Elizabeth Sellars - violin

Miwako Abe - violin

Marina Marsden - violin

Molly Kadarauch - cello

Stephen Robinson - oboe

Tahnee van Herk- bassoon

Kristian Winther - violin

Jason Xanthoudakis - saxophone

Nella Randone, Kieren Ray & Laura Uhe (Spanish Ensemble)

Guest Pianists:

Philippe Cassard

Kevin Kanisius Suherman

Matthew Kam

Hsiao-Ni Axtens

Zhang Chi

Elizabeth Sellars

violin

(replaces Zoe Blae Black on Sunday 15 August 2010)

Under the guidance of the Takacs and Gabrieli String Quartets, Elizabeth became a founding member of the Techinski Quartet which went on to become the recipient of the inaugural John Tunnel Trust and Royal Overseas League Ensemble Prize and Miller Trophy. The Quartet toured extensively throughout Great Britain, broadcast for the BBC, played in the Queen Elizabeth Hall and appeared as group soloist with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Elizabeth also played throughout Europe with the Academy of St Martins in the Fields and the English Chamber Orchestra.

Now resident in Australia, Elizabeth has played with Elision, Libra, Ensemble 24, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. She has also lead and played with many of the Symphony Australia orchestras. In addition to recording for Naxos, she has broadcast for the ABC on Sunday Live and at Castlemaine and Port Fairy Festivals.

Her trio Temenos, who presented their inaugural series in 2001 were third prize-winners in the 9th Concorso Musicale Internazionale "Riviera del Conero" in Italy.

Elizabeth was appointed Lecturer in Violin at Monash University in 2003. She has recently been awarded an Australia Council grant to commission and record works for solo violin by two prominent Australian composers.

Kristian Winther

Violin

Born in Canberra in 1984, Kristian Winther studied violin with Josette Esquedin-Morgan, and conducting with John Curro, with whom he also made his concerto debut, performing the Sibelius violin concerto in 2000. As a soloist he has appeared with the Melbourne, Sydney and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, the Auckland Philharmonic, and the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra. Kristian has also been Guest Assistant Concertmaster of the Adelaide and Western Australian symphony orchestras and the Hong Kong Philharmonic.

From 2007–2008 Kristian was violinist with the Tinalley String Quartet, winning the 2007 Banff International String Quartet Competition. This was followed by critically acclaimed tours of the USA and Europe. Kristian is also a composer and premiered his work for string quartet …etude at the Sydney Opera House in 2008 with the Tinalley String Quartet.

In 2009 Kristian gave the Australian premieres of Brett Dean's violin concerto The Lost Art of Letter Writing and of Andriessen's string quartet Facing Death. 2009 also saw him conducting Gubaidulina's Seven Words for the Melbourne International Arts Festival in October and the Australian premiere of Andriessen's De Stijl during the Canberra International Music Festival. In 2010 Kristian will appear as leader of ACO2, and as soloist, conductor and leader of the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra.

Miwako Abe

Violin

Miwako Abe's distinguished career began when she started playing the violin at the age of five. After her study at the prestigious Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo where she studied violin with Toshiya Eto and Hideo Saito, she became a prize-winning graduate of the Guildhall School of Music in London. Her teachers at the Guildhall School of Music include world-renowned artists such as Yfrah Neaman and William Pleeth. Miwako Abe's distinguished career began when she started playing the violin at the age of five. After her study at the prestigious Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo where she studied violin with Toshiya Eto and Hideo Saito, she became a prize-winning graduate of the Guildhall School of Music in London.

Miwako Abe's distinguished career began when she started playing the violin at the age of five. After her study at the prestigious Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo where she studied violin with Toshiya Eto and Hideo Saito, she became a prize-winning graduate of the Guildhall School of Music in London. Her teachers at the Guildhall School of Music include world-renowned artists such as Yfrah Neaman and William Pleeth. Here her selection for the BBC Television masterclass with Yehudi Menuhin was a tribute to her youthful mastery of the violin, which received further recognition by the award of the prestigious Boise Foundation Scholarship from London. This brought her to complete her studies at the Salzburg Mozarteum, where she became assistant to the celebrated violinist-conductor Sandor Végh. Her London debut recital at the Wigmore Hall received high praise from critics in The Times and The Daily Telegraph.

Ms Abe has given numerous performances as soloist and in chamber music ensembles, steadily enhancing her reputation across five continents as an exceptionally gifted artist. In England she played with the world-famous Academy of St. Martin-in -the Fields and with the English Chamber Orchestra, and she has performed as a concerto soloist with orchestras as well as in chamber music in Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Poland, the Czech Republic, Japan, Israel, Jordan, Taiwan, Turkey, India, New Zealand, and the United States. She performed in many international festivals including the Salzburg Festival, Festival de Otonio, the Ankara Festival, the Adelaide International Festival, the Perth International Festival, and the Melbourne International Festival.

