BIOGRAPHIES

Rochelle Bryson...
...After graduating with an honours degree from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2003 Rochelle continued her violin studies with Professor Maurice Hasson at the Royal Academy of Music between 2003 and 2005. She graduated with distinction in June 2005 with a PG Dip RAM, Dip RAM and  LRAM qualifications, and was awarded the Marjorie Hayward prize for the highest mark in the final recital.

Rochelle has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Harold Craxton chamber music prize at the Royal Academy of Music, the Victorian College of the Arts Mensa Award for outstanding performance along with the CD Hume violin scholarship, the Classical Concerto Competition prize and the Performance Related Studies Award. She was also the winner of the String section of the Hepzhibah Menhuin awards.

In April 2004 Rochelle toured Spain as a member of the London Chamber Players, and in July participated in the ‘Encuentro De Musica y Academia De Santander’ in Spain.

She has participated in masterclasses with notable professors including, Oleh Krysa, Wanda Wilkomirska, Alice Waten, Thomas Brandis, Zakhar Bron, Jose luis Garcia, Zvi Zeitlin, Alexandar Pavlovic, Norbert Brainin, Siegmund Nissel and Margaret Faultless. Along with solo performance, Rochelle is also an active participant in chamber music ensembles and is a casual player with both the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Victoria. She has performed as a soloist with the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, and is a core member of the orchestra. Rochelle also performs regularly with pianist Yue Shen and in 2009 joinsTrio Anima Mundi for their concert series in Melbourne.

Kenji Fujimura...
...is the recipient of numerous major prizes and scholarships, and has been broadcast on radio and television on many occasions by BBC Radio3, ABC-FM and TV, the MBS-FM network and Bravo! Canada.  He pursued his tertiary studies in Melbourne and at the Royal Academy of Music, London.  Hiis principal teacher was Ronald Farren-Price.

An avid supporter of both contemporary and lesser-known music, Kenji’s doctoral research, with the assistance of a PhD scholarship, has centred on the life and works of English composer William Hurlstone (1876-1906).  Kenji has given world premieres of works by Calvin Bowman, Brian Harnetty and Graham Hair amongst others, and Australian premieres of music by Karen Tanaka, Robert Walker, and Henri Busser. 

A major project for 2006 included the performance of the cycle of Mozart Sonatas for piano and violin with violinist Elizabeth Sellars, as well as premieres of works by Bowman and Philip Czaplowski.  In 2008 Kenji will be giving Australian premieres of piano trios by Hurlstone, and Stanford among others with Trio Anima Mundi of whom he is a founding member

As a composer, Kenji was winner of the 2005 William Lincer Foundation International Composition Competition (New York) and was selected for the 2006 Symphony Australia Composers’ Workshop. 

Kenji has been Lecturer in Piano/Keyboard at the School of Music-Conservatorium, Monash University since 2002, and is also an examiner for the Australian Music Examinations Board.

Miranda Brockman...
... Miranda Brockman was born into a large musical family in Geelong and studied both piano and cello as a child. Her teachers include Marianne Hunt, Kate Finnis, Nelson Cooke and Christian Wojtowicz and she has played in master-classes with Anna Bylsma and Janos Starker.  Upon finishing school Miranda trained as a nurse and has since specialized in palliative care, community nursing and aged care. While completing an Arts Degree in Medieval History at Sydney University she became a casual cellist with the Elizabethan Trust Orchestra. She later graduated from a Masters degree in Music Performance at Melbourne University.

In 1999 Miranda won her current position as permanent cellist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. She has also played with Australia Pro Arte, the Australian Chamber Soloists and performed as principal cellist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Australian Pops Orchestra, the Geelong Chamber Orchestra and St. Paul’s Occasional Orchestra.  As concerto soloist Miranda has appeared with a number of regional groups including the Ballarat Symphony Orchestra on three occasions.

Miranda Brockman is a keen chamber musician. As a child she played in the Brockman String Quartet and in later life was a member of the prize-winning Lyric Trio at Melbourne University. She is a founding member of Trio Anima Mundi and her playing has been broadcast over both ABCfm and 3MBSfm. Miranda has a strong commitment to country audiences having brought chamber music concerts to towns across Victoria over many years. Tens of thousands of dollars have been donated to charity through these concerts and two venues have been able to purchase a piano for future concerts with the proceeds of such concerts. Miranda is also a regular performer in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chamber Music Series and a teacher at the Victorian College of the Arts.