AUSTA State Awards

(from the AUSTA National Conference program)

AUSTA’s state awards recognise contributions made to the string community in each state. We congratulate 2022’s State Award winners.

Jennifer Higgs (ACT)

Jenny began violin lessons with Hiroko Primrose, later the Churchills and Yasuki Nakamura. These people engendered in her a fascination for, and desire to, teach as well as to perform. During her studies at the CSM, she began to suffer from RSI. The process of rehabilitation led Jenny and her teacher, Tor Fromyhr, to examine anatomy and body mapping which forms the foundation of her teaching now.

Jenny plays professionally in the Canberra Symphony Orchestra and with visiting touring companies. She is also on the AUSTA ACT committee

Jenny’s work with the students of Orana Steiner School (where she is the String Program Coordinator and music teacher), the young players in the orchestras of Music for Canberra and the students of her own teaching studio love her gentle approach, her musical inspiration and unfailingly positive encouragement.

Alex Henery (NSW)

Alex Henery moved to Australia from the UK with his family in 1979. He studied double bass at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music before moving to the US to complete his studies.

In 1989, began his professional career in the UK. He held the position of Co-Principal Bass in the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in 1990 and in 1992 took up the Co-Principal position with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. Alex was a regular guest principal with the London Symphony Orchestra and numerous chamber orchestras.

He took up the position of Principal Double Bass with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 1998. He performs regularly at various music festivals and has been featured as a soloist with the Sydney, Shanghai and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras on several occasions.

Alex is an active teacher of young primary and high school-level students, as well as having many exstudents who hold positions in orchestras nationally and internationally. Alex holds the position of Lecturer and Unit of Study Coordinator of the Double Bass department at Sydney Conservatorium.

Rod and Celia Egerton (Qld)

Rod and Celia Egerton arrived in Toowoomba from Melbourne almost 25 years ago and have since then worked to build a culture of string playing in the region.

Through the establishment of Toowoomba Strings, a community program incorporating junior and senior string orchestras and a Colourstrings program for beginners, Toowoomba Strings have given many concerts, performed in interstate conferences and taken tours to western regions as well as overseas. Their annual Youth Concerto event was established in 2011 and has since given many students the opportunity to perform a concerto accompanied by an orchestra.

Celia has immersed herself in the world of Colourstrings and the remarkable teaching methodology of Géza Szilvay. She has taught in both the East Helsinki and the Kuhmo Music Institutes in Finland and has presented Colourstrings workshops for teachers around Australia.

In 1999, Rod established STRINGOUT Toowoomba, a major regional community string festival for primary schools and primary string players. STRINGOUT draws together hundreds of participants and their string teachers from Toowoomba and surrounding areas. celebrated 20 years of music making in 2019. Together, Celia and Rod have hosted and assisted with numerous teacher training events around the country, including the inaugural Australian Colourstrings Festival in Toowoomba in 2014, in order to share this method with a new generation of teachers.

Agnes Weinstein (SA)

Agnes’s love of music stared when she learned to play recorder with her cousins on her family in Germany when she was six. Upon returning to Bombala, she continued the recorder until a small violin turned up in the town and she began violin lessons.

Agnes completed her music degree at the University of Adelaide and played professionally in the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra for 15 years. She moved to Townsville in 1991, and taught violin and viola casually for James Cook University. In Townsville, Agnes had her first encounter with AUSTA, where she became a committee member.

Agnes spent a few years travelling around New Zealand, Perth and Brisbane, where she joined the AUSTA committees and worked as an instrumental teacher and conductor. Agnes also performed in chamber ensembles and orchestras. She returned to Adelaide in 2010 and joined the AUSTA committee there. Having experienced how AUSTA worked in other states, Agnes focused on replicating the best parts of what she had experienced and built a strong, inclusive and vibrant community of string teachers, amateur players and younger students.

Audrey Akermann (Tas) a teacher. As well as music, she also was an early childhood educator in Dublin.

Audrey Akermann was born and educated in Ireland. She studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music where she was the Vandeleur Academy Scholar for singing. She also received RIAM awards for sight-singing and theory. Her instrumental tuition was in piano and violin, later changing to cello, thus developing a working knowledge of the orchestral string family.

After migrating to Tasmania in 1977, Audrey first taught classroom music in various Hobart primary schools, including working with children in a special school. Later she helped to establish the Combined Primary Schools String Program for the Tasmanian Department of Education. It was for this program that she developed her group tuition curriculum and the Tricks to Tunes method and materials.

Although now retired, Audrey has continued some classroom teaching as a volunteer and enjoys having a handful of young students. AUSTA activities and involvement with the local community eisteddfod society keeps her well occupied. This leaves just enough time to indulge her other leisure pursuit of gardening.

John Quaine (Vic)

John is a string specialist with many years of experience as a performer, conductor and educator. He plays violin and viola and has had an extensive performance career on modern and period instruments. He taught strings at all levels of government, private schools and within a busy private studio; his innovative approach to string programs in schools continues to be influential.

MYO and MSE. John has worked as an editorial consultant for the AMEB and is a string examiner.

John has been associated with AUSTA for over 40 years and during this time he participated in and contributed to numerous State and National events. He joined the Victorian State Committee in the 1990s and was an active committee member for 25 years, serving as the Victorian State President 1999–2002 and as the AUSTA National President 2011–2013. As National President, John continued to keep abreast of developments on string playing, teaching and making, and advocated for and promoted a wide range of activities on these areas for AUSTA members. Regional events, touring conferences and the 2012 National Conference’s ‘Strings in the 21st Century’ were successfully undertaken with the support of enthusiastic and capable State committees.

John strengthened links with aligned organisations such as AMEB, Suzuki talent Education, ANAM, state universities, instrument makers, local composers, music publishers, Early Music practitioners, numerous Australian and international presenters as well as allied associations such as ASTA and ESTA; during this time, Stringendo was transformed into a truly professional flagship publication for AUSTA. John remains grateful for the wonderful experiences and friendships that were forged during the years of his association with AUSTA.

Rennae van der Laan (WA)

Rennae van der Laan was born in Canada into a musical family and has been teaching music and performing professionally for over 35 years. Her undergraduate studies were at the University of Manitoba where, after many years travelling and performing, she returned to teach violin.

She is an examiner for the AMEB and is currently teaching violin, viola and voice at Wesley College along with tunning a very successful private studio, the RennaeSense Music Studio.

Rennae joined AUSTA WA in 2005 and has held many positions on the committee, including WA President where, after much hand-holding and guidance from committee members Andy Patrick, Kirsten Arkley-Smith and Helen Tuckey, she took on the responsibility of coordinating the AUSTA Festival.

She believes that AUSTA provides many opportunities for teachers, performers and students to further develop their craft through workshops, performances and festivals, whether in person or through hybrid events.

Rennae continues to be actively involved in adjudicating and performing with various groups and ensembles and is passionately dedicated to music education in Australia.