Category: Trombone

Michael Bertoncello

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Australian Hometown: Melbourne
Education: Victorian College of the Arts

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Originally from Melbourne, Michael studied music at the Victorian College of the Arts before taking up a position with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the training orchestra of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Michael went on to hold numerous orchestral positions around the world, including Solo Trombone with the Tonhalle Orchestra, Zurich and most recently Trombonist of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. In high demand as a soloist and teacher Michael has made guest appearances at many world class institutions, including Zurich University of the Arts, Northwestern University Chicago, The Juilliard School of Music New York amongst others.

On his return to Melbourne, Michael joined the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, however his creative focus and passion turned to mentoring and chamber music. Michael held senior academic positions at the Universities of Melbourne and Tasmania as well as the Australian National Academy of Music and also was a founding member of the world renowned Australian Brass Quintet.In 2013, Michael decided to change direction and embarked on a path that involved less travel, concerts and teaching and more focus on things that were more important to us, family and balance.

Last updated 2023

Nick Byrne

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Australian Hometown: Sydney & Canberra
Education: Simone de Haan; Ian Perry; Ronald Prussing; Michael Mulcahy; Charles Vernon; Jay Friedman; Edward Kleinhammer; Arnold Jacobs

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Born in Sydney, Nick Byrne completed his Bachelor’s degree at the Canberra School of Music in 1991. He subsequently undertook further postgraduate study with Charles Vernon at De-Paul University in Chicago. His other teachers have included Simone de Haan, Ian Perry, Ron Prussing, Arnold Jacobs and Michael Mulcahy.

Nick Byrne joined the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 1996, prior to which he held the position of Solo Trombone with the Hofer Symphoniker in Germany. He has performed with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Chicago Chamber Orchestra, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and in 1994 was chosen by Sir Georg Solti for his Carnegie Hall Festival Orchestra.

Nick Byrne has also performed with Summit Brass, Millar Brass, Chicago Symphony Lower Brass Ensemble, Canberra Trombone Quartet (prize winner at the UMI Chamber Music Competition in Arizona, 1993), and is a founding member of the Sydney Symphony Brass Ensemble.

He is also a recognised performer on the ophicleide (an early keyed tuba) and has performed with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, World Orchestra for Peace (Moscow and St Petersburg, 2003) and in solo recitals at the Melbourne International Festival of Brass (2003 and 2009).

In 2002, Nick Byrne was the recipient of a Churchill Fellowship which allowed him to undertake ophicleide studies in Lyon, France, and in 2006 he recorded the world’s first solo ophicleide recording Back from Oblivion.


Last updated 2022

Timothy Dowling

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Australian Hometown: Melbourne
Education: Victorian College of the Arts

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Melbourne-born trombonist Timothy Dowling has been living and working in the Netherlands since 1988. Equally at home on modern or historical trombones, he divides his time between his position as principal trombonist of the Residentie Orchestra, The Hague, and performing with various Baroque and Renaissance ensembles.

After playing two seasons in the Australian Youth Orchestra, he began his orchestral career in Orchestra Victoria in 1979. Appointments as Principal Trombonist in the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra (now Opera Australia Orchestra) followed before he became Associate Principal Trombone of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 1986.

Upon being appointed Solo-trombonist of the Residentie Orchestra, The Hague in 1988, Timothy emigrated to the Netherlands. With the Residentie Orchestra, he has toured Europe, Japan, and South America, and has worked with many notable conductors including Gennady Roszdestvensky, Franz Welser-Möst, Yevgeny Svetlanov, Hans Vonk, Jaap van Zweden and Neeme Järvi. He has also often performed as a guest principal trombonist in the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Since 2015 Timothy has performed with the Australian World Orchestra in three seasons under conductors Zubin Mehta and Alexander Briger in India, the UK, and Australia.

Timothy is also a noted performer on historical instruments and a founder member of the baroque ensemble In Stil Moderno. He has performed with Orchestre de la Champs Elysees, La Petite Bande, Weser Renaissance, Il Fondamento, and Combattimento Consort. For more than 15 years he has been a member of Anima Eterna Bruges.

Between 2005 and 2023 Timothy was a Professor of Trombone at the Royal Conservatorium in The Hague and has given masterclasses in Germany, Denmark, and Australia.

Timothy began playing brass instruments at the age of nine in Wagga Wagga. Following a move to Canberra, he continued learning trombone at the Canberra School of Music with Leonard Fischer. He also gained valuable orchestral experience in the Canberra Youth and Canberra Symphony Orchestras. After returning to Melbourne in 1977 to study at the Victorian College of the Arts with Roger Davies and Michael Mulcahy, he graduated (with Distinction) in 1980.

