2026 Baroque Academy

Melbourne-born violinist Julia Fredersdorff studied baroque violin with Lucinda Moon at the Victorian College of the Arts, before travelling to the Netherlands to study with Enrico Gatti at The Royal Conservatorium in The Hague. Based in Paris for close to a decade, Julia freelanced with some of the finest European ensembles, such as Les Talens Lyriques, Les Folies Françoises, Le Concert d’Astrée, Le Parlement de Musique, Ensemble Matheus, Les Paladins, Il Complesso Barocco, New Dutch Academy, Ensemble Aurora and Bach Concentus.

Now resident again in Australia, Julia is the founder and Artistic Director of the Tasmanian baroque ensemble, Van Diemen’s Band. She is a founding member of the chamber ensemble Ironwood, the twice ARIA-nominated baroque trio Latitude 37, and founder and former Artistic Director of the annual Peninsula Summer Music Festival on the Mornington Peninsula. Julia has appeared in major arts festivals around Australia and New Zealand and has toured extensively across Europe, from Reykjavík to Wroclaw, Madeira to Venice.

Julia has participated in nearly forty international recordings for the labels BIS, Virgin Classics, Deutsche Grammophon, Accent, Accord, Naïve, Erato, Passacaille, Ambronay, ABC Classic, Vexations840 and Tall Poppies.

American violinist and violist, Karina Schmitz, came to Australia in 2019 and relocated to Nipaluna/Hobart in 2025. She is thrilled to find herself immersed in the rich and vibrant musical scene in her new home. She also appears as principal violist with the Australian Haydn Ensemble and in nineteenth-century period trio Notturno. She has performed with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra, Van Diemen’s Band, Salut! Baroque, and Ensemble Galante.

In the United States, Karina was principal violist of Handel & Haydn Society in Boston, principal violist of Apollo’s Fire in Cleveland, principal violist of the Carmel Bach Festival in California, and founding violinist/violist with New York based 17th century ensemble ACRONYM. Karina holds viola performance degrees from New England Conservatory of Music (Boston) and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Melbourne-based viola da gamba specialist Laura Vaughan is one of Australia’s most engaging and expressive early music performers. Known for her vivid musicianship and warm stage presence, she has become a dynamic voice within the country’s early music scene.

After studies with Miriam Morris at the University of Melbourne and with Wieland Kuijken and Philippe Pierlot at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, Laura forged a vibrant performing career across Australasia. A versatile musician, she moves fluently between the viola da gamba, violone, lirone, and baryton, performing an expansive repertoire that spans centuries.

Alongside her deep commitment to historical performance practice from the 16th to mid-18th centuries, Laura is an advocate for new music written for these remarkable instruments, inspiring contemporary composers to explore their unique expressive power. Passionate about the viol’s luminous, intimate sound world, she brings its exquisite voice to audiences around the world.

Laura appears regularly on ABC Classic FM as both soloist and chamber musician, and her recordings — including solo releases on the Move and Paladino labels — have been widely praised. She collaborates frequently with leading Australian ensembles such as the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Orchestra of the Antipodes, Genesis Baroque, Van Diemen’s Band, Adelaide Baroque, Accademia Arcadia, and Consortium. She is also a founding member of the multiple ARIA Award–nominated trio Latitude 37 and the Gryphon Baryton Trio.  Laura has performed with major orchestras including the Tasmanian, Melbourne, and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras, and the Auckland Philharmonia, and beyond the stage she teaches at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, inspiring a new generation of early music performers.

Simon Martyn-Ellis began playing the lute after finding the classical guitar repertoire too restrictive for ensemble performance: continuo collaborations remain a mainstay of his activities.

Simon returned to Australia in August 2019 after 17 years abroad, having lived and worked in first Germany for a decade, and then the United States. Intensely grateful for his experiences, he looks immensely forward to working with past, present and future colleagues from home and around the globe.

Now based in Nipaluna/Hobart, you can hear him working within Pinchgut Opera, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Latitude 37, the Australian Haydn Ensemble, Van Diemen’s Band, ARCO, Salut! Baroque, Ensemble Galante, the Sydney and Queensland Symphony Orchestras, as a founding member of Notturno and Duo Corbetta, along with other small but special collaborations.

His particular interests are in vocal works, either in opera or intimate recitals, baroque and romantic guitar repertoire, and finding the groove in Early Music. But really, he just has a great time making music with people, exploring the diversity and richness of the sounds of plucked strings from the 16th to the 19th Centuries.

Simon Rickard studied modern bassoon with Richard McIntyre at the Australian National University School of Music in Canberra. He graduated with a Bachelor of Music (Hons I) in 1993, winning the ANU University Medal for his outstanding undergraduate work and the Friends of the Canberra School of Music Prize for best graduating student. 

In 1993 Simon moved to the Netherlands where he undertook postgraduate study in historical bassoons with Donna Agrell at the Koninklijk Conservatorium (Royal Conservatorium) at the Hague. He graduated with the early music Certificaat followed by two years of the Vrije Studierichting course. During his studies Simon was lucky enough to take lessons not only from Donna Agrell but with luminaries such as Ku Ebbinge, Alfredo Bernardini, Barthold Kuijken, Jacques Ogg, Kate Clarke, Bruce Dickey, Charles Toet and Tini Mathot. He participated in student projects with Sigiswald Kuijken, Lucy van Dael, William Christie, Paul Dombrecht and Bruce Dickey. Parallel to his musical studies, Simon studied baroque dance with Carol Pharo and Frank Perenboom in the Netherlands and Barbara Segal in London.

Simon has performed, toured and recorded with international period instrument ensembles including the Gabrieli Consort and Players, Les Arts Florissants and Florilegium. In Australia he played principal bassoon with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra for 11 years (1992-2003). He has appeared as guest principal bassoon with the Australian Chamber Orchestra (Mozart’s Mitridate, 2001), Opera Australia and Victorian Opera for their forays into period instruments.

More recently Simon has enjoyed playing with many of the newer ensembles in Australia’s burgeoning early music scene. He plays and records with the Orchestra of the Antipodes, Melbourne-based renaissance groups Consort Eclectus and La Compañia, the Ironwood Ensemble, Latitude 37, Camerata Antica, the Australian Haydn Ensemble, and the Peninsula Summer Music Festival. Simon is very proud to have played principal bassoon for Pinchgut Opera since its inception.

Simon has spent many years painstakingly researching and reconstructing early bassoon reeds and has played on them exclusively since 1998.