About Us
Woodwinds
Woodwinds
Flute Piccolo Oboe Cor Anglais Clarinets
Bass Clarinet Bassoons Contra Bassoon
FLUTE
Bridget Douglas Section Principal
Kirstin Eade Sub Principal
Nancy Luther-Jara (link to Piccolo bio)
BRIDGET DOUGLAS
Section Principal
Dunedin born, Bridget is the Principal Flute of the NZSO. After completing studies at Victoria University, Bridget went to New York and Chicago for further studies. In the USA, Bridget won several competitions including the Artists International Award, resulting in a debut recital at Carnegie Hall. Bridget is also a member of the harp/flute duo Flight with Carolyn Mills, NZSO Principal Harp, and the contemporary ensemble Stroma. She has released two CDs performing with pianist Rachel Thomson (Syrinx, French music for flute and piano, and Taurangi, music by New Zealand composers).
KIRSTIN EADE
Sub Principal
Dr Kirstin Eade is the Associate Principal Flutist, joining the NZSO in 2003. Originally from the Waikato, Kirstin completed undergraduate degrees in Music and English in New Zealand before moving to the United States. She received a Master’s degree from the University of Michigan and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Shepherd School of Music, Rice University in Texas. Prior to her study in the States, Kirstin was a finalist in the TNVZ Young Musician’s Competition, the National Concerto Competition and won the Rotorua Concerto Competition. She is currently an Artist Teacher of Flute at the New Zealand School of Music. Kirstin’s favourite non-NZSO pastimes include spending time with her husband and son, and experiencing New Zealand’s great outdoors; past adventures (before the arrival of her little boy!) include cycling the Central Otago Rail Trail and the Gentle Annie over the Kaweka Ranges, and walking the Heaphy and Abel Tasman tracks.
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PICCOLO
NANCY LUTHER-JARA
Principal
Nancy was born and raised in New York, with her father as her first flute teacher and band director. She developed an affinity with the piccolo in spite of playing a plastic instrument in the high school marching band during snowy football games. Nancy completed studies at Oberlin Conservatory and the Royal College of Music in London before joining the NZSO in 1973, where she met her violinist husband Ron. They have raised their two children to be bilingual in Spanish and English. Nancy continues her interest in languages with studies in Spanish, Maori, teaching English as a second language, and currently French.
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Oboe
ROBERT ORR
Section Principal
Currently the principal oboe, Robert has also held the posts of principal cor anglais and associate principal oboe since he joined the NZSO in 1995. Robert has played as guest principal oboe with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and as an extra in the London Philharmonic, The Philharmonia and the City of London Sinfonia. He is an established recital artist and soloist having appeared for the New Zealand Festival, Christchurch Festival, Chamber Music New Zealand, Southern Sinfonia and the NZSO. Aside from playing the oboe, Robert enjoys photography, particularly capturing the sunrise from one of the many bays around Wellington.
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Cor Anglais
MICHAEL AUSTIN
Principal
Prior to joining the NZSO in 2006, Michael played both Cor Anglais and Principal Oboe with numerous major ensembles along the eastern seaboard of the United States, including the Florida Orchestra, the Florida West Coast Symphony, and the New World Symphony, among many others. He has also performed regularly as a chamber musician in New York City and the New England area. Michael is the co-founder and artistic director of the critically acclaimed Sky Meadow Chamber Players based in Vermont.
He graduated from the Juilliard School as a Lambert Prize recipient, having studied with John Ferrillo and Thomas Stacy. Other major teachers include Robert Atherholt, Elizabeth Camus, and John Mack. Before attending Juilliard, he was a National Merit Scholar pursuing medicine at Rice University in Houston, Texas. When not making reeds, Michael enjoys soccer, basketball, tramping, and sculptural ceramics.
