Zoë Black bio
Zoe Black is a violinist’s violinist, known for her beauty of sound and natural virtuosity. In 1989 she won the National Youth Concerto Competition and in 1991, the string section of the ABC Young Performers Awards.
After graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts in 1992, Zoë was awarded grants from the Australia Council and Queen Elizabeth Silver Jubilee Trust as well as the major performance award of the Australian Music Foundation in London, which facilitated her studies at the Guildhall School of Music under David Takeno and subsequently at the Vienna Hochschule with Michael Schnitzler.
Zoë was appointed assistant leader of Australian Chamber Orchestra in 1993, touring the world extensively. A committed chamber musician, in 2005 Zoë co- founded the Freshwater Trio with whom she toured nationally and internationally. She has also performed as soloist with various chamber and symphony orchestras and is a regular guest concert master with MSO & QSO.
Zoë returned to the ACO in 2012 in a part time capacity, where she regularly led the ACO Collective, performed as soloist and was an integral component of their educational programme. More recently, Zoë was a guest leader of the Australian String Quartet in 2016, performing at Festivals in Victoria, WA and in Italy (Rome, Venice and Cremona).
In 2011 Zoë co -founded the innovative duo with pianist/composer Joe Chindamo. The duo has performed at all the major festivals in Australia and recorded 3 ARIA nominated CDs, (REIMAGININGS , DIDO’S LAMENT and their re-versioning of the THE GOLDBERG VARIATIONS, premiering the latter at Carnegie Hall in 2015. The duo made their debut Italian performance at the Spinacorona Festival in Naples, at the invitation of renowned pianist, Michele Campanella in 2018 and are invited to perform the aforementioned Goldberg Variations at the Bach Festival in Leipzig in 2020.
A passionate teacher and tutor, Zoë is on faculty at the Australian National Academy of Music, where, along with her duo partner Joe Chindamo, she will be also conducting a residency in late 2022.
“Everything Zoe Black touches turns to gold.” Francis Merson, musician and editor of limelight Magazine.
Joe Chindamo bio
Joe Chindamo OAM is a musical polyglot whose art defies classification. While forging an international career as a brilliant jazz pianist – producing 23 CDs, topping the jazz charts in Japan, winning a slew of awards (including being inducted into the Bell Award Hall of Fame in 2016) and touring the world with the genre’s leading figures- he was working as first- call pianist on over 60 film soundtracks and performing & recording with a plethora of leading artists from the worlds of opera, jazz, theatre and pop.
More recently Chindamo has emerged as a coveted new voice in contemporary classical composition, receiving numerous commissions from Australia’s leading soloists, chamber groups and symphony orchestras, including the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Australian String Quartet, Camerata and the Melbourne and Queensland Symphony Orchestras.
In 2011 Joe co -founded the innovative duo with violinist Zoë Black. The duo has performed at all the major festivals in Australia and recorded 3 ARIA nominated CDs, (RE-IMAGININGS , DIDO’S LAMENT and their re-versioning of the THE GOLDBERG VARIATIONS, premiering the latter at Carnegie Hall in 2015. The duo made their debut Italian performance at the Spinacorona Festival in Naples, at the invitation of renowned pianist, Michele Campanella in 2018.
In 2016 he ventured the realm of theatre as a composer, collaborating with Steve Vizard to create the highly acclaimed one-woman musical – Vigil – for the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, starring Christie Whelan Brown.
Recent highlights include the premiere of his Concerto for Drums and Orchestra (2018), commissioned and performed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the premiere of his Concerto for Orchestra (2021) for the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and the performance of his work This House (2018) – for string orchestra- for the centenary of Australia House, London (Commissioned by the Australian High Commissioner in London and performed in the presence of HRH Prince Charles in November 2018).
In May 2022 the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra premiered his Ligeia – Concerto for Trombone & Orchestra, written for ASO Principal Colin Prichard and commissioned by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. In the same month, the premiere performance of his Principia Clarinettica – commissioned by the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra – was given by associate principal clarinettist Philip Arkinstall and string quartet.
In 2022 Joe was added to the Queen’s birthday honours list and awarded an order of Australia for his services to music and the performing arts – OAM