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The Australian Chamber Ochestra will visit Wollongong Town Hall on Friday as part of its latest national tour.
The group of string players will perform pieces by some of world’s greatest composers including Vivaldi, Debussy and Mendelssohn.
One of the orchestra’s newest players, violinist Glenn Christensen, is one of three soloists featured during the concert and says it’s a dream come true.
Christensen, originally from Mackay in north Queensland, began learning the violin at four-years-old. This was something of a rebel decision as his three older brothers all played the piano.
“I actually approached the teacher myself without asking my parents,” he said.
“I think I was at a concert and I must’ve been attracted to the instrument … it turned out OK.”
Endless practicing and sounding like a strangled cat paid off with the instrumentalist picking up several roles over the past five years and is now a full-time member of the ACO.
“It’s highly competitive. For one you have to wait for position to be available … and you have to audition and apply. On an audition day there could be as many as 30 or 40 people turning up, all over very high standard, and in Australia there’s not that many jobs,”
“[I love this career] because music is a universal language and violin it’s portable, you can take it anywhere and play with anyone and there’s so much music written for it.
“I find music to be a very social activity as well.”
The Australian Chamber Orchestra at Wollongong Town Hall, Friday May 5 from 7:30pm. Tickets available www.merrigong.com.au