Roger Benedict: Principal Viola

ROGER ALLEN & MAGGIE GRAY CHAIR

Roger Benedict studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, and in 1991 he was appointed Principal Viola of London’s Philharmonia Orchestra. In 2002 he moved to Australia, taking up the positions of Principal Viola and Artistic Director of the Fellowship Program with the Sydney Symphony. He continues to perform as guest principal with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

As a soloist, he has appeared with the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Ulster orchestras; Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, Japan; and the Sydney Symphony. He has recorded for BBC Radio 3, including Michael Berkeley’s Viola Concerto, which he premiered, and he is frequently heard on ABC Classic FM. In 2010 he released Volupté, a recording of music by Koechlin and Jongen.

He has performed Strauss’s Don Quixote many times, and in Sydney, Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante, Berlioz’s Harold in Italy, Ford’s Unquiet Grave  and Vaughan Williams’ Flos campi. He has played chamber music with Lorin Maazel, Simon Rattle, Louis Lortie and Leif Ove Andsnes, and in 2009 he performed Feldman’s Rothko Chapel for the opening concerts of the Melbourne Recital Centre.

He is a Senior Lecturer at the Sydney Conservatorium and a Visiting Artist at the Australian National Academy of Music, and he has conducted education programs for the Sydney Symphony. He has also conducted the Auckland Philharmonia and the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra.

He plays a Carlo Antonio Testore viola made in Milan in 1753.

Tobias Breider: Principal Viola

German violist Tobias Breider was born in 1973 in the city of Münster and studied violin and piano from the age of six. He began studying viola with Rainer Moog in Cologne, completing his Master’s degree with distinction. A German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) scholarship allowed him to continue his studies in New York with Michael Tree of the Guarneri Quartet. Following his return to Germany, he enrolled in the soloist program at the music academy in Lübeck, studying with Barbara Westphal.
His intensive study of chamber music has included lessons with the Alban Berg Quartet, the Juilliard String Quartet, Sarah Nelsova and Miriam Fried, among others. He has been invited to appear in festivals such as Ravinia, Schleswig-Holstein, OCM Cornwall, Music at Plush (Dorset), Sarasota and Muzik3 (California).
Tobias Breider was a fulltime member of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra for seven years, working with such conductors as Lorin Maazel and Mariss Jansons. In 2008–09 he was Principal Viola in the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg under Simone Young. He has also appeared as guest principal with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin and orchestras in Vienna and Cologne. He joined the Sydney Symphony in 2011.

Anne-Louise Comerford: Associate Principal Viola

Anne-Louise Comerford began playing the violin and piano at the age of five. She attended the Sydney Conservatorium High School and completed her degree at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, studying with Robert Pikler.

She was a founding member of the Australian Chamber Orchestra and won a scholarship to study with Joseph De Pasquale at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. During this time she attended the New York String Seminar with Alexander Schneider, and also worked with the Stockholm Ensemble in Sweden.

In 1980, she began studies with Bruno Giuranna at the Nordwestdeutsche Musikakademie in Detmold, Germany, and took part in his masterclasses at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy.

Anne-Louise Comerford returned to Australia to join the Sydney Symphony in 1987. She has previously held the position of Principal Viola in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and has appeared as guest principal viola with many other Australian orchestras. She is also active as a chamber musician and has performed with the Australia Ensemble and the Sydney Soloists as well as appearing for Musica Viva, and recording for ABC Classic FM. Anne-Louise Comerford has recorded the viola works of Miriam Hyde and is a regular guest at the Kowmung Music Festival in Oberon.

Anne-Louise Comerford plays a Domenico Degani viola made in Montagnana in 1860.

Robyn Brookfield: Viola

Robyn Brookfield was born in Sydney and studied with Robert Pikler at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music and with Cecil Aronowitz in London.

Following her studies, she worked in Melbourne with the Elizabethan Theatre Trust Orchestra and subsequently with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. She travelled to Europe and studied at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy, before settling in England for more than a decade.

In the UK, Robyn Brookfield was a member of the Royal Ballet Orchestra and later the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra in Manchester. During this time she maintained a strong interest in chamber music, singing and Scottish fiddle music, and also taught violin and viola. From 1977, she worked as a freelance musician with orchestras such as the BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, and Oxford Pro Musica.

Active as a chamber musician, Robyn Brookfield also plays viola with The Glenaeon Ensemble. She performs on an A. E. Smith viola made in Sydney in 1952.

