Australian Chamber Orchestra Names Emerging Artists for 2024

Seven young string players will receive mentoring from ACO players and appear in the ACO Collective ensemble

The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) has recently named the seven young string players who will take part in the group's Emerging Artist Program for 2024. As part of the year-long program, these players will receive one-to-one mentorship from ACO players, as well as take part in several side-by-side professional performance opportunities.

In particular, they will appear in the ACO Collective, a string orchestra comprised of a mixture of Emerging Artists and ACO players. Led by Helena Rathbone, the ensemble will undertake a significant amount of touring and community engagement — especially in Australia's regional centers.

The selected players are:

• James Armstrong (violin)
• Beatrice Colombis (violin)
• Liam Freisberg (violin)
• Natalie Mavridis (violin)
• Andrew Crothers (viola)
• Ariel Volovelsky (cello)
• Caroline Renn (double bass)

"The ACO Emerging Artist Program is an incredible opportunity to engage with musicians from the ACO through mentorship and through the ACO Collective projects and tours," said violinist James Armstrong. "It will be a privilege to make music in the ACO environment and collaborate with like-minded fellow Emerging Artists. It was also a great challenge for me to audition and I’m absolutely delighted to be a part of the program."

"I really love that a key part of the program is regional touring — it’s so important that we share our music as far and wide as we can, so it will be wonderful to have the chance to connect with regional communities with the ACO Collective," he added.