2018 | Australian World Orchestra

Antoine (Tony) Bedewi

Posted on 25 August 2020 | by AWO | Leave a Comment

Australian Hometown: Sydney
Education: Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Royal Academy of Music, London

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Antoine Bedewi holds the position of Principal Timpanist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, best known as the host orchestra of the world’s biggest international classical music festival, the BBC Proms.

Prior to joining the BBCSO in 2017 Antoine held the position of Co-Principal Timpanist with the London Symphony Orchestra, whilst simultaneously freelancing with all of the major orchestras in London and the UK. He has also performed around the world with a variety of orchestras and conductors including the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Australian World Orchestra. In 2007 he served as the Principal Timpanist at Chile’s national opera house, Teatro Municipal.

As a percussionist, Antoine appears frequently with the Colin Currie Group, an internationally-acclaimed ensemble founded in 2006 specialising in the music of Steve Reich. With Reich’s personal endorsement the group has performed at international venues including London’s Royal Festival Hall, Louis Vuitton Foundation (Paris), Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg), Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Opera City Tokyo.

Antoine currently teaches orchestral timpani at London’s Royal Academy of Music, having previously completed his postgraduate studies there in 2005. Prior to this he was awarded a first-class degree in music from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, where he was also presented with the Director’s Prize for all-round excellence and service to the Academy.

His teachers include Simon Carrington and Alan Cumberland, whose virtuosic Two Challenges for Timpani (2003) are dedicated to Antoine.

Last updated 2022

Warwick Adeney

Posted on 25 August 2020 | by AWO | Leave a Comment

Australian Hometown: Brisbane
Education: Queensland Conservatorium

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Warwick Adeney was born into a large family of violinists and trained at Queensland Conservatorium alongside three of his siblings. There he learnt with Dr Anthony Doheny, was a member of the Ambrosian Quartet, and emerged as the Gold Medal graduate of 1984.

He joined Queensland Theatre Orchestra under Georg Tintner, and rose to the concertmastership in 1989. During the years of Anthony Camden’s musical oversight, Warwick Adeney played many solos, including the memorable Lark Ascending with Sir Neville Marriner, and directed many concerts.

In 2001, the amalgamation of orchestras in Queensland occurred and Warwick Adeney served (initially as co-concertmaster with Alan Smith) under conductor Michael Christie and then Johannes Fritzsch, and now exults in the glorious reign of Alondra de la Parra. Over the years Warwick Adeney has continued to enjoy the privileged and challenging life of the orchestra, and become something of a specialist in ballet solos and the Four Seasons along the way.

Married to Michele, a fellow musician, Warwick Adeney is blessed with nine children, all of whom learn a variety of instruments, and the family attends a weekly traditional Latin mass.

The violin Warwick plays is a Venetian instrument from the early 18th century, possibly by Carlo Antonio Testore.

Last updated 2022

Kees Boersma

Posted on 25 August 2020 | by AWO | Leave a Comment

Australian Hometown: Sydney
Education: Victorian College of the Arts, Sweelinck Conservatorium, Amsterdam

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Kees Boersma has held the position of Principal Double Bass with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra since 1990. He has performed with Australian World Orchestra since its formation in 2011.

In recognition of his solo talents, the SSO has commissioned new works from leading Australian composers featuring Kees as soloist. His 2013 performance of Mary Finsterer’s “Lake Ice Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra was a finalist in the prestigious APRA Awards for ‘Best Performance of a New Australian Work’. He has been similarly recognized with the commission and performances of the Concerto for Double bass and Orchestra ‘Young Tree Green’ by Colin Bright.

In 2012, Kees was invited to be the founding Artistic Director of the SSO ‘Vanguard’ – curating a concert series in innovative and contemporary venues, seeking to encourage young philanthropists to engage and invest in their orchestra. He is currently the President of the SSO Musician’s Association.

The Australian World Orchestra commissioned Elena Kats Chernin to compose The Witching Hour, the first concerto for eight double basses in orchestral history on the occasion of the AWO’s Fifth Anniversary. Kats-Chernin composed The Witching Hour especially to showcase the extraordinary AWO double bass section comprising Max McBride (formerly ACO, Vienna State Opera, Senior Lecturer ANU School of Music), Kirsty McCahon (formerly Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Orchestra of The Age of Enlightenment), Matthew McDonald (Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra), Ciro Vigilante (Vienna Chamber Orchestra), Robert Nairn (Professor of Double Bass Juilliard School and Penn State University), Kees Boersma (Principal, Sydney Symphony Orchestra), Tim Dunin (Professor of Double Bass, University of Music, Graz; formerly Vienna Philharmonic) and Alex Henery (Principal, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, formerly Philharmonia London).

