Kettering Concerts

Next Concert

Piano, Viola and Bass trio
Jennifer Marten-Smith (piano), William Newbery (viola), Stuart Thomson (bass)

Piano, Viola and Bass trio

Sunday 20 September 2026, 3pm
Kettering Community Hall
Tickets available on-line or at the door
$20 online or $25 at the door
Stay for the post-concert afternoon tea, meet and chat with the musicians.

Jennifer Marten-Smith

Jennifer grew up in Tasmania and at age 12 was invited to study with Professor Gediga-Glombitza at the Musikhochschule in Cologne. At age 16 she made her public debut with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra as soloist in Schumann's A minor Piano Concerto, having previously recorded the Rimsky-Korsakov Piano Concerto with the TSO. Two years later she performed the Rubinstein Piano Concerto No 4 with the TSO and, that same year, was the youngest graduate of the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music, where she was awarded a high distinction as a double major in piano performance and accompaniment. Other concertos in her repertoire include works by Beethoven, Brahms, Dohnányi, Mozart, Saint-Saëns and Tchaikovsky, and she has appeared as soloist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Niedersächsisches Staatsorchester Hannover.
In 1989 she began work as a repetiteur with the State Opera of South Australia and subsequently joined the Victorian State Opera Young Artist Programme. Between 1997 and 2001 she was repetiteur at the Staatsoper Hannover and was a full-time member of the music staff with Opera Australia from 2001 to 2012. She has more than 90 operas in her repertoire. Jennifer, a member of the Kettering Piano Quartet, is now living in Hobart, and is in demand as a soloist, accompanist and vocal coach.

William Newbery

William returned to Adelaide from Cologne, Germany, in March 2005 having completed a Musik Diplom at the Hochschule für Musik Köln. His previous studies comprise the special music programme at Marryatville High School, a Bachelor of Music Degree with first class honours from the Elder Conservatorium and the Advanced Performance Programme at the Australian National Academy of Music.
William was a regular guest player with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra from 1996 to 2007. He has also been a guest of the Tasmanian, Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestras. He was the founding principal violist of the Adelaide Art Orchestra and has been broadcast on ABC FM playing a concerto for viola and computer. In 2007 William became a permanent member of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.
Since joining the TSO William has been a regular performer for Virtuosi Tasmania and has also made a broadcast for ABC FM Sunday Live. He tutors viola for the Tasmanian Youth Orchestra and has also given chamber music performances for MONA FOMA and the Kegelstatt Ensemble in Adelaide.

Stuart Thomson

Born in Edinburgh, Stuart Thomson began playing the double bass at age nine and later joined the Hampshire County Youth Orchestra, which inspired him to become a professional musician. He studied with Duncan McTier and Corin Long at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) in Manchester and was awarded the Eugene Cruft Prize for Double Bass. While at the RNCM he began working professionally with the Hallé, BBC Philharmonic and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic orchestras. Subsequent freelance work included engagements with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, London Symphony, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Philharmonische Werkstatt in Switzerland. In 1999 he joined the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and in 2001 moved to Australia to play with the Sydney Symphony. The following year he was appointed Associate Principal of The Queensland Orchestra and in late 2003 took up the post of Principal Double Bass with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (TSO). He has also received invitations to guest as principal with the Adelaide and West Australian Symphony orchestras. In 2005 he made his solo debut with the TSO playing alongside Alex Henery in Bottesini's Passione Amorosa for two double basses. Then again in 2011 with Tubin's concerto for double bass and in 2015, he performed the Australian premiere of Tan Dun's Double bass concerto The Wolf. In December this year he will appear again as soloist with The Wolf and the TSO in Hobart and on the TSO's tour of China. An active chamber musician, he is a founding member and co-artistic director of the Elanée Ensemble focusing on music for viola and double bass. He also teaches at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music.

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