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Andrew Lorenz

Andrew Lorenz has enjoyed a varied and successful career as solo violinist, chamber musician, orchestral leader, teacher and conductor. He has been soloist with many of Australia’s major orchestras and a former Associate Concertmaster of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

He has also led a number of Australia’s leading chamber groups, notably the New England Ensemble and Australian Piano Trio with which he toured extensively throughout Australia, Europe, North America and Asia, also broadcasting for many of the world’s major radio and television networks including the BBC London, NHK Tokyo, Sender Freies Berlin, Suisse Romande Geneva, the ABC and many others.

Andrew has given national premieres of violin concertos by Arthur Benjamin, John McCabe, Joseph Myslivicek and the world premiere of Alexander Negerevich’s violin concerto. He has led the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Elizabethan Trust Orchestra for the Australian Opera and Ballet, the D’Oyle Carte Opera Orchestra at Sadlers Wells, the New Symphony Orchestra of London for the Nederlands Dance Company in its London season and was also a regular member of the Philomusica of London and the London Mozart Players.

Andrew has been Violin Lecturer and Senior Violin Lecturer at Tertiary level in Australia for thirty years at the University of New England, The Elder Conservatorium-University of Adelaide and University of Southern Queensland. He has also been a visiting Artist-in-Residence at the Wuhan Conservatorium in China and Murray State University in Kentucky, USA.

Andrew was founder and Director of the McGregor Winter Chamber Music School for twelve years and was also conductor and artistic director of the USQ Sinfonia, conducting many concerts and six opera seasons.

Martin Crook

Martin’s professional career has spanned more than thirty five years.

His former positions included Principal Clarinet of the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra, Associate Principal Clarinet of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, member of the Australia Ensemble in 1986, and Principal Clarinet for the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s inaugural season of the Sydney International Piano Competition in 1977.

Martin has now been a resident of Toowoomba for the past fifteen years and lectures at the University of Southern Queensland in Clarinet, Saxophone, Chamber music and directs various ensembles.  Since leaving the orchestral sphere, he is an active recitalist at the forefront of music making in Australia, South East Asia and the United Kingdom, and appears regularly on Classic FM.

A graduate of the NSW Conservatorium of Music, Martin’s teachers have included John St.George, Donald Westlake and Gabor Reeves.  Even though being classically trained, He is fluent in many jazz styles, regularly giving recitals with Adelaide based jazz pianist and educator, Kerin Bailey at the McGregor Summer Schools in Toowoomba.

His lecturing and performing takes him to the UK every February, where he appears at the Royal Colleges of Music in Cardiff, Manchester and Glasgow.

Wendy Lorenz

Active as both pianist and teacher, Wendy Lorenz has performed extensively throughout Australia and overseas and appeared for many of the major radio and television networks in Europe and Asia.

A ‘Student of the Year’ graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium and Beethoven Bicentenary Medallion winner, she has also belonged to a number of successful chamber ensembles including the highly acclaimed New England Ensemble, the Australian Piano Trio, the Young Sydney Piano Trio and the Phoenix Ensemble.

In the solo realm she has appeared as concerto soloist with many of Australia’s leading orchestras and has featured as soloist on commercial releases with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Also active as a music educator, she has taught at the NSW Conservatorium, the South Australian College of Advanced Education, and the Universities of New England and Southern Queensland, where she was also Head of Music from 2000 to 2004 inclusive. An experienced presenter of workshops, masterclasses and piano teaching seminars throughout Australia and overseas, (including guest residencies in China, Singapore, Malaysia and the USA), she has served as National Chair of the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference Committee and is an accredited Federal Examiner for the Australian Music Examinations Board.

  Marilyn Meier-Kapavale

Born in Camden NSW, Marilyn began piano studies at the age of four with Pat Mckee, then with Neta Maughan in Sydney and chamber music with William Primrose. She also worked with Ludwig Hoffman in Germany and in master classes with Jorge Bolet, Sergei Dorensky, Kendall Taylor, Ronald Smith, Andre Michel Schub and Guido Agosti.

At age fifteen, after winning the ABC-TV Quest 78, Marilyn went to the USA to study with Bela Siki at the University of Washington, Seattle, and then the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati where she received the degree of Bachelor of Music (Hons), and Graduate Artist Diploma. In 1985 she won the City of Sydney Piano Scholarship in the Performing Arts Challenge.

As well as piano Marilyn studied chamber music with such notable artists as the LaSalle Quartet, Beaux Arts Trio, Dorothy Delay and the London Trio. She also studied harpsichord with world acclaimed Japanese artist Eiji Hashimoto.

While in the USA, she broadcast extensively on radio and television, won prizes in the National Beethoven Competition, the American Music Scholarship International Competition, and the Piano Teachers Congress of New York International Debut Competition. Marilyn performed as soloist with Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Youth and the Cincinnati Philharmonic. Marilyn continued her studies with Hans Leygraf at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, where she was awarded the Performance Diploma and finalist in the Mozart International Competition held in Salzburg.

On her return to Australia, Marilyn was named as an Australian Achiever, Finalist in the 1988 Young Australian of the Year Award and winner of the Channel Ten-TV Young Achiever’s Arts Award. She has performed with the ABC Symphony Orchestras, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and in recital and chamber music in Australia, Japan, Europe, USA and the South Pacific.

Marilyn holds the degree of Doctor of Creative Arts from the University of Wollongong, and has held Lecturer posts at the University of Wollongong, Wesley Institute of Performing Arts, Sydney and James Cook University, Townsville.

Currently Marilyn is Lecturer in Music (Specializing in Piano) at the University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba,  performs regularly as a soloist and chamber musician and is an examiner for the Australian Music Examinations Board.