Since coming to Australia in 1982, Miwako Abe has performed with major orchestras and ensembles, among them the Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras, the Sydney String Quartet, the Australia Ensemble, the Australian Chamber Soloists, Flederman, Pipeline, and Soloists of Australia. As a member of the colourful Austral Trio-violin, flute, and guitar-Miwako Abe took part in numerous tours sponsored by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs, and Musica Viva, both within Australia and overseas.

A frequent performer on ABC Classic FM, as well as on overseas networks, Miwako Abe has worked live on air, in recordings, and in recitals with many distinguished associate artists, such as Ian Munro, Stephen McIntyre, Frank Wibaut, Roy Howat, and Michael Kieran Harvey. Her most recent CD recording of the selected American contemporary compositions for the New York-based American record label, New World Records received critical acclaim from Gramophone magazine. New compositions for violin were written and dedicated to her by prominent Australian and American composers including Larry Sitsky, Nigel Westlake, Wendy Hiscocks, Laurence Whiffin, Julian Yu, Mark Pollard, and Larry Polansky.

Ms Abe is regarded as an outstanding performer as well as a highly successful teacher of the violin. She is currently Associate Professor of Music and Head of the String Department at the Victorian College of the Arts, and has given numerous recitals and masterclasses at internationally high-profiled music institutions including the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, and the Mozarteum in Salzburg as well as the Australian National Academy of Music. Many of her students have been successful in becoming prominent professional musicians, actively performing in Europe, the United States, and in Australia. Her reputation continues to brings invitations to give recitals and masterclasses at universities and conservatoria in Australia and overseas.

Marina Marsden

violin

Marina Marsden has been the Sydney Symphony's Principal Second Violin since 2006 and for eleven years prior to this appointment was the orchestra's Assistant Concertmaster.

Marina is an active soloist and chamber musician. She performed in the 2008 Kowmung Festival in Oberon and in the 2009 Bowral Autumn Festival with members of the Australia Ensemble.

She is a founding member of the Linden String Trio with violist Justine Marsden and cellist Timothy Nankervis. Engagements have included ABC Classic FM Sunday Live Series and Sydney Mozart Society. Marina has recorded for Tall Poppies, Move Records, Wirripang Publications and ABC Classics labels, including two complete CDs for Tall Poppies: Marina Marsden - Violin Recital with pianist Robert Chamberlain and Margaret Sutherland -The Chamber Music with Strings for which she received a 1999 Australian Music Centre National Award. She is editor of the 2000 critical edition of Margaret Sutherland's Violin Sonata for Currency Press. In 2009 she released a CD of Australian violin music, Spirit Dances (Wirripang) with pianist Clemens Leske.

Marina studied violin at the Sydney Conservatorium with Alice Waten and from 1984, assisted by several scholarships, including an Australia Council Grant, a Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee award and Austrian Government stipends, studied for a Performer's Diploma in Vienna with Gerhard Schulz (Alban Berg Quartet). While in Europe she also had lessons from Josef Suk, Sandor Vegh, Valery Klimov and Valery Gradov.

In 1990 Marina became a Concertmaster of the Bruckner Orchestra in Austria and was Melbourne Symphony's Associate Concertmaster from 1992 until 1994. As soloist, she has performed with the Sydney Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, Canberra Symphony and the Adelaide Chamber Orchestra. In 1997, Marina travelled to Austria and the USA on a Churchill Fellowship and in 1998 she toured Vietnam for Musica Viva as a member of Ku-ring-gai Virtuosi. She was also a founding member of Grevillea Ensemble.

Justine Marsden

viola

Justine has been a member of the Sydney Symphony since 1990. Before taking up this position, she pursued post-graduate studies in Berlin for four years with Wolfram Christ, assisted by several scholarships.

During her Berlin years, Justine played as a casual member of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and was a member of the Berlin Ensemble Oriol. She performed as soloist with the Baden-Badener Orchestra and as Principal Guest Violist of the Berliner Kammeroper Orchestra. On her return to Australia in 1989, Justine joined the Australian Chamber Orchestra, on occasion acting as Principal Viola and played as both member and soloist with the Brandenburg Orchestra. In 2004, Justine was awarded a Sydney Symphony Friends and a Michael and Mary Whelan Trust Scholarship to further her viola studies with Wolfram Christ in Germany and to research issues relating to musicians’ health at the Kurt Singer Institute in Berlin. Over the past two decades, Justine has been an active chamber musician, a former member of the Novalis Quartet and guest artist with the Kuringai Virtuosi and the Grevillea Ensemble. She is presently a member of the Linden String Trio. Justine has recorded a CD of works by Margaret Sutherland with her violinist sister, Marina Marsden (Sydney Symphony Principal Second Violin).

