The musicians
Jess Ipkendanz violin
Jess is a musician, composer, and visual artist based in Melbourne.
Beginning violin lessons at the age of eight, Jess left school and began full time study at the WA Conservatorium of Music when she was fifteen. She studied violin with Alan Bonds and Pal Eder, and completed her degree at UWA, studying with Paul Wright. Graduating as the top performance student in her year, she was a string finalist in the 1997 ABC Young Performers Competition, a 1999 scholarship recipient at the Australian National Academy of Music, and a finalist for the 2005 Freedman Fellowship.
She has explored a wide range of musical styles that include classical, jazz, world, new music and improvisation, and has worked as a freelance violinist with a diverse range of ensembles. In 1999 she began working with pianist Raymond Yong. The duo has performed for the Musica Viva ‘Menage’ series and the Port Fairy Festival. In 2004, they travelled to Siena, Italy, where they participated in masterclasses given by the Trio di Trieste, as well as performing several concerts in Germany and Tuscany, and were invited back to perform in Germany and Italy in 2005.
In 2004 Jess recorded her debut solo album ‘Love Song’ which features her skills on piano, violin and voice, and has performed these solo works in Australia, Japan, Germany, Denmark and Italy.
Her recent work in theatre as a musician, artist and composer include the Night Train productions Raising the Dead, The Kreutzer Sonata and Skin. In 2008 she received a Green Room Award for best sound design in the Independent Theatre category.
Chris Howlett celloChris studies a Masters of Music Performance at The University of Melbourne. He is presently studying with, Janis Laurs, principal cellist of Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Chris has won a number of awards including a scholarship to study overseas to spend seven months in Vienna, studying with world-renowned cellist Howard Penny.He has won the Youth of Excellence Award twice, enjoyed many successful performances at Dandenong Eisteddfod as both a soloist and chamber musician and has made the final of The University of Melbourne Chamber Competition with both trios and quartets. He was also recently awarded the Music Lovers’ Society Scholarship for 2007, The Nickson Travelling Scholarship to study overseas in 2008 and the Gwen Proktor Violoncello Prize for 2007.Chris has played extensively as an orchestral player being principal cellist with The Melbourne University Orchestra, MYO, Northern Italy Youth Orchestra, Royal Melbourne Philharmonic and The Chamber Strings of Melbourne. Chris has performed as soloist, performing concerti with both symphonic and chamber orchestras in Milan, Rome, Paris, Estonia and most recently made his solo debut in London as guest of the Tait Foundation. He has also recently performed solo at The International Cello Convention in Adelaide and The Music Lovers Society of Victoria and is about to fly to
Europe for an 8 week study period working with renown teaches such as Richard Lester.Stefan Cassomenos piano
Melbourne pianist and composer Stefan Cassomenos studied piano with Margarita Krupina and Stephen McIntyre, and currently studies with Ian Munro at the Australian National Academy of Music. He is generously supported by Kawai Australia and Music Theatre Australia.
This year, Stefan was awarded two travel scholarships by the Youth Music Foundation of Australia, as their Rome Scholar at the British School at Rome, studying with Marcella Crudeli, and as their Oxford Scholar, participating in the Philomusica Piano Festival at Oxford University. Stefan studied on scholarship at Melbourne University, majoring in Performance, and receiving several University awards including the Rosemary Kenny Prize (’06) for the best student in third or fourth year.
Stefan was a semi-finalist and prize-winner in both the Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition (2005) and the Australian National Piano Award (2006). He has performed concerti with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Victoria, and has performed as a soloist in St Petersburg, Tallinn, Warsaw, Krakow, Athens, Rome, Milan, Amsterdam, London, Bangkok and Tokyo. His 2007 London debut was described, in a Musical Opinion review by John Amis, as ‘alive, passionate, and dramatic … a prodigious London debut by a formidable talent.’ Stefan is also a keen composer, and his compositions have been performed by the Melbourne and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras, and on more than one occasion by The Yarra Trio.
