Dene Olding
Encyclopedia
Dene Olding is an Australia
n violin
ist. He has had a distinguished career as a soloist in Australia, New Zealand
and the United States
, performing over forty concertos in recent years, including many world premieres. He is also the co-concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
, first violinist in the Goldner String Quartet
, and a member of the Australia Ensemble
.
. In 1971, aged only 14, he attended the Juilliard School
in New York
as a scholarship student of Ivan Galamian
and Margaret Pardee. He graduated in 1978. He attended master classes with Nathan Milstein
and had further lessons with Herman Krebbers
and György Pauk
.
He joined the Australia Ensemble in 1982, and was also at that time leader of the Australian Chamber Orchestra
. In 1985, he was awarded a Churchill Fellowship
to further his musical studies. During that year, he won a Bronze medal at the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition
in Belgium
.
He was concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
from 1987 to 1994, and again since 2002. He is also a frequent guest concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
.
Dene Olding is regularly heard as soloist with all the major Australian orchestras and has worked with conductors such as Edo de Waart
, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Stuart Challender
, Sir Charles Mackerras
, Jorge Mester
, Günther Herbig
, Werner Andreas Albert
and David Porcelijn
.
He gave the Australian premieres of Witold Lutosławski's Chain 2 with the composer conducting, and the violin concertos by Elliott Carter
and Philip Glass
. In addition, he has performed world premieres of violin concertos by Ross Edwards
(Maninyas, a work dedicated to Dene Olding) and Bozidar Kos, and the Double Concerto for violin and viola by Richard Mills
, written for himself and his wife, Irena Morozova.
He has made many recording, including one of sonatas by Brahms
, Beethoven
and Mozart
, with his father Max Olding. His recording of Ross Edwards' Maninyas won the 1994 ARIA Award
for Best Classical Recording, and the Cannes award. He made the first CD recording of concertos by Frank Martin
, Darius Milhaud
and Samuel Barber
. He has recorded the violin concerti of Paul Hindemith
with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra
under Werner Andreas Albert.
He plays a Joseph Guarnerius violin made in 1720. In the Edwards, Martin, Milhaud and Barber recordings, he used the A. E. Smith
violin he inherited from a previous Sydney Symphony concertmaster, Ernest Llewellyn
.
He has conducted the Sydney Symphony and Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
.
with the Goldner String Quartet
and the Australia Ensemble. Together they have a son, Nicolai.
Olding is a practitioner of Aikido
.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist. He has had a distinguished career as a soloist in Australia, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, performing over forty concertos in recent years, including many world premieres. He is also the co-concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Sydney Symphony Orchestra
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra , commonly known as the Sydney Symphony, is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney...
, first violinist in the Goldner String Quartet
Goldner String Quartet
The Goldner String Quartet is an Australian string quartet formed in 1995 in honour of Richard Goldner, the founder of Musica Viva Australia.The Quartet consists of Dene Olding and Dimity Hall , Irina Morozova and Julian Smiles...
, and a member of the Australia Ensemble
Australia Ensemble
Australia Ensemble @UNSW is an Australian Chamber Group active since 1980.The group was founded after a proposal put to the University of New South Wales by musicologist Roger Covell and clarinettist Murray Khouri, then colleagues at the University. Since that time it has occupied a prominent...
.
Biography
Dene Olding is the son of the husband and wife piano duo Max Olding and Pamela PageMax Olding and Pamela Page
Max Olding and Pamela Page are a distinguished Australian husband and wife team of duo-pianists. They have performed separately in recitals and as concerto soloists, chamber music performers and accompanists both nationally and internationally, but are best known as a piano duo.They met when they...
. In 1971, aged only 14, he attended the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
as a scholarship student of Ivan Galamian
Ivan Galamian
Ivan Alexander Galamian was an influential Armenian violin teacher of the twentieth century.He was born in Tabriz, Iran, but his family soon emigrated to Moscow, Russia. Galamian studied violin at the School of the Philharmonic Society there with Konstantin Mostras until his graduation in 1919...
and Margaret Pardee. He graduated in 1978. He attended master classes with Nathan Milstein
Nathan Milstein
Nathan Mironovich Milstein was a Russian-born American virtuoso violinist.Widely considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century, Milstein was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and for works from the Romantic period...
and had further lessons with Herman Krebbers
Herman Krebbers
Herman Krebbers is a Dutch violinist.Born in Hengelo, Overijssel, Krebbers studied in Amsterdam with Oskar Back. In 1943, the 19 year-old violinist debuted with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and eventually became the Orchestra's Concertmaster in 1962.In parallel he led a shining career as a...
and György Pauk
György Pauk
-Biography:Born in Budapest, Hungary, Pauk entered the Franz Liszt Academy of Music there at age twelve where he studied under Zoltán Kodály. In 1956 he left Hungary for the Netherlands and, after being persuaded by violinist Yehudi Menuhin, he permanently settled in London in 1961.Since then he...
.
He joined the Australia Ensemble in 1982, and was also at that time leader of the Australian Chamber Orchestra
Australian Chamber Orchestra
The Australian Chamber Orchestra was founded by cellist John Painter in 1975. Richard Tognetti was appointed Lead Violin in 1989 and subsequently appointed Artistic Director....
. In 1985, he was awarded a Churchill Fellowship
Winston Churchill Memorial Trust
The Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill. They are based in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. The Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill. They are based...
to further his musical studies. During that year, he won a Bronze medal at the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition
Queen Elisabeth Music Competition
The Queen Elisabeth Music Competition, a founding member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions has been, since its foundation, considered the world over to be one of the most prestigious and most difficult. It is devoted to violin , piano , to composition and to singing...
in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
.
