Fabian Russell is an Australian conductor and music educator. In 2002 he founded The Orchestra Project, where he is the artistic director. From 2011 to 2015 he was Principal Conductor and artistic director of the Monash Academy Orchestra at the Monash Academy of Performing Arts. Other conducting roles include appointments as an Associate Conductor of the

Australian Youth Orchestra The Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO), formerly Youth Music Australia, is a training organisation for young musicians. It originitated in the Summer camp, music camps founded by John Bishop (academic), John Bishop and Ruth Alexander in 1948. AYO ...

; Principal Guest Conductor of the New South Wales Youth Orchestra (2016–2019); and Principal Conductor and artistic director of Melbourne Youth Orchestras (2007–2011).

Early life and training

Born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia in 1968, Russell's early musical training was as a

euphonium The euphonium ( ; ; ) is a tenor- and baritone-voiced valved brass instrument. The euphonium is a member of the large family of valved bugles, along with the tuba and flugelhorn, characterised by a wide conical bore. Most instruments have thr ...

and

tuba The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in th ...

player. At the age of 19, he was appointed guest principal tuba of the

Sydney Symphony Orchestra The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney. With roots going back to 1908, the orchestra was made a permanent professional orchestra on the formation of the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932. ...

where he remained for three years. He was then offered the principal tuba position with

Orchestra Victoria Orchestra Victoria is a full-time salaried orchestra based in Melbourne, Australia, and wholly owned subsidiary of the Australian Ballet. Founded in 1969, the orchestra is now a principal performance partner for the Australian Ballet, Opera Austra ...

and in 1993 he was appointed to the

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an Australian orchestra based in Melbourne. The MSO is resident at Hamer Hall. The MSO has its own choir, the MSO Chorus, following integration with the Melbourne Chorale in 2008. The MSO relies on fun ...

where he remained for fourteen years, retiring at the end of its 2006 season. During this time Russell also appeared as a soloist, including as a finalist in the 1997 Symphony Australia Young Performer Awards performing the Tuba Concerto by

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

. Russell holds a master's degree in music from

Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...

, Queensland and in 2012 he was also awarded a Sir Winston Churchill Fellowship to undertake a study of international youth orchestra programs.

Conducting career

In 2002 Russell founded The Orchestra Project – a Melbourne-based training orchestra composed of leading young musicians from across Australia who are given the opportunity to perform large-scale symphonic works while being mentored by members of Australia's professional orchestras. In 2013, Russell made his

Victorian Opera Victorian Opera is an opera company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The company was founded in 2005 by the Victorian Government as a replacement for the Victoria State Opera. It commenced operations in January 2006 with Richard Gill a ...

debut conducting a new production of John Adams’

Nixon in China ''Nixon in China'' is an opera in three acts by John Adams with a libretto by Alice Goodman. Adams's first opera, it was inspired by U.S. president Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to the People's Republic of China. The work premiered at the Houston ...

. Critically praised, these performances resulted in a

Green Room Award The Green Room Awards are Australian peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, theatre companies, independent theatre, musical theatre, contemporary and experimental performance, and opera. The awards, which were established in ...

for Best Conductor of an Opera. Russell has also been a guest conductor with the following orchestras:

Awards

* 1999. Elton John Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Scholarship * 2012. Sir Winston Churchill Fellowship * 2014. Green Room Award for 'Best Music Direction, Opera'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Fabian 1968 births Living people Musicians from Sydney 21st-century Australian conductors (music) 21st-century Australian male musicians