Sydney Symphony Fellowship 2011

Freya Franzen, violin

Freya Franzen began playing the violin at the age of six in Canberra with Gillian Bailey- Graham privately, and later as a pre-tertiary student at the Canberra School of Music. In her final year of school, she was the recipient of the ACT Board of Secondary Studies Recognition of Excellence Award for Performing Arts (Music). Freya was then accepted into the Bachelor of Music (performance) degree at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and graduated with first class Honours in 2008, studying with Associate Professor Goetz Richter and Mr Christopher Kimber.

During her time at the Sydney Conservatorium, Freya was awarded many scholarships for excellence in violin, and participated in The Euro Arts Music Festival in Leipzig (2005) where she studied with Professor Klaus Hertel. She has since received master classes from Rudolf Koelman, Elizabeth Walfisch, Berent Korfker, The Jerusalem String Quartet, Arabella Steinbacher, Jacqueline Ross, David Takeno and Stephanie Gonley.

Throughout her school, university and post-university life, Freya has always been an avid chamber musician. She has been involved in the Canberra Youth Orchestra Society programs since the age of seven, and participated in all the orchestral ensembles available to students in the Sydney Conservatorium’s Orchestral Studies Program. These orchestral experiences have led to projects working under conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Charles Dutoit, Sachio Fujioka, Yannick Nezet-Seguin and Imre Pallo.

Freya currently plays as a core member of the Sydney Camerata Chamber Orchestra, and first violin in the Sydney Camerata String Quartet. She also appears with the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s Emerging Artists ensemble and regional touring group, ACO2.

Freya enjoys the challenges of exploring a wide range of musical genres in both her solo and ensemble playing. She has performed chamber music works on both period violin and viola, has given live performances of compositions by upcoming Australian composers and relishes the opportunity to get stuck into anything by Astor Piazzolla.

Tara Houghton, viola

Tara Houghton began studying the violin at the age of seven. She entered the Young Conservatorium program in Brisbane in 2002, studying with Michele Walsh. While studying at the Queensland Conservatorium, she began playing viola in chamber music, and in 2005 changed her principal study to viola. As a student, she was principal viola in the Conservatorium orchestras and the string ensemble Divertimenti. Her many awards and scholarships include the FW and EG Harmer Memorial Scholarship, Owen Fletcher Postgraduate Award, Gertrude Langer Ensemble Prize and the Ross Peters/4MBS Chamber Music Prize. She graduated in 2007 with first class honours, and subsequently studied with Roger Benedict, Fiona Sargeant and Monica Curro at the Australian National Academy of Music (2008–2009).

She has participated in various Australian Youth Orchestra programs, including career development programs with the Melbourne and Tasmanian symphony orchestras and, most recently, toured Asia and Europe as Associate Principal Viola of AYO. She is also a core member of the Sydney Camerata Chamber Orchestra and a casual violist with Orchestra Victoria. Tara also has extensive chamber music experience and has performed at festivals including the Australian International Festival of Chamber Music, the Bangalow Festival and the Musica Viva Chamber Music Festival.

Tara Houghton is completing a Master of Music Studies degree at the Sydney Conservatorium, with Roger Benedict, and is the recipient of the George Henderson Memorial Scholarship.

Adam Szabo, cello

Adam Szabo began his studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2008, as a recipient of the Board of Governors Scholarship. He is currently studying with Zoltan Szabo and Daniel Yeadon, and regularly leads the Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra and Conservatorium Chamber Orchestra. Since last year, he has been playing with the Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, working with them on a casual basis.

He is also a sought-after chamber musician, most recently having toured South Australia with the Blackwell String Quartet. He has played in masterclasses for a number of international artists, including the Elias Quartet, Elizabeth Wallfisch, Peter Brunz, Carolyn Warner and Anthony Marwood.

In addition to his chamber music and solo work, Adam Szabo is currently the Principal Cello of the Australian Youth Orchestra, and a member of the Sydney Sinfonia. In 2010, he toured Asia and Europe with the AYO, playing at venues including the Royal Albert Hall in London, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

 

Hugh Kluger, double bass

Hugh Kluger began playing the double bass in 1998 at the age of eight, studying under Chris Belshaw. In 2001 he commenced studies with Alex Henery, and was awarded an AMusA performance diploma with distinction in 2006. As a student at the Sydney Conservatorium he has participated in masterclasses with Paul Ellison, Kees Boersma, Matthew McDonald, Alex Henery, Joel Quarrington, Steve Reeves and François Rabbath, and has been a recipient of the Denise Prior Scholarship (2002), Sir Charles Mackerras Scholarship (2003–2008) and Florence Yeoman Scholarship (since 2009).

