Clive Lane is a Sydney based composer, specialising in music for guitar, recorder, viols, small ensembles, band music and choral music. He graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium (BMus) and the University of NSW (MMus) and spent many years as a high school music educator, composing and arranging for a variety of musical ensembles and conducting bands. When he retired he was able to concentrate full-time on composition and performance on guitar (classical and other styles), viola da gamba, recorder and singing.

Clive achieved world-wide attention with his piece for recorder orchestra Black Summer/Rising Waters, which clinched 2nd place in the prestigious Orpheus Music Competition 2022. He’s very active in both original composition and the transcription for recorder of other works. There is usually always something special in store for us during Clive’s meetings, so make sure this one is in your diary!

The Sydney Recorder Orchestra begins it’s rehearsal schedule again for 2026 on Wednesday March 4. Music has already been chosen and is available for download. If you’re interested or would like more information please send an email via our Contact page and we’ll forward it to the conductor, Daniel Murphy.

Just starting to play the recorder? Not confident to sight-read at a regular meeting yet? Or wanting to start on a new instrument, new fingering, or new clef? The Beginners’ Consort is a safe place for novice players to learn to play in consort, with access to music before the meeting. We play for an hour, then break for tea and a chat about all things ‘recorder’. Join us on 4th Wednesdays throughout the year. Send an email via the Contact page for more information.

This group is new for this year. A small group session for those who play a couple of recorders (or more) and are pretty familiar with playing, but would like more practise in a group setting. Led by Sydney Recorder Orchestra conductor and many-times Orpheus tutor, Daniel Murphy, this group will dive into fun repertoire for the intermediate player every 4th Wednesday of the month throughout the year. Please send an email via the Contacts page for more information and links to the music.

We’re beginning our meeting programme for the year with a treat!

Daniel Murphy, founder and conductor of the Sydney Recorder Orchestra, will direct this meeting, bringing with him extensive experience from years of specialist recorder teaching, tutoring at the Orpheus recorder festival, conducting at the Festival of Instrumental Music at the Opera House, and performing with various groups, including Consort 8.

We can promise excellent and eclectic music choices, expertly conducted! Don’t miss this meeting!

Christmas is here again and Irene will have her very unusual selection of surprising Christmas music for us. No run-of-the-mill Christmas carols (well, possibly one or two) but an amazingly fresh selection of little-heard music to celebrate the season. Join us for our last meeting of the year and mark the yuletide with your recorder buddies, led by the inimitable Irene Stone.

Yes, it’s another Player’s Night! (they’re the most popular meetings we hold). Come along and show your SSRP friends what you’ve been working on. From solos to ensembles, this is your night to put your music before a very appreciative and supportive audience. Perfection is not required, just a willingness to share your performance with other like-minded recorder players. Watch this space for information on how to register.

Clive Lane is a Sydney based composer, specialising in music for guitar, recorder, viols, small ensembles, band music and choral music. He graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium (BMus) and the University of NSW (MMus) and spent many years as a high school music educator, composing and arranging for a variety of musical ensembles and conducting bands. When he retired he was able to concentrate full time on composition and performance on guitar (classical and other styles), viola da gamba, recorder and singing.

Orpheus Music recently published his piece for recorder orchestra Black Summer/Rising Waters, with the following comment: “Black Summer/Rising Waters” stands as a poignant response to the NSW bushfires (July 2019-March 2020) and the NSW floods (January-July 2022), capturing the emotional essence of these natural events. This remarkable piece, crafted for recorder orchestra, clinched the 2nd place in the prestigious Orpheus Music Competition 2022, awarded by the Sydney Society of Recorder Players.

(See Clive’s website here: https://clivelane.com.au/)

Timothy Chung is a conductor, music educator, and performer based in Sydney, with over three decades of experience. He has worked extensively with various ensembles and educational institutions throughout his career, serving as Musical Director of the Sydney University Musical Society, Principal Conductor of the Macquarie University Singers, and Foundation Director of VOX. He has also been a Guest Conductor with the Gondwana Matthew Doyle Choir (young men’s voices).

Currently, Tim focuses on conducting and performing as a countertenor. He has performed as a soloist and chorister with renowned groups, including the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra Choir, Cantillation, Pinchgut Opera, ACO Voices, the Sydney University Graduate Choir, St Andrew's Cathedral Choir and St Mary’s Cathedral Choir, where he serves as an Alto Lay Clerk. He is also the countertenor in Consort 8, a Sydney-based early music ensemble that performs sacred and secular repertoire. Consort 8 regularly presents concerts at St Paul’s Anglican Church, Burwood, and Santa Sabina Chapel, Strathfield.

