College Concert Series
University College is pleased to announce three concerts to be held during second semester featuring musicians with performing credits including the Australian Brandenburg, Iceland Symphony and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras. Details for concert 5 are listed below along with musician biographies.
Concert 5
Music of Scandanavia and Australia
Date: Wednesday 27 October 2010
Time: 7.30 pm - 8.30 pm (supper will be served)
Location: Academic Centre
Tickets: Tickets may be pre-booked at (03) 9347-3533 (Door sales on the night - cash only)
Adults: $15 Students: $5 University College Residents: Free
Musician Biography
Hallfríður Ólafsdóttir
Flute
Principal flute, Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Hallfríður Ólafsdóttir studied flute-playing with Bernard Wilkinson at the Reykjavik Conservatory of Music completing both a Teacher’s Diploma and a Solo Diploma. She then studied with Kate Hill, Trevor Wye and Pat Morris at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester for a year, receiving a Postgraduate Diploma.
Two years then followed of studies with William Bennett as well as Michie Bennett and Sebastian Bell at the Royal Academy of Music in London, finishing with a Diploma of Advanced Studies. Hallfríður finally had a year of studying privately with Alain Marion in Paris before returning to her home country, Iceland.
After five years of freelancing and teaching, Hallfríður won the position of the piccoloplayer of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra in 1997 and two years later the principal seat of the ISO. She also teaches at the Reykjavik Conservatory of Music. Hallfríður has performed three Nordic flute concerti with the ISO, the Nielsen Concerto, Rautavaara’s Dances with the Winds and Colombine by Thorkell Sigurbjörnsson. She is founding member of the chamber group Camerarctica and directs the Icelandic Flute Ensemble. Hallfríður has two children, for whom she wrote the best-selling and awarded book “Maximus Musicus Visits the Orchestra”.
In 2002 Hallfríður was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in London (HonARAM). She has on several occasions taught master classes at the flute department of the RAM.
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“Maximus Musicus Visits the Orchestra” is a children’s book by Hallfríður Ólafsdóttir illustrated by fellow musician Þórarinn Már Baldursson. It is an introduction to the symphony orchestra, its instruments, sounds and musicians, an illustrated book with an accompanying CD. The Iceland Symphony Orchestra launched the publication with a family concert in March 2008 and has since repeated the programme many times to much acclaim. Major orchestras of the world have shown great interest in the programme and are scheduling performances and publication of the book. A sequel, “Maximus Musicus Visits the Music School”, will be published in April 2010
The patron of the project is Maestro Vladimir Ashkenazy, Conductor Laureate.
Ármann Helgason
Clarinet
Ármann Helgason completed both a Solo Diploma and a Teacher’s Diploma at the Reykjavik College of Music in 1987/88. His teachers were Einar Jóhannesson and Sigurður I. Snorrason, both eminent players of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.
He then studied with Paul Dintinger at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester for a year, receiving a Postgraduate Diploma, followed by three years of studies with John McCaw in London before returning to his home country, Iceland. Ármann is founding member of the chamber group Camerarctica. Consisting of a flautist, clarinetist and a string quartet, Camerarctica has recorded chambermusic by Mozart and several pieces by Icelandic composers. The group also plays classical music on period instruments.
Other ensembles include modern ensemble Caput, clarinet trio Chalumeau Trio, windoctet Hnúkaþeyr and the Faroese chamber ensemble Aldubáran.
Ármann has recorded the Clarinet Concertos by Mozart and Copland with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra as well as many contemporary chamber music pieces by Icelandic composers. His time is divided between teaching, freelancing with the ISO and chamber music and solo playing.
Rachel Atkinson
Cello
Rachel Atkinson is one of Australia’s most talented young cellists. After studying cello with Georg Pedersen at the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music she was awarded an Associated Board Scholarship and a Butland Music Foundation Grant to study with David Strange at the Royal Academy of Music, London. While at the Academy she was awarded the Frederic Moore Memorial Prize and the Frank Reizenstein Prize as cellist of the Sarastro Trio. Rachel has performed in masterclasses with Lynn Harrell, Ofra Harnoy and Zara Nelsova. In 1992 she won a grant from the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council to further her studies with William Pleeth.
Rachel has toured Canada and New Zealand as a soloist with the Auckland Youth Orchestra and recorded for Radio New Zealand. She has given premieres of many contemporary works and has appeared as solo recitalist in New Zealand, Britain, Turkey, Germany, Holland, Malaysia and Israel.
