we transition from being the three soloists of the trio to a true collaboration between piano and strings” – Helen.

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Acacia Quartet

In nine years Acacia Quartet have won great respect for their versatile and inventive programs.

Acacia have recorded nine albums, with ‘Blue Silence’ earning a nomination for an APRA-AMCOS Art Music ‘Award for Excellence’.

Acacia are passionate about supporting Australian composers, working with young musicians, and sharing their love of music with audiences of all ages. Their performances feature regularly on radio stations around the world.

Acacia’s engagements in Australia include the Sydney Opera House, City Recital Hall Sydney, Melbourne Recital Hall, as well as extensive touring through regional NSW and Victoria.

Acacia had their international debut in Vancouver, Canada at the Roundhouse in June 2016. The following year, Acacia Quartet were invited by the Christine Raphael Foundation to give their European debut, where they performed concerts in Berlin and recorded a CD with three string quartets by Günter Raphael, to be released in March 2019.

Two CDs have just been released at the end of 2018, ‘Muse’ in collaboration with recorder player Alicia Crossley and ‘Imaginations’ with guitarist Matt Withers.

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Martin Setchell

Martin Setchell is an international concert organist who believes in promoting entertaining music to a wide audience. From China to Canada, Scotland to Australia, England to Singapore, and New Zealand to Germany, he has delighted audiences the world over with his spirited playing, lively personality and entertaining repertoire.

Born in the North of England town of Blackpool, Martin holds Honours degrees in both French and Music from the University of Exeter, and was awarded both the Limpus and Shinn prizes when he received his Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists in London. Subsequently he undertook advanced studies in Classical organ technique with Pierre Cochereau (then titular organist of Notre Dame in Paris), Marie-Claire Alain, Piet Kee, and Peter Hurford.

He emigrated to New Zealand in 1974 on his appointment to the University of Canterbury School of Music where he taught for 40 years and became Associate Professor of Music. Since 1997, when he was appointed curator of the Rieger pipe organ in the Christchurch Town Hall, he has devoted himself to promoting the organ as a concert instrument internationally.

His solo concert tours outside New Zealand regularly take him to Australia, America, Europe and the Far East. This year (2019) his concert tours include Australia, Germany, and Norway.

Martin’s other activities include conducting (especially choral works and chamber operas), writing and public speaking. He lives in Christchurch with his wife Jenny, and two Burmese cats.

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Inventi Ensemble

Inventi Ensemble have established themselves as a leading force in Australian chamber music. Award winning performances in Australia’s leading concert halls and at festivals around the country have led to an enthusiastic following of their innovative programming and outstanding performance style. Inventi performances can range from a duo or trio, through to a chamber orchestra of 20 players. They are one of the most prolific chamber ensembles in Australia, with over 40 concerts in their 2018 season. Inventi is an exciting voice in Australian music. 

Leaders in promoting new repertoire, Inventi have commissioned numerous works that have gained worldwide recognition – international festival performances and competition winning works. Inventi’s debut recording Inventi Ensemble I was released in 2016 to great acclaim and they will be releasing their next album soon

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Orpheus Piano Trio

The Orpheus Piano Trio formed in early 2012. Comprising pianist Helena Kernaghan, violinist Kaori Sparks & cellist Sam Goble, the trio enjoy the challenge of being an interstate, rural dwelling ensemble with members calling Albury & Castlemaine home.

All members of the Orpheus Piano Trio are established performers in their own rights, and have gained experience performing and studying internationally throughout Europe, Asia and Australia (see Bios link at the bottom of the page for details).

Sam and Helena have been collaborating in duo and trio combinations since meeting at the Victorian College of the Arts in 1997. Kaori and Helena first collaborated in 2011 for the Help Japan fundraiser concert series in their current hometown of Albury.

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David Lempriere-Laughton

David Lempriere-Laughton is a highly sought after solo and collaborative pianist who currently maintains a successful career across Europe, the USA and Australasia. He has appeared in recital at Carnegie Hall, New York; Wigmore Hall, London; the Louvre, Paris; Jubilee Hall, Singapore; the Cologne Philharmonie; the Royal Concertgebouw of Amsterdam; the Dmitri Mitropolous Concert Hall of Athens and the Palais des Beaux Arts of Brussels.

An active chamber musician, Mr Lempriere-Laughton has collaborated with many of the world’s most celebrated artists, including cellist Alisa Weilerstein, violinist Karen Gomyo, blues musician Corky Siegel, soprano Valeria Esposito and actress Dame Harriet Walter.

