OMA - Performance Program - March 29
On Saturday March 29, two masterclasses were held on campus. These are group classes held regularly on Saturday afternoons, accessible through our Academy, Discovery and Performance programs.
Masterclass with international artist Carla Maria Rodrigues
Time: 4:00PM – 6:00PM
Hartley Concert Room
This class is open to all OMA students and OMA chamber music groups. Parents and observers are very welcome to attend.
Carla Maria Rodrigues has been Principal Viola of the San Francisco Opera since 1996. She won her first audition at the age of 23 with the Minnesota Orchestra where she was later appointed Assistant Principal Viola. Serving as the Minnesota Orchestra’s Acting Principal in 1995, she was a featured soloist in Strauss’ Don Quixote with Yo Yo Ma and David Zinman, recorded live on MPR. Since moving to San Francisco, she became a frequent Guest Principal of the Australian Chamber Orchestra where she was later appointed Principal Viola until she left in 2004.
Chamber music activities have taken CarlaMaria throughout the world with such artists as Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Hepzibah Menuhin, Rudolph Serkin and Pinchas Zukerman. She has toured extensively to Europe, South America, Israel and Australia as a member of the Zukerman and Friends’ Ensemble and has been an active participant at numerous Festivals including Marlboro, Santa Fe, Gstaad, IMS Prussia Cove, Aldeburgh, Savannah, Sangat, Mecklenburg and Schleswig-Holstein. In 2015 she was again invited to play Principal viola with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe on a tour of Italy under the direction of Andras Schiff and later that summer performed at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival and the Bristol Proms with Daniel Hope. In 2016, she performed with the Danish String Quartet and also performed the Sinfonia Concertante with Lorenza Borrani and L’Arte Del Mondo at the Savannah Music Festival.
Carla Maria has become a much sought after teacher and has been a regular guest teacher of the Jerusalem Music Center, coaching chamber music and orchestral studies to aspiring young musicians from all over Israel, including the Young Israeli Philharmonic. From 2016 to 2018 she was the Adjunct Professor of Viola at UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and this past summer was a Guest Faculty Artist of the Aspen Summer Music Festival.
Percussion Masterclass with Amanda Grigg
Time: 4:30PM – 5:15PM
Location: Percussion studio
Amanda Grigg - Bio
Amanda Grigg is a graduate of the South Australian College of Advanced Education, where she studied percussion under the tutelage of James Bailey. With marimba solo repertoire as a focus, Amanda was a recipient of an Australia Council grant to study in New York with renowned marimba soloists William Moersch and Nancy Zeltsman. On her return to Adelaide, she completed her master’s degree in performance at the Elder Conservatorium of Music. Amanda has since enjoyed a diverse musical career. She has worked regularly as a percussionist with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, with highlights including tours to Asia and the US, Australian premiere of Wagner’s Ring Cycle and Brett Dean’s Hamlet. As a freelance performer her credits include opera and ballet productions, cabaret, musicals and movie soundtracks. As chamber musician recent highlights include: Ukaria 24 with Lawrence Power and the world Premiere of Watershed: The Death of Dr Duncan for the Adelaide Festival of Arts. Amanda has also recorded for television with the Australian Dance Theatre and for national radio broadcast as a marimba soloist.
As an educator, Amanda is passionate about percussion teaching at all levels, with extensive experience teaching in primary, secondary and tertiary education settings. She is a Percussion Advisor for the Australian Music Examination Board with compositions published in the AMEB Percussion Series 1 Grade books. In 2014 Amanda was appointed Head of Percussion Studies at the Elder Conservatorium of Music where she now serves as the Head of Percussion and Associate Director Honours Programs.