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Clarinet
Patrick Barry Co-Principal Clarinet Philip Green Co-Principal Clarinet
Mary Scott Sub Principal and E-Flat Clarinet
Rachel Vernon Sub Principal and Bass Clarinet
PATRICK BARRY Section Co-Principal
Born in Washington State, Patrick took up his position as Associate Principal Clarinet in 2000, and was appointed Co-principal in 2002. He is a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied with David Neuman and Luis Baez. During his studies, he had the opportunity to perform with members of the Grateful Dead in a performance of John Cage’s music circus, and Renga with Apartment House in 1997. Patrick was a winner of the 1994 Corbett Concerto Competition and was awarded a fellowship to the Tanglewood Music Center in 1997. Patrick first performed the Mozart Clarinet Concerto at the age of 17 with the Oregon Symphony Orchestra in the USA. He has since performed the same concerto with the NZSO on tour around the North Island. New Zealand composer Dylan Lardelli was commissioned in 2005 to write ‘Tumbu’ for performance by Patrick in an NZSO subscription season tour.
PHILIP GREEN
Section Co-Principal
Philip joined the NZSO as Co-Principal Clarinet. He has performed with several of Australia and New Zealand’s leading orchestras including the Sydney Symphony, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Auckland Philharmonia. He graduated in 1998 from Sydney Conservatorium, Sydney University after studying with Francesco Celata and Mark Walton. He has appeared as soloist with the NZSO on the Lion Foundation and Wrightson tours and performed as part of the contemporary music ensemble Stroma. He lives in the Manawatu with his wife, Steph, and their huntaway, Zoe.
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RACHEL VERNON Sub Principal and Bass Clarinet
Years in NZSO - eighteen
Rachel Vernon studied at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne before moving to London to study with Antony Pay. In Britain, she worked as a freelance player performing with orchestras including, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Scottish Opera Orchestra. In 1989, she took up the position of Sub Principal Clarinet in the NZSO before returning to London in 1991. In 1995 she became Principal Bass Clarinet with the NZSO.
Highlights with the NZSO have been playing in Seville in the 1992 Expo tour, Saint-Saens Organ Symphony with Georg Lehel in Dunedin and of course playing at the Proms!!
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Bassoon
Preman Tilson Section Principal
vacant Associate Principal
David Angus Conta Bassoon
PREMAN TILSON Section Principal
Years in NZSO -Thirteen
Preman came to New Zealand in 1993 to take up the position of Principal Bassoon in the NZSO; previously he had held positions in the Grant Park Festival Orchestra (Chicago), the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and the Arizona Opera Company. He has also performed with the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and as guest principal with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He attended the Berkshire Music Festival at Tanglewood, as well as conservatories in New York, Boston and Arizona.Preman has appeared as soloist with the NZSO in Weber's Andante and Hungarian Rondo, Mozart's Bassoon Concerto, and in Elgar's Romance for Bassoon and Orchestra, which he also recorded with the orchestra and James Judd for Naxos. He was a soloist for the NZSO's concert at the World Expo in Aichi, Japan in 2005.
He has been a featured performer at the New Zealand International Arts Festival several times: In 1996 with the New Zealand Soloists and the New Zealand Wind Quintet, and in 2004 with Divertissement, a chamber ensemble of bassoon and strings. The group undertook a nine-concert tour of New Zealand during 2006 for Chamber Music New Zealand. Preman also arranged much of the music for the tour.
Preman lives in Strathmore,Wellington with his partner Anadi (Eric) with whom he immigrated to New Zealand from the USA. In May 2005, to celebrate 15 years of their lives together, they were one of the first couples to have a Civil Union - which was also attended by their Kiwi friends and family, including their sons Sigurd and Sam, and new granddaughter Ella.
DAVID ANGUS Contra-Bassoon
Years in NZSO - Twenty-five
David is probably the only member of the NZSO to own 3 milling machines. His deeply felt (some would say unnatural) love of machinery has left his personal life a shattered wasteland of missed opportunities and broken dreams! His other interests include visiting his family and exploring cures for baldness.