He has been featured at a variety of international festivals, including Ravinia, Van Cliburn, Caramoor, Brisbane and Bad-kissingen and as a teacher has mentored finalists and prizewinners at major national music competitions in the UK and Japan. Mr Laughton graduated from the Juilliard School in 2001 with a Master of Music Degree and is a Fellow of Trinity College London.

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ACMF 2019 Commissioned Composer:

Jessop Maticevski Shumack

Born 1997, Jessop composes music often inspired by literature, art, history and politics as well as the psychological and philosophical aspects of music performance and the listening experience.

He has studied classical guitar with Dan McKay and composition with Anthony Lyons at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School (VCASS) and is currently a composition student at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.

He has composed for a wide variety of musicians and ensembles, received performances around Australia and Germany and has spoken about his music on ABC Radio.

Some of Jessop’s recent commissions include Evolve (2017) for Plexus as part of New Music Network’s LAB commissioning programme, Mit den Augen Kirchners (2018) for clarinettist Philip Arkinstall for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra/MoMA concert at the National Gallery of Victoria and Palimpsest (2018) for Musica Assoluta in Hannover.

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Sundays at St Matthew’s Concert Series 2019 Performers:

Marshall McGuire – Concert 3

Marshall McGuire studied at the Victorian College of the Arts, the Paris Conservatoire and the Royal College of Music, London. His London debut recital was presented at the Purcell Room for the Park Lane Group. He has commissioned and premiered more than 100 new works for harp and has been a member of the ELISION ensemble since 1988.

Marshall has performed with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, English String Orchestra, Les Talens Lyriques, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Australia Ensemble and has appeared at international festivals including Aldeburgh, Melbourne, Milan, Geneva, Brighton, Moscow, Vienna, Huddersfield, Huntington and Adelaide.

Marshall is founding President of the New Music Network, a member of the Australian Youth Orchestra Artistic Advisory Committee, a trustee of the Hephzibah Tintner Foundation and the Peggy Glanville-Hicks Composers House, and was head of artistic planning with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra from 2006-2011.

He has performed in caves, on the beach at Orpheus Island at the Great Barrier Reef, at the Chateau de Chantilly in France, in shearing sheds and in a 12th century chapel in Wales. Playing music in exotic and beautiful locations is his passion.

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Sally-Anne Russell – Concert 2

Australian mezzo-soprano Sally-Anne Russell has performed in over twenty countries in more than 70 operatic roles and has 40 CD and DVD recordings to her credit with ABC Classics, CHANDOS, NAXOS and DECCA labels. She has won an ARIA people’s choice award and nominations for Young Australian of the Year (Arts), Young Achiever of the Year, Green Room and Helpmann Awards.

International highlights include Oper der Stadt Köln (Germany), Washington Opera (DC), 10 seasons at the Carmel Bach Festival (California), Spoleto Festival (Italy) and in Canada, Japan and Austria performing with Luciano Pavarotti, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Bryn Terfel, Sir Andrew Davis, Simone Young, Richard Bonygne, and most recently Sumi Jo.

2016 – 2017 highlights included an Australian tour for Victorian Opera/Musica Viva of Voyage to the Moon and concerts with the Melbourne, Sydney, West Australian, Tasmanian, Auckland, Christchurch and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras. Sally-Anne is also a member of the Kathaumixw Festival International Artistic Council in Canada.

In 2019 Sally-Anne will perform with the Melbourne and Auckland Symphonies, Vivaldi in the Vines in Adelaide, concerts in Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Devonport and Bach Weihnachts Oratorium and a series of concerts in Austria and Germany.


Zoe Knighton – Concert 1

Zoe is a founding member of Flinders Quartet, one of Australia’s finest chamber ensembles. Flinders Quartet has toured internationally, nationally and appears regularly at Australian festivals as well as their own celebrated subscription series. The group has commissioned many works, been nominated for an ARIA for best classical album and continues to be a champion of Australian Chamber music. “Flinders Quartet…whose players give such care and unanimity of musical thought to Australian Chamber Music” Peter McCallum, Sydney Morning Herald

After starting cello at the age of nine with Jill Kahans, and graduating from the University of Melbourne with the highest mark of her year, Zoe went on to establish herself as one of the country’s most sought after cellists. Having studied with Christian Wojtowicz, Michel Strauss (Paris) Nelson Cooke, and Angela Seargeant, she is now in demand as chamber coach and teacher at various institutions. A regular panellist for major competitions, Zoe combines many facets of her career with performing.

“She radiates confidence in her work and participates with personality and no little finesse. “Well worth hearing for the pleasure given through this player’s familiar warmth and honesty of musical character.” Clive O’Connell