Last updated 2023

Scott Kinmont holding trombone

Scott Kinmont

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Australian Hometown(s): Brisbane & Sydney
Education: Queensland Conservatorium of Music; Australian National University, Canberra; Northwestern University, Chicago

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Since his appointment to the position of Associate Principal Trombone with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the age of 20, Scott Kinmont has established himself as one of Australia’s leading brass players and educators. Scott began learning the trombone through the Queensland Education Department’s Instrumental Music Programme with Mr Jim Hartingdon, later studying through the Queensland Conservatorium with Mr Arthur Middleton and then concluded his tertiary level studies with Mr Michael Mulcahy at the Australian National University in Canberra. In 2002 he was the recipient of the Fulbright Award for the Visual and Performing Arts, completing his Master’s degree studying Trombone performance and conducting, and appearing as Guest Lecturer in Euphonium at Northwestern University in Chicago. In addition to his formal studies, Scott has also had lessons with many of the world’s leading brass players, including members of the Berlin Philharmonic, The Chicago Symphony, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Los Angeles Symphony.

As a soloist, Scott holds the unusual distinction of winning international solo competitions on both the trombone and the euphonium.  He appears regularly as a guest artist around the Asian region giving recitals and masterclasses at many leading music institutions and festivals, and has appeared as soloist with a variety of ensembles including orchestras, brass bands and big bands.  Scott is also a member of the acclaimed Australian Brass Quintet.

Apart from his Sydney Symphony Orchestra commitments, Scott has appeared as a guest with orchestras in Australia, Germany, New Zealand, and throughout the Asian region.

In 2017, Scott made his professional conducting debut leading the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Brass Ensemble and, after this successful collaboration, returned for performances with them in 2019 and 2022.

As an educator, Scott is currently teaching at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) in Melbourne and recently completed a 13 year tenure as the Lecturer in Trombone and Euphonium studies at the Sydney Conservatorium with many former students now holding positions in orchestras in Australia, Europe and the US. Scott has also appeared as a guest lecturer at universities in the US, New Zealand, China, Singapore, and Australia.

Scott has more recently explored the world of original instrument performance.  Recent undertakings have included performances and recording projects on the Renaissance Trombone (or sackbut) and the more obscure Serpent, as well as being a founding member of the Sydney Ophicleide Quartet. 

Last updated 2023

Damien Lingard with trombone

Damien Lingard

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Australian Hometown: Sydney
Education: Queensland Conservatory of Music; Music Academy, Stuttgart

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Damien Lingard was born in 1982 and began his musical studies at age seven first learning piano before taking up cornet and later changing to trombone at age 10.  In his youth he gained experience in diverse musical ensembles at school and also as a member of Salvation Army Brass bands and other groups among which he is still active to this day.  

In 2000 Damien began a bachelor degree at the Queensland Conservatorium where he graduated in 2003,  thereafter followed a period of study at the Sydney Conservatorium before moving to Germany to continue studies at the Stuttgart School of Music.  He was a member of the Queensland Youth Symphony and the Australian Youth Orchestra, performed with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and in 2008/9 was able to further his experience with an apprenticeship with the Stuttgart Philharmonic.

Since October 2009 Damien has held the position of 2./Associate principal trombone with the Munich Radio Orchestra.

Last updated 2022

Michael Mulcahy

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Australian Hometown: Sydney
Education: Sydney Conservatorium of Music

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Chicago Symphony Orchestra trombonist Michael Mulcahy has appeared as a soloist, conductor and teacher worldwide. Some of his solo appearances include Jennifer Higdon’s Low Brass Concerto with the CSO and Riccardo Muti; the music of Elliot Carter with the CSO and Pierre Boulez; Leopold Mozart’s Concerto for Alto Trombone with Daniel Barenboim; and the world premiere of Carl Vine’s Five Hallucinations for Trombone and Orchestra, a solo concerto co-commissioned by the CSO and the Sydney Symphony.

Mulcahy is the winner of several international competitions, among them the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Instrumental Competition, the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, the Viotti International Competition in Italy and the International Instrumental Competition in Markneukirchen. 

Sir Georg Solti appointed Mulcahy to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1989. He is principal trombone with Chicago’s Music of the Baroque and the Grand Teton Music Festival. Mulcahy is former Principal Trombone with the Tasmanian Symphony, Melbourne Symphony and the WDR Symphony Cologne. He is Principal Trombone of the Australian World Orchestra under Briger, Mehta, Rattle and Muti.

Mulcahy’s interest in conducting was sparked by an invitation from Westdeutscher Rundfunk. He serves as director of the CSO Brass. Mulcahy conducts regularly for the Grand Teton Music Festival and makes guest appearances at numerous orchestras.

Mulcahy became a senior lecturer at the Canberra School of Music at the Australian National University in 1987. Currently he leads the trombone studio at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music and is a visiting artist at the Australian National Academy of Music.

Last updated 2022