Tutors

Michele Walsh Artistic Director

Michele Walsh is delighted to be returning to Mt Buller with her friends in the Merlin Ensemble, for the 40 year celebration of the Chamber Music Summer School

A graduate of the University of Adelaide and winner of the prestigious ABC Instrumental Competition, violinist Michele Walsh undertook further studies in London with distinguished violinist Szymon Goldberg. She has appeared as soloist with major orchestras in Australia and has performed in the UK, USA, Canada, Europe and South-East Asia. Formerly Associate Concertmaster of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, a position she held for over a decade, she is currently Associate Professor in Violin and Head of Strings at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University.

Michele was a founding member of the Griffith Trio, which for over a decade performed in major centres in South East Asia. She is a frequent guest at chamber music festivals around the country and was a regular Director of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music Winterschool. Recently Michele returned to Montreal as a performer and faculty member at the Schulich School of Music’s Musical Chairs program.

Michele has a particular interest in fostering young musicians and working in regional areas. She is very committed to the work of the Australian Youth Orchestra, having served as a Board member and Chair of the Artistic committee for many years. She continues close association with the AYO through their Council and regular involvement in their programs.  She is in demand as a guest teacher and frequently serves on competition juries in Australia and South-East Asia.  Many of her former students are major competition prize winners and hold positions in Australia, Europe, USA and Asia.

Michele is currently on the Board of Directors of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.

 

Lachlan Bramble – Violin

Lachlan Bramble is a violinist, educator as well as an union activist and occasional recording producer.

Currently Lachlan is Associate Principal 2^nd Violin of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and violinist with the Benaud Trio. He has also been a guest musician with the Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, Orchestra Victoria and the Australian String Quartet.

A passionate educator, Lachlan has tutored violins of the Australian Youth Orchestra, the Adelaide Youth Orchestra and at many National Music Camps. He has also been a tutor at the Chamber Music Summer School – Mount Buller, is Program Coordinator of the Adelaide Chamber Music School and was Director of the Elder Conservatorium Chamber Orchestra from 2011 – 2015. Lachlan also enjoys teaching violin privately.

Lachlan began violin lessons from his mother in the mid-80s. He went on to study music at the University of Melbourne under Mark Mogilevsky and continued with Barbara-Jane Gilby at the Australian National University gaining a Masters degree in Music Performance. Lachlan has also taken lessons in Europe with Lydia Mordkovitch, Howard Davis, Dora Schwarzberg, Peter Sheppard-Skaerved and performed in masterclasses with Cho-Liang Lin and Regis Pasquier. He was a member of the Australian Youth Orchestra from 2001 to 2005, performing as concertmaster in 2005.

In his spare time, Lachlan is a delegate with the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, recording producer and plays indoor cricket with the Full Tossers.

Caroline Henbest – Viola

Caroline Henbest is a Violist and Feldenkrais Practitioner based in Melbourne, Australia. She performs as a chamber musician, soloist, and enjoys regular appearances at festivals such as the Stradbroke Island Chamber Music Festival and Music by the Springs. Since 2015 she has been Resident Viola Faculty at the Australian National Academy of Music.

As well as the viola, Caroline also loves to play the violin, though generally with friends who don’t earn their living as performers. Her love of music-making with community musicians came from her father, a passionate amateur violinist, violist and cellist. Working with non-professional musicians, and reading chamber music with friends who love to play for fun, brings another dimension to her musical life. Caroline has taught on many occasions at the Mount Buller Chamber Music Summer School.

Early in her career she was violist in the Mistry Quartet and performed with many UK based chamber orchestras and ensembles. She has acted as guest principal with the SSO, MSO and TSO, as well as the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Philharmonia, City of London Sinfonia, Glyndebourne on Tour, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Caroline moved to Australia from England in 1993 to be Principal Viola with the ACO. She was a full-time member for eight years and a part-time member for ten.

Her teachers at the Yehudi Menuhin School and Guildhall School of Music & Drama included Robert Masters, David Takeno & Hans Keller

Caroline’s recent Master of Music Research degree (Griffith) explored creative collaboration through composition and performance.

Patricia Pollett – Viola

Patricia Pollett is one of Australia’s leading string players. Well known as an advocate of new music for the viola, she has commissioned, performed and recorded numerous solo works by leading Australian composers. For her solo CDs of Australian music, Patricia has been internationally lauded for her ‘…inspired and virtuosic performances…” (The Strad) and for “… her daring, her imagination, and her innate musicianship…” (The Journal of the American Viola Society). She was honoured for this work with an APRA Australian Music Centre Classical Music Award for the Most Distinguished Contribution to the Presentation of Australian Composition by an Individual.

Patricia has performed as soloist and chamber musician with major Australian ensembles and orchestras and has extensive international performance experience, particularly with the Italian string ensemble I Solisti Veneti. She was a founding member of the contemporary ensemble Perihelion, and the ensemble White Halo, both resident at the University of Queensland.

Patricia has appeared as guest principal viola with several major orchestras including Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, and Welsh National Opera Orchestra. She is in demand as a teacher, giving masterclasses for leading education institutions in Australia and overseas including the Australian National Academy of Music and New York University. An active contribution to the development of the arts in Australia has led to her participation on the boards of the Australia Council, the Australian Music Centre, and the Australian Youth Orchestra. She is a Professor on staff at The University of Queensland where she was Director of Performance and Engagement for many years.

Rosemary Quinn – Cello

Rosemary Quinn is a highly accomplished cellist with a career spanning orchestral, chamber and solo performances. She studied at the Queensland Conservatorium before furthering her training in Germany and Italy under renowned mentors.

Rosemary was a core member of the Australian Chamber Orchestra from 1990 to 1996, and she also performed with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra.

Rosemary has been a long-standing member of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and is a founding member of chamber ensembles such as the Merlin Ensemble, Trio Pollastri and now ‘Up close and Musical’ performing regularly across Australia.

Beyond performance she has dedicated over 25 years to music education, teaching at leading institutions including Sydney Youth Orchestra, SCEGGS Darlinghurst, Sydney Grammar School and St. Catherine’s School.

Patrick Murphy – Cello

Cellist of the internationally acclaimed Tinalley String Quartet, Patrick regularly appears in performances throughout Australia. He was a founding member of the international prize-winning Tankstream Quartet, who were invited by the Australian Government to perform at the Royal Wedding of Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark and Mary Donaldson. Patrick was as a member of the Southern Cross Soloists between (2011-17) and performed frequently with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. Recent concerto performances have included appearances with the Camerata-Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra, Brisbane Symphony Orchestra, The Metropolitan Orchestra (Sydney), and the University of Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Patrick has also commissioned and premiered many new works for chamber music and solo cello. He can be heard on recent ABC Classics releases ‘Mendelssohn String Quartets opus 44, 80, 81’ with the Tinalley String Quartet, and ‘Oranges under the Full Moon: Chamber Music by Paul Stanhope’, with UQ colleagues Adam Chalabi and Liam Viney.