Teaching


I teach double bass and viola da gamba to advanced level, and cello to intermediate level.

I also offer seminars in HIP (Historically Informed Performance). These can be tailored to the needs of your group: for example, professional development sessions for classroom and instrumental music teachers, or an introduction to Baroque style for music lovers. For more information. please see Lectures and Seminars.

For school orchestras and string ensembles, I offer an interesting hands-on introduction to HIP. Using suitable music with which the ensemble is already familiar, or materials provided by me (often facsimiles of the original parts) we learn together to play a Baroque or Classical piece with flair and style. Although it’s informed by researched principles of performance practice, this is not an exercise in pedantry, but in making great music sound even better. This is suitable for the school’s senior string ensemble or its symphony orchestra.

My first instrument was the cello, which I studied with Cordula Distler, Osric Fyfe and Cedric Ashton. I studied double bass with John Gray and Arthur Dixon, and later in Vienna with Prof. Hannes Auersperg. In Vienna I also had the good fortune to attend the classes of the late Ludwig Streicher. While in Austria I also studied viola da gamba with José Vazquez, attended the masterclasses of Wieland Kuijken, and studied performance practice with Nikolaus Harnoncourt. I've been a professional musician in symphony orchestras and other ensembles for over 30 years, and I'm an AMEB examiner.

Teaching rates: $70 per hour. For fees for workshops and seminars, please contact me.