Concertmaster
BARBARA JANE GILBY
I am proud to reflect that 2010 marks the 41st anniversary of my first performance with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra.
In 1969 as a third form student at Telopea Park high School and a violin student of Josette Esquedin Morgan, I played in the last desk of the second violins for a family concert in the Canberra Theatre. The conductor was Ernest Llewellyn and among my memories of him is his saying “Sixpence all round!” when someone made a noticeable mistake. You can imagine my excitement. My mother Marjorie and sister Anne already played (violin and oboe) and there was one concert at least where we were joined by Martin (French horn) and Janet (violin) and Dad (Ross) played percussion. (Get him to tell you the story of the time the string holding the gong broke).
I continued to play in the orchestra through the rest of my high school years and those of tertiary study at the Canberra School of Music from which I graduated in 1975 just prior to the School’s move to the “new building” near the ANU. My violin teachers and greatest mentors were Vincent Edwards and Ernest Llewellyn.
After my first professional engagement as concertmaster of the newly formed Queensland Theatre Orchestra I enrolled at Boston University in their Masters Degree in violin performance studying with Prof. Roman Totenberg, the greatest single influence on me as a musician. On completion of that degree I commenced my life as an orchestral musician. Six - plus years of orchestral experience in Australia and my tertiary study provided a basis for several years of professional work in Europe (Iceland Symphony, Bremerhaven Theatre, Württemberg Chamber Orchestra and North German Radio Orchestra).
I returned to Australia in 1985 to the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra where I was appointed as concertmaster. It was a relatively young orchestra and willing and interested to undertake interesting projects and to work together to develop a “sound”. The Tasmanian years were a great opportunity for me to develop my skills as an ensemble leader and soloist and to think about violin playing.
After fifteen years in Hobart, the opportunity presented itself to return to Canberra and here I am. I teach violin at the ANU and in my private studio, undertake playing engagements in Canberra and elsewhere and have returned to the CSO. It’s a very different orchestra in 2010 – I doubt that an ambitious 14 year old (yes, now you know how old I am) would now have the opportunity I did back then – but that is probably as it should be since it was a long time ago. Canberra has changed a lot too and it’s mostly good I think. I love my garden, the community, bike paths, the lake and so much more; not least, regular doses of good quality orchestral music.
