Kettering Concerts

Kettering Concerts


Kettering Concert 2011-10-30

Diemen Quartet
Jeremy Williams (violin), Yuen Yum San Williams (violin), Josephine St. Leon (viola), Brendan Conroy (cello)

String Quartets

Diemen Quartet

Programme:

  • Quartet No. 2 in D major, K. 155 – Wolfgang A. Mozart (1756-1791)
  • String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op 110 – Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
  • String Quartet Op. 18, No. 4 in C minor – Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Sunday 30 October 2011, 3pm
Kettering Community Hall
Tickets available at the door
$7.50
Stay for the post-concert afternoon tea, meet and chat with the musicians.

Diemen Quartet

The Diemen Quartet was formed in 2011 by four musicians who having collaborated in many concerts together decided to give more regular performances together. Over the coming year they will be exploring the works of Beethoven and his contemporaries and will be giving concerts throughout Tasmania. You can hear them perform at St David' Cathedral at 1pm on October 27th and again at the Kettering Concerts series on October 30th at 3pm.

In 2012 Diemen Quartet will be quartet in residence at the Conservatorium.


Jeremy Williams

Following a period with the London Symphony Orchestra, Jeremy Williams was invited to join the internationally acclaimed Delme String Quartet and has since been dedicated to chamber music. As a member of the Nash Ensemble he played both violin and viola, and was also violinist for several years with the York Piano Trio.

In 1998 Jeremy took up the position of Principal Viola with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2003 he moved to Australia as a member the Australian string Quartet, later the Grainger Quartet. As a chamber musician he has appeared at major international festivals including Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Bath, Salzburg, Hong Kong, Sydney, Adelaide and Prague Spring. Jeremy is currently Lecturer in Chamber Music at the Hobart Conservatorium of Music.


Yuen Yum San Williams

Born in Shanghai, Yuen Yum was the first recipient of the Hong Kong Government Music Scholarship to study at Wells Cathedral School, England, going on to graduate from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 1986 Yuen Yum joined the Orchestra of St John's Smith Square, touring both nationally and worldwide. She has performed extensively with the London Wren Orchestra, the Bolshoi Ballet, the London Metropolitan Orchestra and the Hong Kong City Chamber Orchestra.

Yuen Yum has worked with musicians as diverse as Igor Oistrakh, the Amadeus quartet and Quincy Jones. Yuen Yum's awards include the Somerset Violin Competition (UK), the Hong Kong Commercial Radio Prize (Twice Winner) and the Hong Kong Concerto Prize. As well as performing, Yuen Yum has played an active role in educating young violinists in London, Hong Kong and Australia. Fluent in three Chinese languages, she has also travelled widely in her capacity as a concert manager and coordinated the 2005 Australian String Quartet tour of China and the 2007 Southern Cross Soloists tour of Hong Kong and China. Yuen Yum is an Associate Lecturer at the Hobart conservatorium UTAS and Principal Music Educator of the Young Conservatorium Program.


Josephine St. Leon

Jo studied the viola with Christopher Marting in Melbourne and Frederick Riddle in London. During her many years in London, she held Principal positions with the English National Ballet, Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet and the English Touring Opera. She was a member of the London Philharmonic Orchestra for thirteen years and their Education Director for two years. She was a regular freelance player ith the English Chamber Orchestra, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. As a chamber musician, Jo was a member of the Priory trio for 6 years, and played regularly with the Orchestra of St. John's Chamber Ensemble and Endymion Ensemble, with whom she premiered many works of contemporary British composers. She has appeared as soloist in the UK, Australia, China and South America.

Since returning to Australia late in 2006, Jo has held positions as Lecturer in Viola at the Tasmanian Conservatorium and Head of Strings at St. Michael's Collegiate. She has appeared as Guest Principal Viola with the Melbourne Symphony Orhcestra and was a member of the Diemen Quartet from 2011 - 2013. She is currently the violist of the Elanée Ensemble, plays regularly with Virtuosi Tasmania and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, teaches at the UTas Conservatorium and has a large private teching studio. She tutors annually at the Australian International Symphony Orchestra Institute in Hobart and the Residential Summer String Camp in Ulverstone, Tasmania.


Brendan Conroy

Brendan Conroy studied at the Tasmanian Conservatorium with Christian Wojtowicz, and at the Queensland Conservatorium with Markus Stocker. He undertook many short courses and masterclasses with international musicians both in Australia through the Australian National Academy of Music, the Australian Youth Orchestra and Youth Music Australia, and overseas in Europe and America.

Brendan was a member of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra for 10 years. During that time he had many appearances as acting principal cello, and also as a guest section cellist with the Sydney Symphony. He played with the Tasmanian Symphony String Quartet, the Tasman Trio, the TSO Chamber Players and Virtuosi Tasmania, in Tasmania and on national and international tours. He has performed regularly as a chamber musician for ABC FM live broadcasts and recordings in repertoire ranging from early music, playing gamba and baroque cello, through to contemporary chamber and solo works.




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