What is your role in the Bellingen Youth Orchestra Ensembles?
I’m a flute teacher with 30 years’ experience playing principal flute with professional symphony orchestras in Europe, Brazil and Australia. My role in the BYO is to teach and guide the flute section on a weekly basis as well as to instruct specialised woodwind tutorials.
What are some of your musical achievements?
I’ve performed as a soloist with professional orchestras such as the Basel and St Gallen Symphony Orchestras , the Zurich Chamber and Philharmonia orchestras and Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra among others. As a chamber musician, I have enjoyed performing on tours throughout Switzerland and Austria, at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music and for Musica Viva around Australia. I founded the New Sydney Wind Quintet , one of Australia’s leading ensembles and have made CD recordings for Cala Records in the UK and with Austrian Gramophone. In 2007 I founded the Sydney Chamber Music Festival where I am currently Artistic Director and am an advocate for new Australian compositions. One of my earliest most memorable musical achievements was playing principal flute with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra under Maestro Claudio Abbado.
What do you love about playing music?
Music is my vocation, it consumes me and I love to perform as part of a team , and to teach and inspire musicians to achieve their personal best.
What inspired you to teach music in Bellingen?
I came as a visitor to Bellingen for a few days at the end of 2020 and was invited to sit in with the BYO and to attend their concert. It had been a particularly hard year for me with the experience of terrible loss and upon hearing such a large group of young country kids make music in the form of a symphony orchestra in this tiny country town, made me believe that meaningful work is important everywhere and especially where it is needed most. I felt that I could make a difference in Bellingen through sharing my knowledge and experience. I also love the natural beauty of Bellingen and surrounds, with its rivers, mountains, open country and sea.
Email: bolligerbridget@gmail.com