Tahnee van Herk

bassoon

Tahnee van Herk is currently the Associate Principal Bassoonist with Orchestra Victoria. Prior to her appointment in 2002, Tahnee worked with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and the Auckland Philharmonia in New Zealand.

Tahnee began tertiary studies in Bassoon at the Victorian College of the Arts before travelling to the Netherlands, where she completed post-graduate studies in performance at the Sweelinck Conservatorium, Amsterdam. Her teachers included Joep Terway, Brian Pollard and Jos de Lange, all members of the Koninklijk Concertgebouw Orkest. During her time in Holland, Tahnee participated in numerous ensembles and master classes directed by various well-known musicians in both modern and authentic music practices. Tahnee continues her interest in chamber music, and has performed in a number of ensembles with fellow Melbourne musicians.

Rohan de Korte

Cello

Born in Melbourne Rohan began playing the cello at the age of 5.After ten years study with Henry Wenig and following two years at Melbourne University, studying with Nelson Cooke, he went to war torn Croatia in 1994 to learn from Prof. Valter Despalj.

In 1995 Rohan moved to Germany where in February 2000 he completed his Artistic Diploma in Cello performance with Distinction from the Cologne Hochschule fur Musik. He studied cello

Stephen Robinson

oboe

Stephen Robinson is Principal Oboe of the Orchestra Victoria.
He was born in Melbourne and studied at the University of Melbourne, The Victorian College of the Arts, and the Musikhochschule Freiburg with the renowned oboist Heinz Holliger.

Stephen has been Solo Oboist with I Solisti Veneti and has held positions in the Queensland Theatre Orchestra and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed as principal oboe with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

As a member of Australia's acclaimed contemporary music ensemble Elision, he has played at festivals throughout the world, and has performed with the European chamber group Ensemble Modern.

Stephen's CD Bright Vessel featuring first recordings of Australian oboe works by composers such as Richard Mills, Larry Sitsky, and Elena Kats-Chernin was released on the Tall Poppies label in 2009.

"…. a wonderfully innovative recital of contemporary Australian works." The Age.

Stephen lectures in oboe at the University of Melbourne, Monash University, and the Victorian College of the Arts, and is a founding member of the wind chamber group Melbourne Windpower.

Molly Kadarauch

Cello

For seven years until 2003, Molly Kadarauch was Associate Principal cellist of the A.C.O. (Australian Chamber orchestra). She has played chamber music with artists such as Steven isserlis, Pieter Wispelway, Richard Tognietti, William Barton (didgereedoo) and worked in conjunction with the cartoonist/poet/philosopher Michael Leunig. Now based in Melbourne as an Australian citizen, Molly teaches cello at Melbourne University (Conservatorium) and at the V.C.A. School of Music. As a free-lancer she performs with the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, the South Bank Players, with members of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the A.C.O. (Including an upcoming USA tour in July), as well as with other various chamber music ensembles. In July of 2004 she gave her Melbourne recital debut with pianist Ben Martin at the "Classic on the Edge" series at Federation Square.

Prior to moving to Australia in 1996, Molly studied in Berlin, Germany on a Fulbright Scholarship (under Prof. Wolfgang Boettcher) where she became a founding member of the prize-winning Aarka String Quartet.

Molly received her Bachelor of Music degree with Honours fron the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston (under Prof. Laurence Lesser) in 1991. As a highschool student in California she was the winner in numerous competitions, and appeared as a soloist several times with the Palo Alto Chamber orchestra. She received her early training with Irene Sharp (California), and at the Purcell School of Music in London with Joan Dickson.

Jason Xanthoudakis

saxophone/ clarinet

Jason has studied saxophone and clarinet at Melbourne University, where he was awarded a Master of Music and the Sydney Conservatorium, where he completed undergraduate studies and a Graduate Diploma in Music (Performance).

Jason has been awarded an A.Mus.A and L.Mus.A, an Advanced Certificate (ABRSM), Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music (LRSM) and a Diploma of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (DipABRSM) - With Distinction from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.

Jason has a busy performance schedule including performances with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, as well as frequent solo recitals and concerto appearances with orchestras and wind ensembles worldwide. In 2002 he was invited to perform solo recitals at the Australasian International Clarinet and Saxophone Conference in Brisbane and in 2005 at the 2005 Melbourne International Single Reeds Festival.

He has performed several live broadcast recitals on 2MBS-FM and has recorded for ABC Classic FM and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, has been broadcast on 3MBS-FM as well as Australian local and national radio programmes and in 2000 Jason won the 3MBS Performer of the Year Award. Jason has written articles for various woodwind Magazines, including the Australian Clarinet and Saxophone magazine, has conducted master classes throughout Australia and Asia and has arranged/transcribed more than 50 works for Saxophone and Clarinet

Jason is very active in the field of Contemporary Music and encourages composers to write music for Saxophone and Clarinet and more than 20 works have been dedicated to him.

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