Robyn Brookfield joined the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 1991.

Sandro Costantino: Viola

Sandro Costantino was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, to Italian parents. He began his musical studies on the violin and joined the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional when he was 17.

In 1980, he moved to Portland, Maine, to study with the Portland String Quartet. It was during his studies with Julia Adams and the Portland Symphony Orchestra that he turned his attention to the viola.

Sandro Costantino moved to Italy in 1982 and studied with Armando Burattin at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan. Following his studies he worked with the Orchestra I Pomeriggi Musicali, the RAI Orchestra of Milan, and at the Teatro alla Scala.

In 1987, he moved back to the USA to undertake postgraduate studies with Walter Trampler and Louis Krasner at the New England Conservatory in Boston. While in Boston, he auditioned for the New Zealand String Quartet, and subsequently moved to Wellington. He spent the next few years performing with the NZSQ before returning to Italy where he worked with the Angelicum Orchestra of Milan and later with I Solisti Veneti in Padua.

In 1991, he returned to Wellington and joined the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. He moved to Sydney in 1995 and joined the Sydney Symphony Orchestra the same year.

Sandro Costantino plays an Arturo Fracassi viola made in Cesena in 1933.

Graham Hennings: Viola

Jane Hazelwood: Veolia Environmental Services Chair

Jane Hazelwood studied at the Sydney Conservatorium with Alexandru Todicescu.  From 1983 to 1986, she furthered her studies with Wolfram Christ in Berlin where she played regularly as a casual with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. 

In 1986 Jane returned to Australia to become Principal violist of the Australian Chamber Orchestra.  From 1990 to 1995 she was Lecturer in Strings at the Victorian College of the Arts.  She is currently a member of the Sydney Symphony and plays as a guest artist with various chamber music ensembles.

 

Stuart Johnson: Viola

Stuart Johnson began viola studies while a violin student at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. He moved to Sydney in 2000 where he became involved with the Sydney Sinfonia program and also freelanced with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. In 2001 he was awarded the Sydney Symphony Fellowship and appeared as a James Fairfax Young Artist.

In 2003 he undertook further study at the Australian National Academy of Music, studying viola and chamber music with various international artists. In the same year he was awarded a publisher’s prize at the 8th Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition.

As a violist, Stuart Johnson has appeared with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Australian Chamber Orchestra and has played as a soloist with Orchestra Victoria. He has held a permanent position with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and has acted in principal roles on various occasions. He has also featured in numerous chamber music broadcasts for ABC Classic FM.

He has taught at the University of Melbourne and has been involved with orchestral tutoring and individual mentoring schemes with the Australian Youth Orchestra, notably through their joint fellowship program with the MSO.

Stuart Johnson joined the SSO in 2009 and currently plays an Australian viola crafted in 2001 by Sydney maker John D. Johnston.

Justine Marsden: Viola

Justine Marsden began piano studies at the Sydney Conservatorium with Nancy Salas, followed by violin studies with Alice Waten. She attended the Conservatorium High School, where she studied viola with Winifred Durie and Alex Todicescu, and completed her Bachelor’s degree with Merit at the Sydney Conservatorium in 1984.

From 1985, she continued postgraduate studies in Berlin for four years with Wolfram Christ. During her time in Berlin, she played as a casual member of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and was a member of Ensemble Oriol Berlin. She performed as soloist with the Baden-Badener Philharmonie and as principal guest violist of the Orchestra of the Berliner Kammeroper.

Justine Marsden returned to Australia in 1989 and joined the Australian Chamber Orchestra, with whom she occasionally acted as Principal Viola. She has also worked as both a soloist and orchestra member with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. From 1991 to 1993, she was a member of the Novalis Quartet and has performed as guest artist with the Ku-ring-gai Virtuosi and the Grevillea Ensemble. She has recorded music by Margaret Sutherland with her sister, violinist Marina Marsden, with whom she also performed Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante with Orchestra 143 in 2004.

Justine has been a member of the Sydney Symphony since 1990, acting as Associate and Assistant Principal Viola on occasion. In 2004, she was awarded a Sydney Symphony Friends and Michael and Mary Whelan Trust Scholarship to further her viola studies with Wolfram Christ in Germany and to research issues relating to musicians’ health at the Kurt Singer Institute in Berlin.

Leonid Volovelsky: Viola

Felicity Tsai: Viola