Faculty Include:

Kees Boersma (Sydney) is the principal double bassist of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. In addition to this he teaches double bass at the NSW Conservatorium of Music and performs and records with the Sydney Soloists.

Peter McLachlan (Adelaide) is an active and enthusiastic educator who currently lectures in music education and maintains a busy teaching schedule in his studio. He has played in the State Opera Orchestra and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, and has presented in conferences in Australia and the USA.

Ken Poggioli (Brisbane) is a member of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and has been active as a bass teacher at the Brisbane Conservatorium. He has studied in London and at the Rabbath Institute in Paris.

Ben Puglisi (Melbourne) is a specialist bass maker and repairer with a well established reputation throughout Australia.

François Rabbath (Paris) is one of the great musicians of our time. He is a former member of the Paris Opera Orchestra and currently resides in Paris. He is completely self taught on the double bass and his approach to the instrument has revolutionized bass playing. He has created a new idiomatic repertoire for solo double bass which reflects compositional influences from J.S. Bach to jazz by way of the Middle East. His playing has been described as a combination of astounding virtuosity and sensuous expression.

Steve Reeves (Melbourne) is the principal double bassist of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and teaches at the University of Melbourne and Monash University. He is active as a soloist and has performed at the International Society of Bassists conventions in 2001 and 2003.

George Vance (Washington DC) is the pioneer of a method for teaching the bass to young people that has been described as a revolution in bass pedagogy. George is a graduate of the Carnegie-Mellon University and in 1990 was awarded the American String Teachers Association “Citation for Outstanding Leadership and Merit”. In 1995 the International Society of Bassists presented him with a special recognition award for his work with young bassists.

Nicholas Walker (New York) is a virtuoso double bassist, composer and multi-instrumentalist. He has performed throughout the United States, Europe, Australia and Asia, and is the recipient of many performance awards and honors from varying associations around the world.

Joan Wright (Perth) is the Associate Principal Double Bass with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. She also performs both nationally and internationally with Elision, Australia’s leading contemporary ensemble, with whom she has appeared as soloist in many Australian and world premieres of contemporary bass literature.
Joan teaches both privately and for the University of Western Australia and has been a teacher and recitalist at a number of national and international events, including National Music Camp, the Australian Festival of Chamber Music and bass workshops in Orange, Adelaide and Washington D.C.