A great lover of chamber music, Kees Boersma is a regular artist at Musica Viva’s Chamber Music Festivals and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music.

Kees was a founding member of the Australia’s pre-eminent contemporary music group ELISION, premiering, touring and recording the works of Franco Donatoni, Richard Barrett, Liza Lim and Brian Ferneyhough. .

After studies at the Victorian College of the Arts, Kees travelled to his birthplace in the Netherlands to undertake post-graduate studies at the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam. He consequently performed for several seasons with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam under conductors such as Haitink, Dorati, Harnoncourt, Chailly and Giulini.

On his return to Australia, Kees performed as Principal Bass with the State Orchestra of Victoria and the Australian Chamber Orchestra before joining the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Kees is a Lecturer of Double Bass at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and enjoys being a regular tutor with the Australian Youth Orchestra and Sydney Youth Orchestra.

He is a regular Guest Principal Bass of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

As a result of his enthusiasm to explore historically informed performance practice, Kees has enjoyed recent opportunities to play with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (London), the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and Pinchgut Opera.

In collaboration with his vivacious life partner Kirsty McCahon, his ‘Bass Extravaganza’ concerts as part of the ‘Resonate’ series at the National Art Gallery of NSW explore new ways of presenting music for their beloved basses!

Last updated 2023

Timothy (Tim) Dunin

Posted on 23 August 2020 | by AWO | Leave a Comment

Australian Hometown: Canberra
Education: Canberra School of Music

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Tim Dunin was born in Canberra, Australia in 1969.

After 5 years of classical guitar tuition he received his first double bass lesson at the age of 14, from Robert Nairn. Two years later Tim went to the Canberra School of Music to continue his studies with Paul Morton. From 1987 he studied with Max McBride until the completion of his Bachelor of Music degree in 1991. In this time Dunin was already a very busy orchestral musician, performing regularly with the Canberra Youth Orchestra, Australian Youth Orchestra, Canberra Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. In the same year he travelled to Austria to take on further studies with Professor Johannes Auersperg at the “Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Graz, Expositur Oberschützen”.

In 1994 Tim Dunin was Principal Double Bass with the Graz Symphony. In 1995 he won the position for Principal Double Bass with the Vienna Philharmonic / Vienna State Opera Orchestra and remained in the orchestra as a fulltime member until September 2003.

Apart from solo performances in Australia and Europe Tim has appeared as a chamber musician with ensembles such as the “Wiener Streichersolisten” , “Küchl Quartett” , “die Wiener Virtuosen” , “Wiener Kammerensemble” , “Salzburg Orchestra Soloists”, “Camerata Salzburg” and “Klang Forum Wien” and was a member of the double bass sextet “Bass Instinct” alongside Ernst Weissensteiner, Herbert Mayer, Gerhard Muthspiel, Gina Schwarz and Peter Herbert from 2005 until it disbanded at the end of 2012.

Tim Dunin has remained a passionate orchestral musician and performs regularly with ensembles such as Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Australian World Orchestra, “Recreation” Graz, Vorarlberg Symphony Orchestra, “Niederösterreichische Tonkünstler Orchester”, Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic / Vienna State Opera Orchestra.

Since October 2002, Tim has held the position of Professor for Double Bass at the Graz University for Music and Performing Arts, Institute Oberschützen.

Last updated 2023

Jonathan Allen

Posted on 25 August 2020 | by AWO | Leave a Comment

Australian Hometown: Canberra
Education: Canberra School of Music

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
The Australian violinist Jonathan Allen first studied at the Canberra School of Music with Vincent Edwards and Josette Esquidin before moving to Hobart to further his studies with Jan Sedivka. His reputation quickly grew with public performances and broadcasts of concertos by Prokofieff, Tchaikovsky, Haydn, Samuel Barber and Vaughan Williams. However, it was his talent and vital interest in chamber music that led to the appointment as leader of the Petra String Quartet (Quartet in Residence at the University of Tasmania). The Quartet‘s enthusiasm for commissioning and premiering new works resulted in the CD recordings of twelve Australian quartets.