Since 2009, Tim has conducted annual performances of Handel’s Messiah at the Sydney Town Hall, an endeavour he holds close to his heart.

This EMA meeting will feature the recorder and will be presented throughout by Joanne Arnott. Jo is one of Australia’s leading recorder players and has a deep love for all things early music - Baroque, Renaissance and Medieval. She has over 25 years teaching and performing experience and has played with many Australian early music ensembles. Currently based on the NSW Central Coast, Jo teaches at the Central Coast Conservatorium of Music.

Jo’s stories of her experiences as a recorder player will feature in the opening talk. After afternoon tea she will conduct our massed playing session at 415Hz (for recorders and viols), taking us through repertoire of her own choice. If you’d like to join in with the playing session we have several 415 alto instruments for loan. Contact Robert Small.

Jo is passionate about spreading a deeper understanding and knowledge about the beauty of the recorder’s sound. This meeting will be of interest to everyone who loves the recorder and it’s music, as well as anyone interested in the recorder’s place in the early music environment.

Eleanor McIver has been playing recorder for 14 years. She studied mainly with Noelene Poole in Sydney and then Hans-Dieter Michatz, and during a six-month stay in Switzerland took lessons from Anita Orme. She has had the privilege to perform at the Sydney Opera House with the NSW Public Schools’ Recorder Ensemble and at the Conservatorium of Music with the Sydney University Musical Society (SUMS). She also participated in the Australian Recorder Festival Competition in 2023 where she won first place in the open section. She also received an Encore nomination for her HSC music performance in 2022. She is currently in her second year of a degree in Classics at the University of Oxford. Outside of her degree, she takes lessons from Anna Stegmann and plays informally with other early music enthusiasts. Fittingly for her degree, she has become interested in the music of ancient Greece. She recently took part in the Oxford Ancient Languages Society’s production of Euripides’ Orestes, in which all of the choral odes were set to music composed using what we know of the modes in use at the time.

We are very pleased to announce that another Player’s Night will be held at the July meeting. Get your recorder-playing companions together, choose your repertoire and start practising! You’re assured of a supportive audience and a great sense of accomplishment. Watch this space for how to register in coming months…

Jo Arnott is the tutor for this workshop, run by our friends at the Newcastle Recorder Players, and to be held in the Barnes Room, Adamstown Uniting Church, 228 Brunker Road, Adamstown.

Jo is one of Australia’s leading recorder players and has a deep love for all recorder music throughout the ages. She is passionate about spreading a deeper understanding and knowledge about the beauty of the recorder’s sound as well as its versatile capabilities in the context of modern music. Jo is currently based on the NSW Central Coast and teaches at the Central Coast Conservatorium of Music. Her workshops always provide varied and satisfying playing opportunities, and they’re lots of fun!

To register please express your interest via the contact tab and we will put you in touch with Peter Tolhurst who is managing registrations for the workshop. The fee is $40 per person, which will include tea, coffee and biscuits for breaks. A link to the music will be sent to participants once registration is completed.

We’re delighted to announce a Sunday workshop with Ulrike Volkhardt! Following studies with the likes of Frans Brüggen, Gustav Leonhardt, Kees Boeke and Walter van Hauwe (to name a few), Ulrike’s career spans numerous prestigious academic positions, including Lecturer at the Meistersinger-Konservatorium Nürnberg, and Professor of Recorder and Historical Performance Practice at the Folkwang University of the Arts Essen from 1994 until 2022. She has edited publications on early and contemporary music, written a recorder method book, and founded and led the European Recorder Players Society for many years. In addition, Ulrike has performed as a recorder soloist with orchestras all over the world and founded and led the ensembles camerata moderna, Ut Re Mi, devotio moderna, and ensemble miroirs.

She’s planning a wonderful days’ recorder playing and entertainment for us. “Together we will play some of the most interesting early Italian music for 1-4 choirs and will dive into minimalistic and meditative “early” music from the end of the 20th century by Terry Riley and Arvo Pärt. We will use all recorders from soprano to contrabass - so bring along all you have and all you can carry! In the early afternoon I will talk about my very special meeting with master Ryouhei Hirose and will play the piece he has written for me “Illusion of the crescent” for you before we continue playing all together.”

