Our Musical Director is Willem van der Vis, who is well known in Melbourne as a conductor, teacher and cellist.
New Zealand born Willem gained a B.Sc (Hons) in physics before focusing on music, playing principal cello with the Dunedin Sinfonia and New Zealand Symphony Training Orchestra.
In 1979 he moved to Australia, where he became a member of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. Other orchestras he has played with include the New Zealand, Tasmanian, State Orchestra of Victoria, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras.
As an orchestral cellist, he was always fascinated by how a conductor interacted with and communicated music to an orchestra. This led him to complete his B.mus(conducting) at the WAAPA and the VCA (Robert Rosen); and subsequent conducting studies in Moscow, England, and the Czech Republic. He is presently enjoying further study with John Hopkins in Melbourne.
Willem is now Musical Director of the Maroondah Symphony Orchestra, the Murray Conservatorium Chamber Orchestra, and Margaret Sutherland Strings. He has also conducted the Stonnington and New Monash Symphony Orchestras, the Ballarat Symphony Orchestra and Choral Society, the Murray River Three Choirs Festival, the Kooyong Chamber Players and many stage shows. He works actively in music camps and workshops around Australia, including Orchestra Victoria’s mOVe Bending 2004, where he also led workshops in the practice of conducting.
Musical Director