He was concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Sydney Symphony Orchestra
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra , commonly known as the Sydney Symphony, is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney...
from 1987 to 1994, and again since 2002. He is also a frequent guest concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Melbourne, Australia. It has 100 permanent musicians. Melbourne has the longest continuous history of orchestral music of any Australian city and the MSO is the oldest professional orchestra in Australia...
.
Dene Olding is regularly heard as soloist with all the major Australian orchestras and has worked with conductors such as Edo de Waart
Edo de Waart
Edo de Waart is a Dutch conductor, and the Music Director of both the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra....
, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Stuart Challender
Stuart Challender
Stuart David Challender, AO was an Australian conductor, known particularly for his work with Opera Australia and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.-Early life:...
, Sir Charles Mackerras
Charles Mackerras
Sir Alan Charles Maclaurin Mackerras, AC, CH, CBE was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan...
, Jorge Mester
Jorge Mester
Jorge Mester is a Mexican conductor of Hungarian ancestry.-Biography:He studied conducting with Jean Morel at the Juilliard School in New York, and worked with Leonard Bernstein at the Berkshire Music Center and with Albert Wolff...
, Günther Herbig
Günther Herbig
Günther Herbig is a German conductor.Born in Ústí nad Labem, Czechoslovakia, Herbig studied conducting at the Franz Liszt Academy in Weimar in 1951 with Hermann Abendroth. He later was a student of Hermann Scherchen, Arvid Jansons, and Herbert von Karajan...
, Werner Andreas Albert
Werner Andreas Albert
Werner Andreas Albert is a German conductor.He began his studies in musicology and history, and later studying conducting with Herbert von Karajan and Hans Rosbaud. After his 1961 debut with the Heidelberg Chamber Orchestra, he became chief conductor of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie...
and David Porcelijn
David Porcelijn
David Porcelijn is a Dutch composer and conductor.David Porcelijn studied flute, composition and conducting at the Royal Conservatoire of Music in The Hague...
.
He gave the Australian premieres of Witold Lutosławski's Chain 2 with the composer conducting, and the violin concertos by Elliott Carter
Elliott Carter
Elliott Cook Carter, Jr. is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer born and living in New York City. He studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris in the 1930s, and then returned to the United States. After a neoclassical phase, he went on to write atonal, rhythmically complex music...
and Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
. In addition, he has performed world premieres of violin concertos by Ross Edwards
Ross Edwards (composer)
Ross Edwards is an Australian composer of a wide variety of music including orchestral and chamber music, choral music, children's music, opera and film music. He is not to be confused with a British up and coming singer-songwriter of the same name.-Life:Ross Edwards was born in Sydney...
(Maninyas, a work dedicated to Dene Olding) and Bozidar Kos, and the Double Concerto for violin and viola by Richard Mills
Richard Mills
Richard John Mills AM, DMus BA Qld, is an Australian conductor and composer. He currently works as Artistic Director of the West Australian Opera and Artistic Consultant with Orchestra Victoria...
, written for himself and his wife, Irena Morozova.
He has made many recording, including one of sonatas by Brahms
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
, Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
and Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, with his father Max Olding. His recording of Ross Edwards' Maninyas won the 1994 ARIA Award
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Australian Recording Industry Association...
for Best Classical Recording, and the Cannes award. He made the first CD recording of concertos by Frank Martin
Frank Martin (composer)
Frank Martin was a Swiss composer, who lived a large part of his life in the Netherlands.-Childhood and youth:...
, Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...
and Samuel Barber
Samuel Barber
Samuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...
. He has recorded the violin concerti of Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra
Queensland Symphony Orchestra
The Queensland Symphony Orchestra is an Australian orchestra, based principally in Brisbane in the state of Queensland.The QSO played its first concert on 26 March 1947, with the orchestra consisting of 45 musicians, conducted by Percy Code. John Farnsworth Hall was recruited from the Sydney...
under Werner Andreas Albert.
He plays a Joseph Guarnerius violin made in 1720. In the Edwards, Martin, Milhaud and Barber recordings, he used the A. E. Smith
A. E. Smith (violin maker)
Arthur Edward Smith MBE, known as A. E. Smith was an English-born Australian violin and viola maker of world renown. His violins and violas are prized for their excellence of tone and decorative elements such as the sound holes, scrolls and curves...
violin he inherited from a previous Sydney Symphony concertmaster, Ernest Llewellyn
Ernest Llewellyn
Ernest Victor Llewellyn CBE was an Australian violinist, concertmaster, violist, conductor and musical administrator. He was the founding director of the Canberra School of Music and he is commemorated in the concert venue there, Llewellyn Hall.-Early career:Ernest Llewellyn was born in Kurri...
.
He has conducted the Sydney Symphony and Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra was established in the early 1980s and has become one of New Zealand's major performing organisations. The instigation of its Composer-in-Residence programme in 1990 has made the orchestra an important force in the promotion of New Zealand composed...
.
Personal life
Olding is married to Irena Morozova, a violistViola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
with the Goldner String Quartet
Richard Goldner
Richard Goldner was a Romanian-born, Viennese-trained Australian violist, pedagogue and inventor. He founded Musica Viva Australia in 1945, which became the world's largest entrepreneurial chamber music organisation. The Goldner String Quartet was named in his memory.-Biography:Richard Goldner...
and the Australia Ensemble. Together they have a son, Nicolai.
Olding is a practitioner of Aikido
Aikido
is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Aikido is often translated as "the Way of unifying life energy" or as "the Way of harmonious spirit." Ueshiba's goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to...
.