Hi, I’m Jennifer and I was a pupil at CSM about a zillion years ago. I feel very fortunate to have had Martin Lamb as my first violin teacher and he remains a dear friend to this day! I love to play chamber music and it was Ellen Doyle who first introduced me to this genre when she invited me to join a group of (very cool) older students who suddenly needed a 2nd violin for their Brahms Piano Quintet – talk about diving in at the deep end! I am very grateful to Ellen for teaching me how to listen and giving me so many opportunities, and also to Peter Zwartz who I eventually played under in the Christchurch Youth Orchestra, having made my way up from Orchestra 8.

Thanks to a NZ Arts Council Grant I went to Boston to study at the New England Conservatory of Music, first with Dorothy Delay and then with Masuko Ushioda. I then moved to Miami to play in the New World Symphony – a training orchestra directed by Michael Tilson Thomas. Having met my future husband, cellist Marius Diaz, back in Boston I decided to follow him to Valladolid, Spain when he won the principal cello position in a newly formed orchestra. I became the principal 2nd violin of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León (OSCyL) and we have stayed there for the last 32 years doing our part to help make that project grow. One great aspect of my job is that I have been able to collaborate with many other orchestras such as the Cadaques Orchestra, Mahler Chamber, Royal Northern Sinfonia, BandArt, New European Strings, Barcelona… most often as the principal 2nd violin – maybe Ellen Doyle knew something way back then!  I also enjoy teaching in the different youth orchestras around Spain, and now in my own orchestra’s newly formed youth orchestra.

I remember the thrill I felt as I stood with my half-size violin in the Christchurch Town Hall with the rest of the beginners, waiting for the wonderful Frank Dennis to hold up a huge letter K which was our cue to join in with the other students (almost 1000 I think) playing Orpheus in the Underworld for the annual demonstration concert. It was a great way to begin – and I hope you’re all having as much fun at CSM as I did!

Images: Jennifer in action, and seated, watching Norwegian soloist Vilde Frang,
with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León

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When I was 9, I came home from St Martins School very excited because the school wanted to establish an orchestra. I was told I could learn the violin, at $10 a year to hire an instrument. There were itinerant music teachers who would arrive throughout the week, teach lessons and run the orchestra. My first violin teacher was Gerald Oliver and because I was able to read music, he suggested that I join Orchestra 4 at CSM on Saturday mornings. We used to rehearse in the Great Hall at the Arts Centre, and I absolutely loved it. The first time I played Haydn’s London symphony, it felt like playing “real music”. I also remember tours to the West Coast and Dunedin, and being billeted by families there. My high school music teacher was the amazing Russell Kent, and I always credit him for ushering me and my sister Julia towards music careers. He was supportive of every musical venture outside of school hours, and suggested that I try my hand at composing. I took violin lessons from Garnet Harré, David Gilling, Susan-Jane Higgs and Chloe Moon. There was CSM, the Christchurch Secondary Schools Orchestra, and Christchurch Youth Orchestra under the terrifying Peter Zwartz who used to make us play desk by desk if he wasn’t happy.

In 1987 I started a Bachelor of Music in Composition at the University of Canterbury. I continued playing in the CSO, and the NZ Youth Orchestra for their Australian Expo ’88 tour but it was through my CSM connection that I received my first commission — the combined piece for the 1992 Demonstration Concert. In 1993 I headed off to the USA to study composition at the Eastman School of Music. After completing my Masters there, and my Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, in July 1998 I took a lecturing position at the University of Tasmania, where I still teach today. My music has been commissioned or performed by almost all the orchestras in Australia and New Zealand, orchestras in the USA and Europe, and a wide range of chamber ensembles. I have written two documentary film scores: Quoll Farm and Living with Devils.

I cannot express how much CSM impacted my life. The teachers and conductors created so many opportunities and encouraged us to pursue what we loved doing. I formed lifelong friendships, and there are CSM people around the world with whom I’m still in touch. It would be true to say that we all became musicians because of CSM.

Image: Maria and her younger self (circa 1981)

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Ian has been involved with CSM for an astonishing length of time; he writes: I  began CSIM in its second year of operation (Ed: given we’ll soon be celebrating 70 years… well, you do the maths), in a recorder class in the old Secondary Training College. My father, Geoff, was also involved at that stage and later ran the recorder school. Then I began clarinet lessons with Frank Uttridge and later with Kit Powell (some may remember Kit, who taught maths at Linwood College, and wrote music for their large-scale original drama productions, but has lived in Switzerland as a full-time composer for the past 40 years).
 


I progressed to Orchestra 2, which was conducted by Stephen Delaney, when an oboe and bassoon became available. I had no idea about these instruments, but having to cycle around town, bassoon was not an option!  So, I began lessons with Ross McKeich and later Margaret von Biel from Canterbury University.  I made it through to Orchestra One, then conducted by Bob Perks, and then on to the chamber orchestra with Louis Yffer (the first professional concert master of the CSO).  Once I left school and went to Teachers Training College, I also began teaching at CSM; initially the recorder (Margaret Daly was the HOD), then the oboe.
 


Later I auditioned to conduct Orchestra 3, and during my time with them we made two trips to the West Coast doing music festivals with the local schools, playing to packed houses. A stint out in the country teaching meant I had to relinquish this role (which was taken over by Helen Renaud).
 


I then moved on to the Senior Concert Band.  At that time, we had three bands with Dave Gallaher taking the Youth Band. I took that band for about four years, until Saturday morning rehearsals were no longer possible when I was appointed Stage Manager of the CSO. Over the next few years, I relieved for tutors and conductors as required, before the opportunity came to audition as conductor of the CSM Concert Band upon Bruce Roberts’ resignation.  I took that band for four years, during which time we visited our equivalent band in Dunedin twice.  Now I am happy to sit in the back row of the Concert Band and play the French Horn part on my Tenor Sax! 

Image: Ian, circled, as a participant in the 1968 demonstration concert, and playing Tenor Sax in the Concert Band in 2024