He has played in the Nova Youth Orchestra, the orchestras and ensembles at Sydney Grammar School, Rising Stars (2008) and was Principal Double Bass with the Sydney Conservatorium chamber, opera and symphony orchestras, last year leading the Conservatorium orchestra bass section in tours to Germany and the United States. He participated in the Australian Youth Orchestra and National Music Camp orchestras in 2005–2008, will partipate in the 2011 MSO AYO Fellowship and last year was a member of the Sydney Symphony’s Sinfonia.

His professional experience already includes work on movie soundtracks and pop recordings, recording sessions for the Yvonne Kenny and David Hobson duet disc, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Floyd Collins with Peter Cousens (Kookaburra), as well as work with the tango ensemble Fuego Lento. In 2011, Hugh is a member of the Orchestra Romantique, and is a casual player for the Sydney Symphony.

Katie Zagorski, flute

Katie Zagórski was an Australian National Academy of Music scholarship holder from 2006 to 2008, studying with Margaret Crawford, having previously graduated with first class honours from the Australian National University School of Music, where she studied with Vernon Hill and Virginia Taylor. During her studies, she was the recipient of the Flowers Honours Scholarship and performed the Ibert Flute Concerto with the University Orchestra. She has been a finalist in the New Zealand National Flute Competition, a winner of the Victorian Flute Guild Competition and a winner of the Australian International Flute Competition.

In addition to an active chamber music and solo career, Katie Zagórski has played principal flute with the Australian Youth Orchestra, touring with them to Europe in 2007. In the same year she worked as the Associate Principal Flute of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Today, Zagórski frequently plays with the Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, and has performed concerti with Orchestra Victoria and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

In 2009 she travelled to Europe for three months taking lessons and masterclasses with some of the worlds most highly renowned flautists, and played a solo recital at the Guildhall School of Music in London. That same year she was a category finalist in the ABC Symphony Australia Young Performers Awards. Last year she completed a selfdirected artist residency at the Banff Centre in Canada, and was selected to participate in the Carl Nielsen International Flute Competition in Denmark.

Rowena Watts, clarinet

Rowena Watts graduated with first-class honours from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2008 and is currently completing her Masters in Music Performance degree, also at the Conservatorium. Her teachers have included Mark Walton and Catherine McCorkill, and she has studied with Francesco Celata since 2008. She has also participated in masterclasses with Dimitri Ashkenazy, Colin Lawson, Peter Jenkin, Mark van der Wiel and Andrew Marriner. As a student, she was awarded the Board of Governors Scholarship and invited to join the Golden Key Honour Society in 2006.

She has performed as a casual musician with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, and as a member of the Sydney Sinfonia since 2009. She has also performed for Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, the Australian Youth Orchestra and Sydney Camerata Chamber Orchestra, and was principal clarinet of the SBS Youth Orchestra between 2007 and 2010.

As a soloist, Rowena Watts was a finalist in the Sydney Conservatorium Woodwind Section Concerto Competition in 2007 and in 2010 appeared with the SBS Youth Orchestra.

Melissa Woodroffe, bassoon

Melissa Woodroffe was born in Brisbane and studied clarinet for two years at the University of Queensland with Paul Dean before commencing bassoon at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music with Leesa Dean, graduating in 2008 with a Bachelor of Music. Since then she has studied with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s principal bassoonist, Matthew Wilkie, and then with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s associate principal bassoonist, Elise Millman, at the Australian National Academy of Music in 2010.

Melissa was principal bassoonist of the Queensland Youth Symphony for two years under the renowned John Curro, touring internationally with the orchestra in 2008 and performing the Weber Concerto in 2009. She has been a participant of AYO National Music Camp, the Australian International Summer Orchestral Institute, and Sydney Sinfonia and has played at such festivals as the Bangalow Music Festival and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music.

Since 2007, Melissa has worked casually with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria and Sydney Symphony, and has played with various chamber groups in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney including the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, Camerata of St Johns, Arcko, Southern Cross Soloists and Orchestra Romantique.

Katy Grisdale, french horn 

Katy Grisdale has played horn with most of the Australian symphony orchestras, most recently completing a nine-month contract with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. In 2009 she also played with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. She is also a casual member of Sydney Symphony, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra.

She graduated with first class honours from the Elder Conservatorium of Music in Adelaide, where she studied with Philip Hall and Philip Paine, before completing a graduate diploma at the Sydney Conservatorium, studying with Ben Jacks.

She was Principal Horn of the Australian Youth Orchestra for three years, touring to Europe in 2007,  and was a member of the Sydney Sinfonia from 2006 to 2008. She has also played on several movie soundtracks, including Jumper, Knowing and Australia.