Ironwood is Australia's renowned historically informed performance group crossing the boundaries of old and new. We are a flexible ensemble of Australia-based world class musicians who love to explore the sound of chamber music on gut strings.
Ironwood is a renowned Australian period-instrument ensemble lauded for its historically-informed exploration of repertoire from the late-Renaissance to the late Romantic eras as well as its support of newly commissioned works. Established in 2006, the ensemble draws on a wealth of experience and expertise bringing together specialist leaders in the field. Ironwood has presented at the major festivals and concert series around Australia, and has toured Europe and America. With several innovative recordings on the ABC Classics and Vexations840 labels, Ironwood is regularly broadcast nationally on ABC Classic and around the world. Ironwood has partnered with Musica Viva Australia and has collaborated with The Song Company, Ensemble Offspring, and a broad spectrum of Australian composers, exploring both old and new music in wide-ranging contexts.
Ironwood's core members are highly-experienced educators at tertiary music institutions, including the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, The University of Sydney and the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, The University of Melbourne and the Australian National Academy of Music, and as key personnel within arts organisations such as the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra. Ironwood has been closely involved in the Australian Youth Orchestra’s Chamber Players program. Ironwood has participated regularly in Bundanon Trust Artists in Residence programs and, in collaboration with festivals and educational institutions, and runs Developing Artist programs in Victoria and NSW. The members of Ironwood have helped to create national networks for young HIP artists and to establish new groups such as the Australian Haydn Ensemble, The Muffat Collective, Pearl & Dagger Opera, Gut Instincts, and events such as the Sydney Baroque Music Festival and Eastside Sydney Music Festival.
(Group Photos: Nick Gilbert; Additional Website Material: Sophie Raymond & Patrick Mullins)
Rachael Beesley - violin
(Photo credit: Sophie Raymond)
Rachael Beesley is an internationally renowned Australian-British violinist, director, concertmaster and educator specialising in the field of historically informed performance (HIP). As guest concertmaster with Europe’s most distinguished HIP ensembles and orchestras, Anima Eterna Brugge, La Petite Bande and New Dutch Academy, guest director with Les Muffatti Brussels Baroque Orchestra and performer with Les Arts Florissants and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Rachael performs in ongoing yearly concert seasons and regular musical events in festivals and concert halls worldwide.
Rachael plays a pivotal role in Australia’s cultural landscape as: Co-Artistic Director, director and concertmaster of the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra, which she co-founded in 2013; co-founder and member of Ironwood; guest concertmaster with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Pinchgut Opera, Opera Australia and Victorian Opera; and guest director with Adelaide Baroque and NZBarok. Rachael is invited to guest direct modern orchestras from the violin, including the Canberra and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra and features on over 50 album recordings and broadcasts for radio and television.
Rachael is much in demand as a chamber musician and soloist, regularly collaborating with contemporary Australian composers and with nationally and internationally acclaimed artists. As a highly regarded educator and mentor, she has a strong desire to foster and support Australia’s national and international recognition as a cultural nation and is therefore invited to teach and lecture at the Melbourne and Sydney Conservatoriums of Music, the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music, Monash University and guest-teach and direct at the Royal Conservatoire, The Hague (Netherlands) and the Early Music Department of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels (Belgium). Rachael has been awarded an Ian Potter Cultural Trust grant and is listed in the Who’s Who of Australian Women.
Anna McMichael - violin
(Photo credit: Sophie Raymond)
Dr Anna McMichael performs as a violinist with many ensembles and festivals, in demand as an experienced musician able to perform diverse styles of music. She enjoyed a successful career in Europe before returning to Australia in 2010. Anna has performance degrees from The Hague Conservatorium, a Masters in Historical Musicology from King's College London, and in 2019 a Doctorate in Musical Arts from Sydney Conservatorium.
She performs regularly with groups including, Ensemble Offspring, Australian Haydn Ensemble, Sydney Chamber Opera, Omega Ensemble, Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, and is a core member of Ironwood. She performs at many festivals around Australia, with appearances at Mona Foma, Canberra International Festival of Music, Port Fairy, BIFEM, Sydney Festival, Extended Play and Vivid in Sydney and Metropolis in Melbourne. She has recorded her own CD on the Dutch label Unsounds, and two duo CDs on the Tall Poppies label. Anna has been Co-Artistic Director of the NSW Tyalgum Music Festival between 2014 and 2019. She joined the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music at Monash University as Coordinator of Strings in 2019.
Stephen King - viola
(Photo credit: Wallis Media)
Australian violist Dr Stephen King performed with the Australian String Quartet from 2012-21. Prior to this, he was a member of the Australian Chamber Orchestra for nine years. He has performed and recorded with a large array of musicians in diverse venues and festivals around Australia and the world. With the ASQ, Stephen developed projects with First Nations artists, new Australian commissions and recordings, and innovative cross-artform and digital collaborations. As the ACO’s education representative, he played a major role in founding and building the Emerging Artists program and ACO2.
