Student to fine tune her skills with the best
Victoria University of Wellington student Rebecca Warnes will learn from some of New Zealand’s best musicians after being selected as a 2017 Orchestral Intern with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.
Rebecca, who is in her third year of a degree majoring in Classical Performance at Victoria’s New Zealand School of Music (NZSM), says she is looking forward to performing for the first time with a professional orchestra.
She says the internship is another step towards achieving her career ambition of becoming a professional cellist.
“Playing for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra someday is the dream, so this opportunity to learn the ins and outs of a professional orchestra first hand will be great. Apart from being able to put this on my CV, the understanding I’ll gain opens up career options for behind-the-scenes roles too.”
Rebecca’s first trip to Auckland will be on 30 March for an introduction to the orchestra and the three other 2017 Orchestral Interns. She will then travel to Auckland in July, September and November to receive lessons with her mentor, Auckland Philarmonia Orchestra lead cellist Eliah Sakakushev-von Bismarck, and to rehearse with the orchestra and play in two of its public concerts.
The support from NZSM tutors has been excellent says Rebecca.
“It’s an amazing school. I’m learning with senior lecturer Inbal Megiddo and we get along really well.”
Rebecca is also the 2017 recipient of the NZSM Bal-na-Shee Cello Award, which provides a gifted cellist with the use of an instrument made by an historic cello maker—an 1813 Thomas Kennedy cello. The award was established in 2012 following a generous donation from Paul and Louise Aitken.
The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra is New Zealand’s fulltime professional Metropolitan orchestra and has a comprehensive programme of concerts, education and outreach activities. It presents more than 50 mainstage performances annually and supports New Zealand Opera and the Royal New Zealand Ballet in their Auckland performances. Its Orchestral Internships are offered annually to instrumentalists aged 16-25 who aspire to be orchestral musicians.
For more information contact Rebecca Warnes on 021 0277 7853 cellobex@gmail.com.
Issued by Victoria University of Wellington Communications & Marketing. Natalie Hampshire, Communications Adviser, can be contacted by emailing natalie.hampshire@vuw.ac.nz or phoning (04) 463 6908.