Ironwood
Chamber Ensemble
Artists

Rachael Beesley violin
Julia Fredersdorff violin
Nicole Forsyth viola
Daniel Yeadon cello

Shauna Beesley soprano
Miriam Allan soprano
Lisa Stewart violin
Alice Evans violin
Valmai Coggins viola
Heather Lloyd viola
Deirdre Dowling viola
Nils Wieboldt cello
Kirsty Vickers cello
James Beck cello
Kirsty McCahon bass
Neal Peres da Costa fortepiano
Kirsten Barry oboe
Adam Masters oboe
Simon Rickard bassoon

Anna Cerneaz administrator

 

Ironwood
Ironwood is Australia's newest historically informed performance group crossing the boundaries of old and new. Ironwood is a flexible ensemble of world class musicians who are based in Australia and perform at an elite level, exploring the sound of chamber music on gut strings.

Ironwood comprises some of Australia’s foremost chamber musicians, who perform on both period and modern string instruments. The musicians have performed with Les Arts Florissants, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Pinchgut Opera, Florilegium, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Flametree Festival Orchestra, Sydney, Melbourne & Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Alpha Centauri, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, La Petite Bande and Ludovico’s Band.

Members of Ironwood also record and broadcast for many organizations including the ABC, Sony, Channel Classics, Tall Poppies, and radio networks across Europe, including WDR radio (Germany), Naxos and Teldac. Recently Ironwood has been involved in several recordings for ABC Classics as well as broadcasts for ABC Classic FM.

The ensemble came together in late 2006, presenting a festival of Mozart’s chamber works for strings and piano at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and since then has presented concerts in conjunction with Historic Houses Trust, NSW at Vaucluse and Elizabeth Bay Houses, exploring the music of mid-19th century Sydney and Europe as well as performances at Sydney's Sydney Harbour Trust historic North Head Artillery School Ballroom and St.John's in Sorrento, Victoria.

In October 2007 Ironwood were one of the first music ensembles as Artist-In-Residence at the Arthur Boyd property, Bundanon, on NSW’s south coast. The success of the inaugural Peninsula Summer Music Festival in 2008 will be followed in January 2009, by concerts in the Recital Series of the festival and broadcasts for ABCFM. Season 2009 also includes an Australia wide tour with soprano Miriam Allan for Musica Viva; regional touring in South Eastern Australia; a series of early music education projects involving further collaboration with Bundanon and other venues; commissioning new works for gut strings by Australian composers including Rosalind Page and Paul Stanhope; and further international music residencies and performances.

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