Growing up in Canberra, Stephen learned the violin but fell for the darker world of the viola following the inspiring teaching of Elizabeth Morgan. He completed his studies in the USA with James Dunham (Cleveland Quartet), Kathy Murdock (Mendelssohn Quartet) and Michael Tree (Guarneri Quartet). From 1997 Stephen was violist of the Coolidge String Quartet based in Washington D.C. He holds a Doctorate in Chamber Music, having worked closely with the Emerson and Guarneri Quartets.
While overseas, Stephen was also the Associate Principal Viola of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and a member of the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. He was on the faculty of the New England Conservatory Prep Division in Boston and the ASTA Workshops. Recently, Stephen has
been a regular guest principal with the TSO and has played with AWO and as principal with the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra. Stephen teaches viola and chamber music at the University of Adelaide, Elder Conservatorium and regularly tutors at AYO National Music Camp.
Daniel Yeadon - cello/viola da gamba
Dr Daniel Yeadon is exceptionally versatile as a cellist and viola da gamba player, performing repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to Contemporary. Daniel is a passionate chamber musician – in addition to Ironwood he plays regularly with the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO), Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra, Australian Haydn Ensemble and Bach Akademie Australia. In the UK Daniel is a guest principal cellist of the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
Originally from the UK, Daniel read physics at Oxford University and then completed his postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Music in London. For many years Daniel was a member of the renowned Fitzwilliam String Quartet and the exuberant period instrument ensemble Florilegium.
Daniel has made many award-winning recordings, including: Haydn’s cello concerto in C major with the Australian Haydn Ensemble; an ARIA winning disc of sonatas by J.S. Bach with Richard Tognetti and Neal Peres Da Costa; J.S. Bach sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord with Neal Peres Da Costa; J.S. Bach cantatas and Brandenburg concertos with John Eliot
Gardiner and English Baroque Soloists, in addition to many critically acclaimed recordings with Ironwood, Florilegium and the Fitzwilliam Quartet.
In 2016 Daniel completed a PhD focussing on the group learning experiences of students in tertiary music institutions. Daniel is currently a Lecturer in the Historical Performance Division at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney, where he teaches cello and viola da gamba, coaches chamber music and engages in research into learning and teaching, and historical performance practices.
Rob Nairn - double bass/violone
Returning to Australia from the U.S. in 2017 Rob Nairn was appointed to a position at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, taking over as head of the Early Music department and director of graduate studies. In 2020 he was appointed Master Musician in Residence at the Elder Con and in 2023 to a Faculty position where he teaches double bass, coaches chamber music and runs the Early Music program.
He was previously a Distinguished Professor of Music at Penn State’s School of Music, on the Faculty of The Juilliard School in New York for 11 years and a Kulas Visiting Artist at Case Western Reserve University. He has lived and worked in Germany, England, Australia and the United States performing with such groups as the London and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestras; the Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestras; the English, Scottish and Australian Chamber Orchestras, the Bavarian Radio Symphony, the Melbourne, Sydney, Queensland, West Australian and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras, the London Sinfonietta, the Halle Orchestra, the London Mozart Players and the Australian World Orchestra.
Rob is a specialist in historical performance, and has been principal bassist with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra since 2017 and a member of both Ironwood and Adelaide Baroque. He was principal bass of Boston’s Handel and Haydn
Society since 2003, and also principal bass of the Boston Early Music Festival and Juilliard Baroque. He has performed with the English Baroque Soloists, Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, Concerto Caledonia, Washington Bach Consort, Rebel, Florilegium, The Smithsonian Chamber Players, The Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra, Muffat Collective, Bach Akademie Australia, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
He has commissioned and premiered more than forty new works for solo double bass and chamber groups including concerti by Barry Conyngham, Elena Kats-Chernin and Doug Balliett, and he has given solo recitals in Europe, Scandinavia, China, the United States, and Australia.
He can be heard on over 60 commercial CDs and has recorded for Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Sony, EMI, Virgin, ABC Classics, and Channel Classics. His first solo CD ‘Tremor’ was released in 2022 on the U.S. Ablaze label.
Rob is a Past President of the International Society of Bassists from whom he received a Recognition Award for Historical Performance in 2009. He is a Howard Foundation Fellowship recipient from Brown University and DAAD German Government Scholarship recipient.
Neal Peres Da Costa - Harpsichord/Organ/Piano
Professor Neal Peres Da Costa is Associate Dean of Research and Professor of Historical Performance at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, The University of Sydney. He is known worldwide for his ground-breaking monograph Off the Record: Performing Practices in Romantic Piano Playing (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), and the complete Brahms’ Sonatas for one solo instrument and piano (Bärenreiter Verlag, 2015/16) which he co-edited with Clive Brown and Kate Bennett Wadsworth. He is a historical keyboard specialist and is currently recipient of a prestigious Australian Research Council Discovery Project grant for research into 19th-century piano playing.
