Chamber Music Concerts

Elanée Ensemble

Jo St Leon (viola) and Stuart Thomson (Double Bass)
will present a programme of Baroque and Classical music.

Elanée Ensemble

The Elanée Ensemble was formed early in 2009 to perform and record chamber music featuring the double bass and viola. There is a rich and little known body of repertoire from the early classical era for this unlikely but effective combination and then little original work until relatively recent times although there is a small body of arranged material. Elanée aims to redress this balance through the commissioning of both new and arranged works to develop a repertoire that draws on the full range of the Western Classical Tradition, from Baroque to Contemporary. In 2010 they were gifted their first commissioned work, a beautiful Romance by renowned Tasmanian composer Don Kay.

The duo has toured extensively in Tasmania and also in Victoria. They engaged in an extensive Tasmanian commissioning project which included new music from composers Don Kay, Russell Gilmour and Maria Grenfell and an arrangement of Rossini’s ‘Thieving Magpie’ Overture. These works were premiered at a concert in the Ballroom of Government House, Hobart in the presence of His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania. They have also collaborated with author John Honey, composer Don Kay and soprano Jane Edwards.

Jo St Leon

Jo grew up in Australia, where she attended the Conservatorium High School for two years, studying the viola with John Gould. She then moved to Melbourne, where she studied with Christopher Martin and participated in a series of masterclasses with renowned violist William Primrose. She was a member of the Australian Youth Orchestra for several years and was principal violist with them on their American Tour in 1976. When she was seventeen she moved to Hobart for several months to study with Jan Sedivka and Keith Crellin before returning to Melbourne to take up a position with the Elizabethan Trust Orchestra. When she was 18 Jo went to London to study at the Royal College of Music with Frederick Riddle. She later studied privately with Stephen Shingles and participated in masterclasses with Bruno Giuranna at Prussia Cove.

Jo was a member of the London Philharmonic Orchestra for thirteen years, and Principal Viola with English National Ballet for nine years. She also held Principal positions with Saddlers Wells Royal Ballet and English Touring Opera. As a freelance player she worked extensively with the English Chamber Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. With the K Ballet Company she toured Japan, playing Guest Principal Viola for the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Grand Symphony Tokyo, The Osaka Theatre Orchestra and the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra.

As a chamber musician, Jo was a member of the Priory Trio for six years, played regularly with the Orchestra of St. John’s Chamber Ensemble and many works of contemporary British composers with Endymion Ensemble. She has appeared as soloist in the UK, South America, Australia and China. Jo currently lives in Hobart, where she teaches at the Conservatorium of Music, is Head of Strings at St. Michael’s Collegiate School and Viola tutor at the Australian International Symphony Orchestra Institute held annually in Hobart. She often plays with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and has been guest Associate Principal with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Recently, she has been invited to be an Honorary Professor at the Huayin Teachers College in Huaian, China, and plans several visits each year to perform and teach. Jo is in demand as a chamber musician performing regularly with Australian Soprano Jane Edwards, the Virtuosi Tasmania and is a founding member of the Elanée Ensemble which focuses on the repertoire of the Viola and Double Bass.

Stuart Thomson

Born in Edinburgh, Stuart spent most of his childhood in Southampton on the South Coast of England. He began playing Double Bass at the age of 9 and spent his teenage years as a member of the Hampshire County Youth Orchestra. It was this that inspired him to become a professional orchestral musician.

Stuart studied with Duncan McTier and the late Corin Long at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester where he was awarded the Eugene Cruft prize for Double Bass. Whilst at the RNCM Stuart began working professionally with the Hallé and BBC Philharmonic Orchestras in Manchester and the Liverpool Philharmonic. As a busy freelancer Stuart also worked with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, London Symphony and Philharmonia Orchestras as well as the Philharmonische Werkstatt Orchester in Switzerland, and was the Principal Double Bass player in the European Opera Centre Orchestra.

In 1999 Stuart left the UK to join the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra where he stayed for two years. As the son of an Australian mother he had always been keen to explore his Australian heritage so in 2001 he moved to Australia to play with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Stuart worked with The Queensland Orchestra as Associate Principal from 2002 until joining the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra as Principal Double Bass in late 2003. Since taking this role he has been invited to guest as principal bass with the Adelaide and Western Australian Symphony Orchestras. In 2005 he made his solo debut with the TSO in Bottesini’s Passione Amarosa for 2 double basses and orchestra with Alex Henery. As well as performing with the orchestra, Stuart also enjoys playing chamber music with various groups such as the Virtuosi Tasmania and is a founding member of the Elanée Ensemble along with Josephine St. Leon, focussing on the repertoire of the Viola and Double Bass. Teaching is also a passion and Stuart has a private studio, teaches at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music and is the Double Bass tutor for the Australian International Symphony Orchestra Institute held annually in Hobart.

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