YOUNG SYMPHONISTS - WIND, BRASS & PERCUSSION

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Young Symphonists is an orchestral program, designed to fire the imaginations of young wind, brass and percussion players, aged 12 to 17 years. The program provides instrumental training and musical development within an inspirational and nurturing environment, where the focus is not only on learning core repertoire, but on spending time with other like-minded young musicians.

Under the direction and mentorship of David Elton, one of Australia’s leading trumpeters, musicians will be introduced to core symphonic wind, brass and percussion repertoire.

With support from a staff of key wind, brass and percussion professionals, musicians will be given specialised instrumental training, and be guided through challenging repertoire in dedicated tutorials and masterclasses. They will also be exposed to the world of chamber music, through participation in wind quintets, brass and percussion ensembles.

Outside of rehearsals, there is plenty of time for recreation and social activity, where they can meet and network with fellow musicians.

Since its inception in 2007, Young Symphonists - Wind, Brass & Percussion has become one of Australian Youth Orchestra’s pivotal programs in the development of young instrumentalists. For many of the country’s best young players, Young Symphonists is their first opportunity to meet other talented musicians from all parts of Australia. Many of the Australian Youth Orchestra’s current players received specialist training in the Young Symphonists programs.

“My daughter had the most fantastic time and her percussion enthusiasm was rekindled…this program was a brilliant motivator”Parent of Young Symphonists – Wind, Brass & Percussion participant

MUSIC DIRECTOR & TRUMPET: David Elton

David Elton is Principal Trumpet of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. Before his move to WASO in 2005, David held the Principal Trumpet position with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra for four years. He also performs regularly as a guest with the Melbourne Symphony, the Queensland Orchestra and the Singapore Symphony.David’s performances include Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s 2004, Masters Series and the world premiere of James Ledger’s Trumpet Concerto in 2007 with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.


Raised in Sydney, David studied with Paul Goodchild and holds a Bachelor of Music from the Queensland Conservatorium and a Master of Music from Northwestern University (USA), where he was a student of Charles Geyer. He was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and shared first prize in the International Trumpet Guild’s Student Solo Competition held in Kentucky USA. David is currently teaching at the University of Western Australia and the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts, where he also conducts the Brass Ensemble. He has also held teaching positions at the Queensland Conservatorium and Adelaide University.

Flute

Flautist Sally Walker returned to Australia in 2006 after having been in Europe for 9 years where she was a member of the Cologne Chamber Orchestra and Principal Flute of the Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss before playing full-time with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. She has worked with conductors including Riccardo Chailly, Herbert Blomstedt, Kurt Masur,  Sir Roger Norrington and has recorded and toured with the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle with performances at the London Proms, the Lucerne and Salzburg Festivals.  As Guest Principal, she has performed with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Norddeutscherundfunk Radio Philharmonie Hannover, the Kammerakademie Potsdam, the Auckland Philharmonia, Australian Opera and Ballet, Adelaide Symphony and Queensland Orchestras; and has played with Early Music ensembles such as: Das Neue Orchester Koln, the Leipzig Chamber Orchestra, Neues Bachisches Collegium Leipzig and the Heidelberger Symphoniker, working with conductors such as Christopher Hogwood, Phillipe Herriweghe and Christoph Spering.

Sally has performed as soloist on modern flute, baroque flute and piccolo with orchestras including the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn, the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra, Neues Rheinisches Kammerorchester and the L'Accademia Filarmonica Verona. She was finalist in the Leonardo de Lorenzo International Flute Competition in Italy, won 2nd Prize in the Friedrich Kuhlau International Flute Competition in Germany and was the recipient of the Ian Potter Foundation Cultural Award, the German Government Scholarship and the Queen's Trust Prize.

She began her position of Lecturer of Flute at the Newcastle Conservatorium of Music in 2007 and has been a Guest Lecturer for the Royal Irish Academy of Music Dublin, the Australian National Academy of Music and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.  Her great love of chamber music has led to performances with guitarist Anthony Field, pianist Clemens Leske, Synergy Percussion, Ensemble Offspring, Halcyon the Australia Ensemble and eclectic combinations involving dancers and visual artists.

