about

The Benaud Trio is one of Australia’s finest chamber ensembles. Formed in Melbourne in early 2005, pianist Amir Farid, violinist Lachlan Bramble, and cellist Ewen Bramble have established themselves as formidable performers of the standard repertoire, works by Australian composers and music with a pop/jazz influence.

Apart from their regular appearances at Melbourne Recital Centre and Elder Hall, the Benaud Trio have performed in major international festivals in Adelaide and Perth and for Musica Viva in Hobart and Melbourne. They have given concerts in many regional centres including Ballarat, Castlemaine, Mount Barker, Port Fairy, Flinders and Mount Macedon and have also played live on the ‘Today Show’, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground during the 2006 Boxing Day Test and at the launch of the Steve Waugh Foundation in Sydney.

The Benaud Trio were winners of the Piano Trio Prize at the 2005 Australian Chamber Music Competition and were resident at the Banff Centre for the Arts in July 2006. The Benauds were Musicians-in-Residence at 3MBS FM from 2007 to 2009 and recipients of the 2013 Contemporary Masters Performance Award at Melbourne Recital Centre. In November 2015 they were Ensemble-in-Residence at the inaugural Adelaide Chamber Music School. The Benaud Trio’s repertoire now spans more than 70 works from Haydn to the present day. They regularly commission new music from prominent Australian composers and are well known for their outrageous pop-inspired encores, specially arranged for then by Nicholas Buc.

The Benauds are audience favourites on ABC Classic and have acclaimed albums on Melba Recordings, de la Catessen and ABC Classics. Bohemian Rhapsody was nominated for ‘Best Independent Classical Release’ in the 2013 AIR Awards.

amir farid - piano

Winner of the 2006 Australian National Piano Award, US born Iranian-Australian pianist Amir Farid has been described as ‘a highly creative musician – a pianist of great intelligence and integrity. He brings strong musical substance to all that he does, imbuing it with his own particular experience and understanding’, and who ‘in a well-populated field...distinguishes himself for all the right reasons’.

As one of the most versatile and loved pianists in Australia, Amir has performed concerti with major orchestras throughout the country, collaborating with conductors such as Christopher Hogwood, Oleg Caetani, Johannes Fritzsch, Alexander Briger, Marko Letonja and Benjamin Northey. 

Highlights include Rachmaninoff’s 2nd piano concerto with the MSO in front of a 13,000 strong crowd at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Mozart’s concerto No.14 with the SSO, and “The Mozart Dances” with the Mark Morris Dance Group and WASO as part of the 2015 Perth Festival.

Since graduating with distinction from the Royal College of Music London in 2009 with Andrew Ball, he has performed as a solo recitalist in concert halls and festivals internationally, including St. Martin in the Fields London, Al-Hashemi-II Kuwait, MONA FOMA Festival Hobart, Coriole Festival SA, Huntington Festival NSW, as well as other venues in USA, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, New Zealand and China.

Recital collaborations include tenor Ian Bostridge, saxophonist Claude Delangle, violinists Arabella Steinbacher and Nikki Chooi, violist Lise Berthaud, cellists Mats Lidström, Alexander Baillie and Martin Loveday, sopranos Greta Bradman and Siobhan Stagg, baritone Wolfgang Holzmair, and clarinetist Philippe Cuper.

His numerous highly acclaimed recordings (primarily with Move Records) are heard frequently on radio stations throughout Australia and internationally, including a solo CD of works by Persian composer Javad Maroufi (nominated for an Australian Independent Music Award in 2015), several albums with cellist Zoe Knighton and soprano Siobhan Stagg, and a number of releases on the Melba Recordings label with the Benaud Trio. 

Amir has studied under the guidance of Ronald Farren-Price, Geoffrey Tozer, Rita Reichman and Timothy Young while at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (MCM) and the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM). He continues to work with Farren-Price since beginning studies with him in the mid 90’s. As well as his concert career, Amir works as a collaborative pianist at MCM, ANAM, the Australian Children’s Choir, and the Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust. He was the Melba Trust’s inaugural répétiteur scholar in 2013, working under the guidance of Sharolyn Kimmorley. 

amirfarid.com

lachian bramble -violin

Lachlan commenced learning the violin from his mother. He went on to study music at the University of Melbourne under Mark Mogilevsky and continued with Barbara-Jane Gilby at the Australian National University gaining a Masters degree in Music Performanc. He has also taken lessons in Europe with Lydia Mordkovitch, Howard Davis, Dora Schwarzberg, Peter Sheppard-Skaerved and has performed in masterclasses with Cho-Liang Lin and Regis Pasquier.

Lachlan has always been extensively involved in orchestral and chamber music performance. He was a member of the Australian Youth Orchestra from 2001 to 2005, performing as concertmaster.

In 2005 before being appointed Associate Principal 2nd Violin of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in 2007, also performed as Acting Concertmaster. Lachlan has been a guest with Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, Orchestra Victoria and the Australian String Quartet. He is also violinist with the infamous Benaud Trio.

An active and passionate educator, Lachlan has tutored violins of the Australian Youth Orchestra, the Adelaide Youth Orchestra and at many National Music Camps. He has also been a tutor at the Chamber Music Summer School - Mount Buller and was founding Music Director of the inaugural Adelaide Chamber Music School in 2015. Lachlan teaches violin privately and at the University of Adelaide and was Director the Elder Conservatorium Chamber Orchestra from 2011 – 2015.

ewen bramble - cello

Ewen grew up in Melbourne, beginning cello studies at age six. During his school years he studied with Cordula Neil, before going on to the University of Melbourne to complete a Bachelor of Music Performance (Honours) and Master of Music Performance under Nelson Cooke, Christian Wojtowicz and Janis Laurs, during which time he won the University’s Concerto and Chamber Music competitions.

Ewen has made recital appearances at the Port Fairy Chamber Music Festival, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra Schumann Festival, Adelaide International Cello Festival, University of Melbourne and the Urrbrae House Recital Series.

He has performed alongside artists such as David Geringas, Simon Trpceski and the Australian String Quartet. In 2011 Ewen made his concerto debut with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and has appeared on several occasions as soloist with community orchestras in both Melbourne and Adelaide.

As an orchestral musician Ewen has been fortunate to tour nationally and internationally. He has appeared regularly with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra as Guest Principal, before joining the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in 2009 as Associate Principal Cello.

Also a keen teacher, Ewen has lectured in Cello and Chamber Music at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide. 

Ewen’s instrument is the 2011 Adelaide International Cello Festival Cello.