This is an amazing opportunity to learn from one of the most accomplished recorder professionals in the world. Don’t miss it! It will be held in our old meeting room, at the back of the hall at Saint Scholastica’s College, Glebe.

When Jude is not playing the recorder, she is a flute player and teacher. Jude has over 40 years experience as a flute teacher, maintaining a busy schedule at schools in Sydney and a home studio, where she teaches beginners through to Diploma level students. She leads several ensembles as part of her work and has played flute with Sydney Wind Symphony and Kuringai Orchestra, although her current focus is on Early Music performance with Consort 8.

A specialist Recorder and Flute examiner for the AMEB, Jude has a passion for leading young players to explore their potential as music makers. She has an abiding love of consort playing, and has been a popular guest tutor on several occasions for the SSRP weekly meetings and at our Bundanoon workshops. She continues to enjoy studying traverso and recorder repertoire with her teacher Hans-Dieter Michatz. A commitment to lifelong learning and music making is central to her life.

Irene’s Celtic workshops are ever-popular! Celtic music, with its haunting melodies and intricate harmonies, evokes a sense of longing and nostalgia, and it sounds great on recorder! This workshop will be full to the brim with varied music from the British Isles, including arrangements from quartet to recorder orchestra. Irene asks that you bring all your recorders and consider changing instruments throughout the day - “It’s more fun that way.” The venue is St Scholastica’s College music rooms. Music will be emailed before the workshop. Please contact Irene Stone for more information and to register.

Please note that this meeting will be held at Saint Scholastica’s College in Glebe, in the lovely new music room.

We’ll have a talk about recorders this time. Robert Small will speak on the topic “Recorder makes, types and designs” using examples of instruments made after historical models. He’ll also show Fred Morgan’s beautiful, elegant and accurate drawings of original recorders from the Frans Bruggen collection. These are the drawings almost universally used to make contemporary copies of original recorders. Rob will also move on to hybrid versions of original recorders and finish with newly designed recorders not based on originals, like Paetzold, Ganassi and Helder models.

Massed playing at 415Hz will be conducted by Hans Sangtoki. We’ll return to the Fischer music arranged for us by Bernie Williams, this time attempting the whole suite! Please print and bring the music from the link sent out by email. Very limited copies available on the day.

Alexandra is a Sydney and Melbourne based recorder player, music educator and conductor, and the SSRP’s newly appointed patron.  She first discovered the recorder with Zana Clarke (AUS) and then went on to complete her Bachelor of Music in recorder performance at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music at the University of Melbourne. During that time, Alexandra specialised in ensemble and soloist historical performance practice with Ruth Wilkinson (AUS). In 2016 she completed her Masters of Music Performance-Teaching (majoring in conducting, performance and teaching). 

A member of various musical ensembles, such as The Recorder Co-op andTrillo, Alexandra also teaches recorder to students of all ages and is currently teaching private lessons in Sydney. One of the four founding members and organisers of The Melbourne Recorder Academy, Alex also tutors recorder ensembles at the Sydney Conservatorium High School.

Joanne Arnott is one of Australia’s leading recorder players and has a deep love for all recorder music throughout the ages. Jo is passionate about spreading a deeper understanding and knowledge about the beauty of the recorder’s sound as well as its versatile capabilities in the context of modern music. With Bachelor, Honours and Master’s degrees from Sydney Conservatorium of Music and over 25 years teaching and performing experience, Jo has performed with groups such as Bel A Capella, Innominata, Consort 8, and Thoroughbass, and has tutored at early music, recorder, band and orchestral workshops throughout Australia. She is currently based on the NSW Central Coast and teaches at the Central Coast Conservatorium of Music.

Hans-Dieter Michatz has been a performer and educator for more years than he cares to remember. A pioneer of historically informed performance practice, he played flute and recorder with many ensembles and orchestras, here and overseas, as well as conducting ground-breaking choral, orchestral and opera performances. Besides his acclaimed recording of Telemann’s ‘Sonate Metodiche' with Linda Kent, and the 6 Concerti with Monika Kornel (MOVE Records), he featured as principal soloist in the ABC Classics Brandenburg Concerti and in Salut Baroque, Sydney Consort and Brandenburg Orchestra CD’s.

Hans-Dieter taught at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music for decades, was Classical Coordinator and lecturer at the Australian Institute of Music (AIM) and also in the AMPA Classical Programme. We are very happy to announce that, following his recent retirement, he has agreed to tutor a meeting for us. Don’t miss this one.

