Kirsty McCahon - Classical Bass

 

Be it the Brodsky Quartet, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Musica Viva or ELISION, Les Talents Lyrique or L’Arpeggiata,  Australian Festival of Chamber Music or L’ Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, Kirsty relishes her collaborations with extraordinary musicians across all styles from Australia to Europe.

 

Born in remote Carnarvon W.A., she is the leading practitioner of Historical Performance Practice on the double bass and violone in the Australia. Kirsty was Principal Bass with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra for 20 years, and is Principal Bass of the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra, Pinchgut, Brisbane Baroque and the Orchestra of The Antipodes.

 

A founding member of the Australian World Orchestra, Kirsty was most recently a featured soloist in the September world premiere of the acclaimed Elena Kats-Chernin’s Concerto for 8 Basses, “The Witching Hour.”

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Kirsty is a Churchill Fellow and in 2012 was awarded an Honorary Fellow at the University of Melbourne for her Services to Orchestral Music. 

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A passionate educator of young women, Kirsty conducts workshops around the globe and in 2014 was invited to mentor at Sydney’s inaugural ‘Women of the World’ conference. As an Alumnus of the Australian Youth Orchestra, Kirsty regularly tutors the next generations of fine young musicians of this orchestra. As a firm believer in “giving back”, Kirsty and her bass playing husband Kees Boersma, initiated and funded a String program at their local public school which has now introduced over 1000 children to the wonderful world of music.

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Kirsty lives in Sydney, sharing her home with a bevy of beautiful old basses, two creative and curious boys, a talented husband and a white cat called Coco who just decided to move in. An ardent environmentalist, her heart resides deep in the country of this wide, brown land.