In 1987 Jonathan Allen was awarded an International Study Grant that led him through Canada to Europe attending master classes and studying with prominent musicians such as Zoltan Szekely, Lorand Fenyves, Max Rostal and Sandor Vegh.

After a short term in the London Symphony Orchestra he moved to the musically inspiring city of Vienna. Using Vienna as his base and working with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, he also toured extensively as concertmaster of the Konzert Ensemble Salzburg, Neue Wiener Solisten and Klangforum Wien.

An invitation in 1989 as guest assistant concertmaster of the Australian Chamber Orchestra led to extensive tours of Australia, South America and Europe.

Alongside commitments as a member of Philharmonia Zürich – das Orchester des Opernhauses Zürich since 1991, Jonathan Allen has appeared as Concertmaster with the Zürich Chamber Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria and the 21st Century Orchestra. During 2006 – 2007 he was acting 2nd Concertmaster at the Zurich Opera House, Philharmonia Zurich. Jonathan Allen regularly performed with Ensemble Zero and is the founding member of Ensemble/Piano Trio Il Trittico, in which the latter received outstanding critiques in the “Strad” and “Musik und Theater” for their premier recordings of the complete Joachim Raff Piano Trios, www.trittico.ch. In 2011 the prominant CD label Divox released the world premier recording of Joachim Raff’s two Piano Quartets which were nominated for the renowned Echo Prize. Jonathan Allen has for many years taken an interest in discovering undeservingly neglected chamber music works and dedicated himself to making public forgotten masterpieces. His performing schedule has included live broadcasts for Radio and TV, chamber music concerts in various Festivals (America, Canada and Europe) and CD recordings (Divox, Arte Nova – Sony BMG, Gallo, ABC classics and ProViva). Directly inspired from the years of working with N. Harnoncourt and William Christie, (predominantly in the ensemble “la Scintilla”) Jonathan has enriched his musical spheres not only with early music performing with the historical instrumental practise but has also branched out to include jazz concerts in his musical adventures. Jonathan continues to reside in Zurich as a member of Philharmonia Zurich.

Last updated 2023

Dale Barltrop

Posted on 25 August 2020 | by AWO | Leave a Comment

Australian Hometown(s): Brisbane & Melbourne
Education: University of Maryland; Cleveland Institute of Music

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Brisbane-born violinist, Dale Barltrop, is Concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and First Violinist of the Australian String Quartet. He previously served as Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Canada and Principal Second Violin of the St Paul Chamber Orchestra in the United States, having performed with all of these orchestras as soloist and director.

Barltrop has also appeared as Concertmaster of the Australian World Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle, guest director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, ACO2 and the Camerata of St John’s chamber orchestra in Brisbane. He has performed at numerous music festivals across North America, including Mainly Mozart, Festival Mozaic, Music in the Vineyards, Yellow Barn, Kneisel Hall, Tanglewood and the New York String Seminar.

Barltrop began his violin studies in Brisbane through the Queensland Instrumental Music Program, made his solo debut with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra at the age of 15 and was Concertmaster of both the Queensland and Australian Youth Orchestras. He moved to the United States in 1998 to attend the University of Maryland and continued his studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music. His teachers have included William Preucil, Gerald Fischbach, the members of the Guarneri Quartet, Elizabeth Morgan and Marcia Cox.

A passionate educator, Barltrop has served on the faculties of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School of Music and the Vancouver Academy of Music. He has also taught at the University of British Columbia, National Orchestral Institute in Maryland, Australian National Academy of Music and Australian Youth Orchestra.

Barltrop performs on a violin crafted by JB Guadagnini, Turin, 1784. It is on loan from the Ukaria Cultural Centre and was purchased through the generosity of Allan J Myers AO, Maria J Myers AO and the Klein Family.

Last updated 2023

Lucas Barr

Posted on 25 August 2020 | by AWO | Leave a Comment

Australian Hometown: Melbourne
Education: Victorian College for the Arts

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Lucas grew up in Melbourne where he could be found busking on the streets of Box Hill at the age of just 15. While studying at the Victorian College for the Arts, Lucas was invited to study in Austria where his teacher and mentor Brian Finlayson was appointed. With the help of a music loving Melbourne arts patron Lucas moved to Klagenfurt in southern Austria at 16 years of age.

