In 2023, Rory joined Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra as an Artistic Associate. He is Co-Artistic Director of the Brisbane based chamber group: Ensemble Cherubim and regularly performs with Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
Hailing from the Sunshine Coast, Rory picked to learn the cello in Grade 5 because his brother said “it sounded cool”. Less than 10 years later he decided to pursue a career in music, completing a Bachelor of Music (First Class Honours) in 2019 under the tutelage of Patrick Murphy and later from Hyung Suk-Bae. Whilst at university, Rory took part in internships with Southern Cross Soloist’s and Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra and received Masterclasses from the Australian String Quartet, Tinalley String Quartet and Howard Penny. Rory was invited to participate in the Virtuoso e Belcanto festival in Lucca, Italy and enjoyed learning from esteemed Pedagogues such as Peter Bruns, Istvan Vardai and Xenia Jankovic.
Rory enjoys travelling and is always planning his next overseas trip (but mostly dreams about being back under the Tuscan sun with a glass of wine.)
Alison Smith O’Connell studied cello in Brisbane, Melbourne and Bremen, Germany, before moving to Kuala Lumpur to become a member of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. During her 8 years there, Alison enjoyed travelling around Southeast Asia, eating street food and exploring the jungle. Now based in Brisbane, she performs regularly as an Artistic Associate with Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber orchestra, and as a casual member of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. She is just as happy on the stage as she is in the orchestral pit, performing for ballets, operas and musicals.
Alison loves performing chamber music with friends and travelling around Regional Queensland on tour with Camerata. She enjoys working on interesting performance projects, such as the award-winning short film “Sex, Drugs and String Quartets”, and performing and recording with Muses Trio on their album “The Road Not Taken”, celebrating music written by women, performed by women.
Alison is very passionate about climate action, spending time with her 3 daughters, and transforming her suburban backyard into an edible oasis.
Shannon is a freelance cellist and teacher who balances performing with teaching. She has been a long-term member of Camerata and has performed with many other ensembles including the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Luzerner Symphony Orchestra, Luzern International Music Ensemble, Contemporary Ensemble – Collusion, Queensland Pops Orchestra and the Aarth Operetta Orchestra.
Over her career within several of these chamber ensembles she has recorded for various different labels and performed at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Bangalow and Tyalgum Classical Music Festivals, Musica Viva Country Wide and Musica Viva in Schools, as well as professional musical productions for their Brisbane Season.
Shannon is currently the Head of Performance Music at St. Aidan’s Anglican Girls School and enjoys inspiring the next generation of musicians.
After completing his musical studies in Marseille, France, Nathan has enjoyed a diverse musical career.
His eclectic musical tastes have led him from baroque musique to contemporary art music and everything in between.
Nathan has been an associate with Camerata for over 10 years and is blessed to have found in Camerata a musical home where such eclecticism is a shared foundation.
In parallel, Nathan enjoys a lively career as an educator with students coming out of his ears.
More recently Nathan has taken a keen interest in protecting his expensive cello from the curious but not so gentle hands of his two very young sons.
Cellist Katherine Philp’s work ranges from the classics to cutting edge contemporary art music, as well as session recording, improvisation, arranging and composing. She is particularly interested in chamber music, projects that engage in respectful intercultural collaboration, and actively supports the generation and performance of new works by women and non-binary composers.
Katherine has a special interest in interpreting new and experimental music, and has undertaken study with Rohan de Saram and Lucas Fels (of Arditti String Quartet) as well as performing and studying contemporary music across San Marino, Germany, Austria and France.
Katherine’s performances and arrangements have been broadcast live and recorded for ABC classic FM and Radio National. She is currently the principal cellist of Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra, plays with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, appears with Southern Cross Soloists, is a mum of two munchkins, and maintains a busy and eclectic freelance career. Some favourite moments include playing at the Dawn Ceremony on New Year’s Day at Woodford Folk Festival, and the delightful job of recording on the albums and episodes of Bluey.