Atkinson is currently performing with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
“Rachel’s interpretation is full of vitality and extreme sensitivity. She displays maturity in depth of expression and technical ability. with ease she shows highly rhythmic passages and lyrical lines.” (Süddeutsche Zeitung)
Rosa Scaffidi
Piano
Rosa Scaffidi began her life-long love affair with the piano and its mighty repertoire at the age of 2. Her first public performance followed soon after at age 8. Rosa has spent a lifetime devoted to the study of music having received a Bachelor of Music from Melba Conservatorium; Fellowship in Performance from Trinity College, London; Honours degree in Music Performance from Monash University and a Masters degree in Performance from the Victorian College of the Arts. She gained entry into the Golden Key International Honours society for outstanding academic excellence through the Monash University chapter.
Rosa performs at many venues around Victoria, as a soloist and accompanist. She has worked with the Australian Ballet, National Ballet, Victorian College of the Arts ballet school, and Royal Academy of dancing as Major Pianist. She has also worked with many singers from Opera Australia and is part-time musical director for Pot-Pourri who tours both domestically and internationally.
Immediately upon graduating from the Melba, Rosa was on staff as an accompanist, piano teacher, lecturer and performer, and is currently at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School as classical ballet and contemporary dance accompanist, playing piano and percussion. She is also in the process of recording a CD with Dr. Tony Gould that will feature Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring for two pianos. Rosa is an extremely versatile musician, highly skilled in the interpretation of many musical styles as well as being a proficient improviser.
Per Forsberg
Tuba
Tuba player Per Forsberg has performed and recorded with many fine artists in a variety of styles. He can be heard on recordings and DVDs with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, rock legends KISS, Tatar singer Zulya and the Children of the Underground, singer and multi-percussionist Neda Rahmani and one of Australia's finest live artists; singer songwriter Lior. Per is the principal tuba in the Australian Philharmonic Orchestra/Australian Pops Orchestra and Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra. He has performed as guest principal tuba with Melbourne Symphony, Orchestra Victoria and Swedish Stockholm Folk Opera in a production of Wagner’s Rheingold. In 2009 Per spent 3 months in Reykjavik, Iceland as guest principal Tuba with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. While over there he performed with The new music ensemble Caput, recorded in Bjorks studio (Greenhouse Studio) and performed with singer Ragnheiður Gröndal (described as Iceland's best-selling artist and named Icelandic Singer of the Year (2006).
Per has also performed with James Morrison, percussionist David Jones and Tony Gould in a live performance for 3MBS, Australian Idol winners Guy Sebastian and Damien Lieth, Marina Prior and Roy Best with the Australian Pops Orchestra and played on ABC TV with the Oompah Loompah's for Spicks and Specks and on Rove live with Irish boyband Boyzone. He has also performed Miles Davis music from the album Birth of the Cool together with extraordinary trumpeter Gianni Marinucci. As a Tuba soloist Per has performed and toured in Europe and around Australia and Tasmania together with pianists Caroline Almonte, Benjamin Kopp, Anna Guðný Guðmundsdóttir (Icelandic performer of the year 2009) and percussion duo Collision Theory. Per has also performed the Barry McKimm tuba concerto with University of Tasmania Wind Orchestra, and Icelandic Ludrasveit Reykavikur. Per was in the semi final for the Yamaha Barry Tuckwell Brass Prize Tuba and Euphonium Competition 2007 for the Melbourne International Festival of Brass. He has premiered works by Australian composers Barry McKimm and Robert Sims, Katy Abbott, Karen Heath, and Andrian Pertout, both solos and chamber music together with his quintet Vanguard Brass who also have performed with Tuba soloist Oystein Baadsvik for the Melbourne International Festival of Brass. Per can also be heard on winners of the Australasian Brass Quintet competition The Little Brass band cd – “Meet the Brass”. Per is also a highly skilled educator. He holds a Master of Education from Sweden and has been teaching both privately and in schools for 15 years. He teaches all brass instruments at a number of schools. He has been lower brass tutor and done master classes for the Border Music Camp, the Summer Camp in Launceston, Tasmania and Port Fairy Spring Festival. He has also done school tours around Victoria for Arts 2 Go with the Travelling Troubadours, together with Martha Baartz and Rae Howell.