Oboe

Ngaire de Korte has been based in Sydney since 2004, and currently pursues a successful career as a freelance oboist. She holds a position as oboe lecturer at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and performs regularly with the Sydney Symphony, the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and various other smaller ensembles in Sydney, such as the Sydney Omega Ensemble, Halcyon Ensemble, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and Ensemble Offspring.

Prior to 2004, she has undertaken a variety of work and study opportunities in Australia and overseas. She undertook a Bachelor of Music degree at the Victorian College of the Arts  from 1993-5, studying with Anne Gilby and Jeffrey Crellin, during which time she played principal oboe for two years with the Australian Youth Orchestra. On graduating from the VCA she moved to Sydney, where she was on contract with the Sydney Symphony for eighteen months. During this time she was awarded the Dame Elizabeth Murdoch travel grant from the VCA, and performed as a section finalist for the ABC’s Young Performers Awards.

She undertook postgraduate study with Emmanuel Abbuhl in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, from 1997-2001. Whilst based in Europe, she was a member of the UBS Verbier Festival Youth Orchestra, where she performed under conductors such as James Levine, Zubin Mehta and Paavo Jarvi. She also performed and toured with ensembles such as the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Netherlands’ Radio Chamber Orchestra, and the Combattimento Consort, Amsterdam.

She returned to Australia in 2001, taking up a contract with the ACO, before she accepted the position as Associate Principal oboe with the Auckland Philharmonia in New Zealand, in 2002, where she was based for two years.

She is currently in the final stages of completing a Masters Degree in creative writing at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Photography by Bridgit Elliot.

Clarinet

Frank Celata graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 1987. Following studies in Amsterdam with Piet Honingh of the Concertgebouw Orchestra and in Siena with Giuseppe Garbarino, he returned to Australia in 1991 where he was appointed Principal Clarinet with the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra. He has appeared on a number of occasions as guest Principal Clarinet with the London Symphony Orchestra, most recently in February 2009 and has also performed on CD recordings with the LSO.

Frank has been a member of the Sydney Symphony since 1993, and has appeared as soloist on a number of occasions including performances of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, Bernstein's Prelude, Fugue and Riffs, Krommer's Double Clarinet Concerto with Lawrence Dobell, and a concerto written for him by Australian composer Gordon Kerry. He has also appeared as soloist with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and the Auckland Philharmonia. Frank Celata is an active chamber musician and is the founder of one of Sydney's leading chamber ensembles, the Sydney Soloists. He also a dedicated pedagogue and holds the position of lecturer in Clarinet at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music where he has taught since 1994. He has also tutored on several occasions at National Music Camp and for the Australian Youth Orchestra.

Bassoon

Mark Gaydon holds a Bachelor of Music degree, with first class honours and the University Medal.  In his year of graduation he performed Elgar’s Romance for bassoon as soloist with the Queensland Pops Orchestra, won the Queensland Conservatorium’s Postgraduate Performance Competition and toured China with the Australian Youth Orchestra. In 1999 Mark was awarded a Queen’s Trust Young Achiever Award, the Dame Roma Mitchell Churchill Fellowship and an Ian Potter Cultural Trust Fellowship to continue his studies overseas.  In 2002, Mark Gaydon was guest bassoonist with the New London Chamber Ensemble which performed at the International Double Reed Society Convention in Banff, Canada.  Since 2003 Mark holds the position of Principal Bassoon with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.. He has performed as soloist with the orchestra in Jean Francaix’s Divertissement for bassoon and strings, W. A. Mozart’s Concerto for bassoon in B flat major and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich‘s Concerto for Bassoon.  An avid teacher, Mark is also the bassoon instructor at the University of Adelaide’s Elder School of Music and in 2007 was a guest artist at the Australian Youth Orchestra’s National Music Camp and the Australian National Academy of Music.