Neal performs regularly with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Song Company, Bach Akademie Australia, and Pinchgut Opera. With the Australian Haydn Ensemble (AHE) and Ironwood he has undertaken performance research leading to experimental performances and recordings of Classical- and Romantic-era repertoire in historically informed style including Beethoven’s Piano Concertos 1 and 3—Chamber Versions (2017;
licensed by ABC Classics) with AHE, and Brahms: Tones of Romantic Extravagance (ABC Classics, 2017) with Ironwood featuring Brahms’s op. 25 Piano Quartet and op. 34 Piano Quintet, awarded “Recommended CD” in the Strad Magazine (UK).
Neal’s discography includes critically-acclaimed recordings for ABC Classics: Bach’s Sonatas for Violin and Obbligato Keyboard (2007) with Richard Tognetti and Daniel Yeadon—which won the ARIA for Best Classical Album; Bach’s Complete Sonatas for Viola Da Gamba and Harpsichord with Daniel Yeadon (2009), Music for a While (2012) with Miriam Allan and Ironwood; 3 (2012) with Genevieve Lacey and Daniel Yeadon; and most recently Pastoral Fables (2018) with Alexandre Oguey; as well as The Baroque Trombone (BIS, 2009) with Christian Lindberg and the ACO; The Galant Bassoon (Melba, 2009) with Matthew Wilke and Kees Boersma; and Baroque Duets (Vexations 840, 2011) with Fiona Campbell, David Walker and Ironwood, which he directed. He has also recorded extensively on the Channel Classics label with Florilegium, the British ensemble which he co-founded in 1991 and of which he was a member for 10 years.
Julia Fredersdorff - violin
Melbourne-born violinist Julia Fredersdorff studied baroque violin with Lucinda Moon at the Victorian College of the Arts, before travelling to the Netherlands to study with Enrico Gatti at The Royal Conservatorium in The Hague. Based in Paris for almost ten years, Julia freelanced with some of the finest European ensembles, such as Les Talens Lyriques, Les Folies Françoises, Le Concert d’Astrée, Le Parlement de Musique, Ensemble Matheus, Les Paladins, Il Complesso Barocco, New Dutch Academy, Ensemble Aurora and Bach Concentus.
Now resident again in Australia, Julia is the founder and Artistic Director of the Tasmanian baroque ensemble, Van Diemen’s Band. She is a founding member of the chamber ensemble Ironwood, and the twice ARIA-nominated baroque trio, Latitude 37. Julia performs regularly with the Orchestra of the Antipodes and is a core-member of Ludovico’s Band.
Julia has participated in CD recordings for Virgin Classics, Deutsche Grammaphon, Accent, Accord, Naïve, Erato, Passacaille, Ambronay, ABC Classics, Vexations840 and Tall Poppies.
Robin Wilson - violin
(Photo credit: Pia Johnson)
Internationally regarded as a violinist and pedagogue Dr Robin Wilson is and Head of Violin at the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne and teaches at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. A faculty member of the Keshet Eilon International String Mastercourse in Israel and the Valdres Festival in Norway he has also held appointments at the University of Sydney and the University of Queensland.
He has performed at major venues and festivals throughout Australia, USA and the UK and has recorded for Decca, ABC Classics, Vexations840 and VDE-Gallo. His solo discography includes two discs of violin encores and the complete Schubert sonatas for violin and piano, nominated in the New Zealand Classical Music Awards. A member of Ironwood and the Australian Octet, he is a former leader of the ARCO Chamber Orchestra and has appeared as guest violinist with many leading Australian ensembles such as such as the Sydney Omega Ensemble, Ensemble Liaison, Australia Quartet and Nexus 2MBSFM Virtuosi. He has played with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Pinchgut, Australian Classical and Romantic Orchestra and Orchestra of the Antipodes.
Holding a PhD from the University of Sydney, Robin’s research into the historically informed performance of Brahms's music was awarded the prestigious 2014 Geiringer Prize from the American Brahms Society and he has presented lectures and recitals at major international conferences and institutions including Stanford and Yale Universities, City University of New York, University of Colorado, Leeds University, Royal College of Music London and the Royal Northern College of Music Manchester. He was also selected to represent the Sydney Conservatorium at the DDCA Australasian Symposium ‘The Outstanding Field’.
Robin is regularly invited to give masterclasses in Australasia, Asia, Israel, the UK and the USA and his students hold principal positions and regularly perform as soloists with major orchestras in Australia and overseas. He regularly presents for AUSTA throughout Australia. In 2018 he received a National Award from the Australian String Teachers Association for outstanding services to the string community in Australia.
Robin studied in Sydney with Alice Waten and Janet Davies and with James Buswell at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He plays on a violin made by the Gagliano family in Naples in 1784, and a late-19th C English bow by James Tubbs.