Category: Bassoon

Australian Hometown: Sunshine Coast
Education: Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University; Australian National Academy of Music; University of Melbourne

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY

Chris Haycroft is a bassoonist from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. He undertook a Bachelor of Music at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University in Brisbane, before relocating to Melbourne to attend the Australian National Academy of Music. In 2017 he was a part of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellowship program, before returning to Melbourne to obtain a Masters of Music from the University of Melbourne. Throughout the course of his studies and his continuing professional career, Chris has had the opportunity to perform with several Australian and international orchestras, including the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, Sichuan Symphony Orchestra and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. In 2023, Chris continues to live and work in Melbourne, performing regularly with Orchestra Victoria and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Last updated 2023

Australian Hometown(s): Adelaide & Melbourne
Education: Elder Conservatorium of Music, Adelaide; Australian National Academy of Music, Melbourne

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY

Jack Schiller has held the position of Principal Bassoon with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra since 2013. Born in Adelaide, Jack began playing the bassoon at the age of 12. From 2008 Jack spent four years under the tutelage of Mark Gaydon (Adelaide Symphony Orchestra), including two years of study at the Elder Conservatorium of Music. In 2012 he took up a scholarship at the Australian National Academy of Music, studying under the guidance of Elise Millman (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra). During Jack’s time at the academy he won the ANAM Concerto and Chamber music competitions, and was awarded the Director’s Prize for outstanding achievement by an outgoing student.

Following this period of study Jack took up a position in the Sydney Symphony’s Fellowship program and was also contracted as Associate Principal Bassoon with the orchestra. He has also played as guest principal with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra; and in 2013 was a member of the Australian World Orchestra. As soloist Jack has appeared with Orchestra Victoria, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra performing works by Mozart and Strauss.

Last updated 2023

Australian Hometown(s): Perth & Brisbane
Education: University of Western Australia; Hochschule für Musik

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY:
Nicole grew up in Perth, Western Australia.  It was there that she was first introduced to musical instruments, beginning with the piano at 8, before continuing with the bassoon at 13.  She completed her Bachelor of Music degree with First Class Honours from the University of Western Australia, where she had the fortune of studying under the tutelage of professional bassoonist and conductor, Peter Moore.

Later, in 1999, Nicole studied with the highly respected Matthew Wilkie at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main, made possible by a German Government Scholarship.  Whilst overseas, Nicole regularly performed and toured with the Ensemble Modern, Deutscher Kammer Philharmonie and Chamber Orchestra of Europe. 

Since flying back to Australia, Nicole has held the position of Section Principal Bassoon with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) since 2002.  Throughout her wonderful career, Nicole has freelanced with many of Australia’s major orchestras, including Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera Australia and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Nicole is extremely passionate about teaching and chamber music.  She currently teaches bassoon at two private, secondary schools in Brisbane, and The University of Queensland; sharing her love of her instrument is something that she delights in.  Additionally, Nicole is the co-founder of the chamber ensemble, Elements, whose focus in on commissioning Australian works.  They are currently an ensemble-in-residence at The University of Queensland.

Besides teaching and chamber music, Nicole is passionate about baking, indoor plants and her chickens.

Last updated 2022

Australian Hometown(s): Perth & Hobart
Education: Victorian College of the Arts, Sydney Conservatorium of Music

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY

Simone Walters relocated to Hobart in 2012 from Perth where she was Principal Contrabassoon with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.
Simone is a regular member of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and her freelance work includes engagements with all of Australia’s professional Symphony Orchestras, Opera Australia, the Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic.

In 2013 Simone was invited to perform with the Australian World Orchestra in their season under conductor Zubin Mehta.
Simone was awarded the ‘Mr and Mrs Gerald Frank New’ Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship in 2015 for study of Baroque Bassoon Performance Practices which has taken her career in an exciting new direction. A founding member of Tasmania’s Baroque ensemble,
Van Diemen’s Band, Simone is currently completing a PhD on unpublished and unrecorded eighteenth-century works for obbligato bassoon from the recently recovered manuscript collection of the Berlin Sing-Akademie through the University of Tasmaina.
Simone is especially passionate about historically informed performance practice relating to works of the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries and was granted a residency in 2019 at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz.

Last updated 2023