 

Horn

Rachel Silver is a member of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra horn section, a position she has held since 2006.   She has also performed with the Sydney Symphony, the Melbourne Symphony, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, The Queensland Orchestra, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Victoria. 

Rachel was raised in Melbourne, and came to the horn relatively late, at age 15, after learning other instruments.  She completed her Bachelor of Music at the Victorian College of the Arts with first class honours, studying with Graeme Evans.  She then went on to complete the Advanced Performance Program at the Australian National Academy of Music, tutored by Michael Thompson. 

Rachel was a member of the Jeunesses Musicales World Youth Orchestra, and toured to Europe and Asia with this group.  On her return to Australia, she moved around the country performing contracts with almost all of the Australian symphony orchestras, before winning the position with the WASO.

Rachel is also an accomplished pianist, having completed her L.Mus.A, and performs regularly as an accompanist and associate artist in recitals.

Low Brass

Michael Wyborn studied trombone at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. His teachers included Baden McCarron, Arthur Hubbard, Ron Prussing and Gordon Webb.

Since graduating in 1992 Michael has worked as freelance musician based in Sydney. In 1994 he was a participant in the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan. Here he received guidance and played in chamber and symphonic concerts with members of the Houston Symphony, Vienna Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestras, as well as working with the late Japanese composer, Toro Takemitsu.

Michael has performed with many orchestras, including the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Australian Opera & Ballet Orchestra, Bolshoi Ballet, English Royal Ballet, Queensland Philharmonic, Sydney Philharmonia, Sydney Symphony and the State Orchestra of Victoria. He was the trombonist in the Sydney production of Phantom of the Opera for 15 months.

Currently Michael is the Instrumental Music Program Coordinator at St Mary’s Cathedral College Sydney and Brass teacher at Sydney Grammar Edgecliff Preparatory School.

Percussion

Richard Gleeson graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with High Distinction in Percussion in 1993. A multi-faceted freelance percussionist and timpanist Richard sustains balance between the symphonic, 'Broadway', recording, commercial and contemporary arenas. He performs regularly across Australia and New Zealand as well as throughout Asia. Recent performances include Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai.

Recording and performance credits include - Australian Chamber Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, Tasmanian Symphony, Australian Opera & Ballet Orchestra, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, The Australia Ensemble, The Whitlams, Sir George Martin, Al Jareau, Harry Connick Jr, Synergy Percussion, Paris Opera Ballet, Kirov Ballet, Opening & Closing Ceremonies Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Doha 2006 Asian Games - Ceremonies, Sprung Percussion, Sydney Spring International Festival of New Music, Roger Woodward, Christian Lindberg, Big Bang Theory, Coda, AustraLYSIS, Russell Crowe.

Music Theatre Credits include - The Phantom of the Opera - Percussion Supervisor Australasian tour, Miss Saigon - Percussion Supervisor Australasian tour, The Lion King, A Grand Night for Singing, Titanic - a new Musical, Zorba the Musical, The Music of Andrew LLoyd Webber - Anthony Warlow & Sarah Brightman - Australasian Tour, The Helpmann Awards.

Film Credits include - Australia, December Boys, Changi Mini Series, South Pacific, The Bank, George of the Jungle 2, On the Beach, Dirty Deeds, Moulin Rouge.

Commercial Credits include - Foxtel Showtime, Channel 9 Wide World of Sports.

Teaching & Examining credits include - Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Victorian College of the Arts, Australian Film Television & Radio School.

Richard’s long history with the AYO includes Principal Percussionist for the AYO 1993 New Zealand tour, Principal Timpanist for the AYO 1994 European Tour, Principal Percussionist for the AYO 1995 Australian Tour, Principal Timpanist for the Camerata 1995 Australian Tour. Richard attended New Music Now, Easter Brass & Percussion Academy, Summer Academy & was selected for a fellowship with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

 

This program is made possible by the generous

support of the Colonial Foundation Trust