Just starting on your recorder playing journey? Not confident to sight-read at a regular meeting? Or wanting to start on a new instrument, new fingering, or new clef? The Beginners’ Consort is a safe place for novice players to learn to play in consort, with music supplied before the meeting. We play for an hour, then break for tea and a chat about all things ‘recorder’. Join us on 4th Wednesdays throughout the year. Send an email via the Contact page for more information.

Helen has had a long and distinguished career in music education. She currently teaches Music at Redlands School, runs a small private music studio, accompanies students for music exams at all levels from Grade 1 to Diploma, and works as a relief church organist at various churches across Sydney. Passionate about sharing her love of music and helping recorder players to improve the musicianship of their playing, her goal is to encourage amateur musicians to reach for the stars, growing their technical skills, developing their understanding of musical interpretation and gaining that amazing sense of achievement which comes from a polished performance.

We’re very excited that Sarah Jeffery, whose YouTube channel Team Recorder, is known and loved by many SSRP members, is finally coming to Sydney next January. We were disappointed when her earlier planned workshop in 2020 had to be cancelled due to COVID19 border closures.

Sarah will be a tutor at next year’s Orpheus Festival and has agreed to run a workshop for us before she heads up to Armidale. It will be held at the lovely modern school hall at St Michael’s Catholic Primary School in Lane Cove - please add this to your calendars! We’re hoping to fit in a short recital at the conclusion of the workshop too. Further details are available from our Treasurer, or via our contact form - get in touch with us for an information leaflet and soft copies of the music we’ll be playing. Don’t miss this long-awaited event!

Join us as we celebrate the season with a great selection of Christmas music. Not the usual tired carols, but an eclectic mix of music researched and selected by our own Irene Stone. We may even squeeze in some Christmas supper…

We’re delighted to announce a Saturday workshop with the wonderful Kamala Bain. Kamala is a recorder performance graduate of the University of Auckland, where she studied with David Coomber, and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where she studied with Walter van Hauwe and Paul Leenhouts. Now based in Wellington, her work as a performer takes her back to Europe and Australia, with highlights including performances with Pinchgut Opera in Sydney, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, and the Akademie für Alte Musik Bruneck in Italy. New Zealand performance highlights include Stroma’s Mirror of Time series, a Chamber Music NZ tour with Barocca, and performances with NZ Barok, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, NZ Opera, Middle Eastern fusion group Navaa, and the Night Watch ensemble. Kamala teaches privately, makes regular appearances as a tutor at workshops in Australia and NZ, has taught in Ireland and Canada, and is an artist teacher at the NZ School of Music.

The workshop, to be held at St Scholastica’s College, Glebe, will be followed by dinner at Pizza e Vino, on Glebe Point Road a few doors up from the Toxteth Hotel. Contact Mary-Jane Clark to register.

Hot on the heels of our most successful Player’s Night ever (at our July meeting), we are proud to announce our second event of this kind for 2024. Get your recorder-playing companions together, choose your repertoire and start practising! Watch this space for how to register in coming months…

Robert Small will conduct the October meeting, presenting a Vaughan Williams ‘Spectacular’, with an entire programme devoted to the music of Vaughan Williams. Favourites will include Greensleeves arranged by Clive Lane, The Lover’s Ghost arranged by Brian Kogler, and Linden Lea arranged by Susan Foulcher. We’ll play the Minuet from his Suite for Pipes (the closest VW came to writing for recorders) and 3 movements from his Concerto Grosso.

Robert tends to specialise in playing the bigger recorders in consorts. He has played with Consort 8 since 2006, and before that with the Reluctant Consort.  Robert frequently conducts the Sydney Society of Recorder Players, and presents recorder music on Sydney Fine Music 102.5. He was taught by Agnes Petocz and Owen Watkins. His favourite recorder is his Beha and Gibbons treble in stripy maple, and his favourite work for recorder is Peggy Glanville Hicks’ Sonatina.

The Beginners’ Consort meets on the 4th Wednesday of each month, in the new music room at Saint Scholastica’s College. See the Meeting tab for directions.

This group provides a 'safe' place, where new members and beginner recorder players can get the music ahead of the rehearsal, practise and feel prepared, in a supportive and unthreatening environment. We play for about an hour then have supper together. A small fee covers venue hire and supper.

If this group interests you, please send a message to the organisers, Susan and Robert, via the Contact form on this website.