Basic
First Name:
Melissa
Last Name:
Barnard
City:
Sydney
State:
NSW
Country:
Australia
First Year:
1990
Last Year:
1992
Biography
About:
Born in Vienna, Austria, of Australian parents Melissa commenced her cello studies at the Conservatorium of Music in Sydney with Georg Pedersen. Moving to London she studied further at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and attended the Prussia Cove Seminars and the Manchester Cello Weekend. Then to Boston and NEC where she studied from 1990-1992 with Laurence Lesser and Colin Carr and attended the Tanglewood and Marlboro Festivals. In 1994 she was an Artist In Residence at Banff and also at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee before moving back to Sydney in 1995 to join the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Since then Melissa has been continuously touring with the ACO nationally and internationally and performs variously as soloist and chamber musician with both tutti and principal duties. The ACO is internationally renowned as one of the most dynamic and successful chamber orchestras in the world. She also has a family; her American partner, Steve Larson, is a graduate of the Curtis Institute and is a double bass player in the Sydney Symphony and their daughter Maia and new German Shorthaired Pointer puppy Magnus make up their little family, living by the beach and under the rugged escarpment on the lovely south coast of NSW.
Current Primary Activity(ies):
Australian Chamber Orchestra. Solo, and Chamber Music
Education:
NEC
Degree:
GD
Other Teachers:
Colin Carr, Tim Eddy, Georg Pedersen