Ironwood is Australia's renowned 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.

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.

Ironwood have an active commissioning program for music on early instruments, including commissioning new works for gut strings by Australian composers including Rosalind Page, Kevin March and Paul Stanhope. The group has performed widely, including a national tour for Musica Viva Australia, performances with the Peninsula Music Festival and further international music residencies and performances.

Ironwood runs a successful early music educational program with workshops in Victoria and NSW, and for various organisations including MLC School, Sydney, Adelaide Chamber Players, and Wollongong Conservatorium. 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. This year, the group are the 2010 artists in residence at Bundanon.

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.

Rachael Beesley and Julia Fredersdorff, violins; Nicole Forsyth, viola and Daniel Yeadon, cello

Violinist, Rachael Beesley is one of Australia’s most versatile and dynamic performers. Based in The Netherlands for the last 14 years, Rachael has established an exciting career of touring, recording and teaching, specialising in Early Music. In addition to her performances as concertmaster with leading European orchestras, working with conductors such as Alan Curtis, Sigiswald Kuijken and William Christie, Rachael is much in demand as a chamber musician and soloist, regularly collaborating with contemporary composers as well as exploring repertoire from the 17th to 20th centuries on period instruments. She has performed on over 40 recordings and as professor at the Royal Conservatoire, The Hague, Rachael has developed unique courses on Historical Performance Practice and Practising In Flow. The vitality and originality of the Australian music scene has drawn Rachael back to her homeland where in 2009, she will direct performances with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Melbourne Chamber Orchestra; appear as concertmaster with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Pinchgut Opera and Opera Australia and tour nationally for Musica Viva with Ironwood.

Julia Fredersdorff, is one of a new generation of musicians with a passionate interest in historically informed performance of music spanning the 17th, 18th and early 19th Centuries. Julia left Melbourne in 1998 to study with Enrico Gatti at The Royal Conservatorium in The Hague, graduating in 2003.
Based in Paris over the last 9 years, Julia has performed and recorded with many of the finest European ensembles in France, Italy, Belgium and Holland, such as Les Talens Lyriques, Les Folies Françoises, Le Concert d’Astrée, Le Parlement de Musique, Il Complesso Barocco, and Bach Concentus. Julia has played in many of Europe’s best international festivals, such as Les Folles Journées de Nantes, the Festival d’Ambronay and the Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, as well as participating in over 20 CD recordings for Virgin Classics, Accent, Accord, Naïve, Erato, Passacaille, Ambronay, ABC Classics and Tall Poppies. Julia is the founder and Artistic Director of the Peninsula Summer Music Festival.

Nicole Forsyth embraces a duel career as one of Australia's finest chamber musicians on viola and a researcher in socio-music history. She is soloist and guest principal violist with many specialist early and avant-garde music groups including Pinchgut Opera, Flametree Festival, Halycon and Ludovico's Band. Nicole has a very active schedule as a performer and recording artist with ABC Classics and with the major Australian symphony orchestras. Nicole teaches at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and MLC School, Sydney and has been a curator at the Museum of Sydney.

Daniel Yeadon is in much demand as a fine period cellist, gamba player and teacher. His repertoire ranges from the 17th to the 21st centuries. He tours frequently with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, records regularly for ABC Classics and has appeared as a concerto soloist with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. In Europe, Daniel was a member of the Fitzwilliam String Quartet and is currently guest prinicipal cellist with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The English Baroque Soloists and Florilegium, the award winning group he co-founded in 1990.