Julia Fredersdorff
Van Diemen’s Band is a brand new Tasmania-based chamber orchestra dedicated to the historically informed performance of music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Led by baroque violinist and Artistic Director, Julia Fredersdorff, who has studied and performed in Europe with many leading exponents of seventeenth and eighteenth-century music, Van Diemen’s Band brings together musicians from all over the country as well as Australian baroque specialists based overseas.
Officially launched in Hobart in November 2016, Van Diemen’s Band will give its first season of concerts in March 2017 as part of Ten Days on the Island, Tasmania’s biennial arts festival.
Two separate programs will be performed in three different locations in Tasmania: Cello Napoletano with guest artist Catherine Jones (cello), in Hobart and Launceston; and Tin Shed Baroque with guest artist David Greco (baritone) at the Spring Bay Mill near Triabunna, on Tasmania’s east coast.
As the name suggests, Cello Napoletano will showcase music from Naples, including dazzling works by eighteenth-century composers Nicola Fiorenza and Francesco Durante. Soloist Catherine Jones is an Australian-born, Italian-based musician who will be returning to Australia specifically to appear with Van Diemen’s Band.
In addition to the concerts in Hobart and Launceston, Van Diemen’s Band and Catherine Jones will record little-known baroque repertoire, including four cello concertos by Fiorenza, and works by Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti and Francesco Geminiani. These will form Van Diemen’s Band’s inaugural CD, which will be released later in the year on leading Australian record label ABC Classics.
The concert at the Spring Bay Mill with baritone David Greco will offer more familiar fare, including well known pieces by JS Bach, Handel and Vivaldi.
A key selling point for Tin Shed Baroque is not only the edgy setting – the “tin shed” is the former Gunns woodchip plant, which was decommissioned in 2014 – but it will be the last time that the site will be open to members of the public before it is closed for redevelopment and rejuvenation.
Concert-goers will not only be able to experience historically informed music in a unique setting, but enjoy a drink at the pop-up bar while taking in spectacular views to Maria Island.
Cello Napoletano
Van Diemen’s Band with guest artist Catherine Jones (cello)
Saturday 18 March 2pm, Hobart Town Hall
Sunday 19 March 2pm, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston
Tickets $40/$33 on 03 6210 5777 or tendays.org.au.
Tin Shed Baroque
Van Diemen’s Band with guest artist David Greco (baritone)
Sunday 26 March 3pm, Spring Bay Mill, Triabunna
Tickets $30 on 03 6210 5777 or tendays.org.au
All about Julia Fredersdorff …
Melbourne-born violinist Julia Fredersdorff studied baroque violin with Lucinda Moon at the Victorian College of the Arts, before travelling to the Netherlands to study with Enrico Gatti at The Royal Conservatorium in The Hague. Based in Paris for almost ten years, Julia freelanced with some of the finest European ensembles, such as Les Talens Lyriques, Les Folies Françoises, Le Concert d’Astrée, Le Parlement de Musique, Ensemble Matheus, Les Paladins, Il Complesso Barocco, New Dutch Academy, Ensemble Aurora and Bach Concentus.
Now resident again in Australia, Julia is a regular member of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, and the Orchestra of the Antipodes with whom she performs regularly as Concert Master for Pinchgut Opera, Hobart Baroque and Brisbane Baroque.
Julia has participated in CD recordings for Virgin Classics, Deutsche Grammaphon, Accent, Accord, Naïve, Erato, Passacaille, Ambronay, ABC Classics, Vexations840 and Tall Poppies. Passionate about chamber music, Julia is a core member of Ludovico’s Band and a founding member of Ironwood, with whom she performs and records extensively, as well as the twice ARIA nominated baroque trio, Latitude 37.
Julia is founder and Artistic Director of the annual Peninsula Summer Music Festival on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, and teaches baroque violin at the conservatoriums of Sydney, Hobart and Melbourne.
Recent highlights have included directing Orchestra Victoria in a program of French Baroque music, performing the complete Biber Rosary Sonatas in one day for Brisbane Baroque, and performing alongside her teacher Enrico Gatti in concerts with his Ensemble Aurora.
Ciara Nicholls