Barr moved to Cologne two years later to continue his studies where he met his future wife Suzanne, a clarinettist. During this time Lucas played, toured and recorded with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra as well as playing as a soloist with various string quartets.

Lucas played with the prestigious Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and has played in almost all Australian World Orchestra concert seasons, including tours to India and Singapore. He currently holds a position with WDR Symphony Orchestra in Germany.

Last updated 2023

Lukas Beno

Posted on 25 August 2020 | by AWO | Leave a Comment

Education: Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Lukas Beno is Principal Trumpet of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and is also a member of both the Australian World Orchestra and the historic Bayreuth Festival Orchestra. In addition, he is a founding member of the Gewandhaus Brass Quintett, which successfully tours throughout Europe.

He has played as Guest Principal Trumpet with many prestigious international orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra in Hamburg and the Bavarian Radio Symphony.

Also as a celebrated soloist, Lukas Beno has performed with many European orchestras including the Gewandhausorchester, the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra and the Camerata Bern.

Parallel to his performing career, Lukas Beno holds a professorship at the Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts and gives regular master classes in Germany, USA, China, Australia, Venezuela, Cyprus, Brazil, Taiwan and Singapore.

Last updated 2022

Michael Brooks-Reid

Posted on 24 August 2020 | by AWO

Australian Hometown: Melbourne
Education: University of Melbourne

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
A member of one of Europe’s finest chamber orchestras, Camerata Bern, Michael works closely with musicians such as Steven Isserlis, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Sergio Azzolini, Antje Weithaas and Eric Höbarth (Quartuor Mosaïques), often in a chamber music context, as well as being regularly called on to lead and direct the ensemble himself.

Currently based in Munich, Michael makes guest appearances with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, German Radio Philharmonic, Bavarian State Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Aurora Orchestra, Sinfonia of London and Kammerakademie Potsdam and is a member of the Australian World Orchestra. Michael has played under many esteemed conductors, including the late greats Pierre Boulez and Claudio Abbado.

Since 2017, Michael has been a member of the Logos Chamber Group at the Joy of Music Festival in Hong Kong, where he has played chamber music with renowned members of the Hong Kong International Piano Competition jury including Peter Donohoe and Pascal Rogé.

As soloist, Michael has toured with the Camerata Bern and Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, recently performing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in Melbourne, regional Victoria and throughout the Canton of Bern to critical acclaim.

From 2004-2008, Michael was Leader and Artistic director of the Australian Classical Players, where he programmed and directed the concert season from the first violins. Following this, Michael joined the Hamer Quartet, with whom he won the inaugural Asia-Pacific International Chamber Music Competition in 2008 and was subsequently named in The Age newspaper’s annual ‘100 most influential people in Australia’ list. Michael’s violin was made by Nicolo Gagliano in Naples in 1751.

Last updated 2023

Damien Eckersley

Posted on 23 August 2020 | by AWO | Leave a Comment

Australian Hometown(s): Canberra & Melbourne
Education: Canberra School of Music; University for Music and Fine Arts in Graz

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Damien Eckersley was appointed Associate Principal double bass of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in 2020 after 13 years in Melbourne as a member of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He serves on the faculty at the Australian National Academy of Music. He has performed as principal bass with orchestras in Australia and all over the world including the Tasmanian, Melbourne, Queensland Symphony Orchestras, the Australian World Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Graz Philharmonic, the Tönkunstler Orchester and Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa.

He has also performed with the Sydney Symphony, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Opera Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera, the Vienna Philharmonic and the WDR Symphony Orchestra Köln.

Damien studied with Max Mcbride at the Canberra School of Music and with Professor Tim Dunin at the University for Music and Fine Arts in Graz, Austria.

As a soloist, Damien has performed with orchestras and in recital in Australia, Austria, Germany, China , Hong Kong and Japan.

Damien has appeared in chamber music festivals throughout the world as a player and director.
Damien is passionate about education and combines his studio teaching with coaching young musicians in chamber music and orchestral technique as well as giving master classes throughout Australia and Asia.

He has worked with young musicians of the Kanazawa University Orchestra, the Australian Youth Orchestra, the Australian Chamber Orchestra Academy, and most extensively with members of the Australian National Academy of Music. His students perform professionally throughout Australia and the world.

Last updated 2023