Sydney Camerata is a young, exciting ensemble comprised of some of the finest emerging classical musicians in Australia.
In 2010 the sextet of core members were awarded the prestigious Sydney Eisteddfod Musica Viva Award for Chamber Music.

The ensemble performs without conductor, directed from the violin by Liz Gormley and under the artistic direction of Mathisha Panagoda.
2011 will see the ensemble perform throughout the East coast of Australia with major upcoming concerts at Sydney's City Recital Hall, North Sydney's Independent Theatre and Chatswood's brand new 'The Concourse' entertainment complex.

Mathisha Panagoda founded the ensemble in 2008 with the assistance of a University of Sydney Union Arts Grant. Since then the ensemble has grown from strength to strength performing in venues throughout Sydney including the Seymour Centre Sound Lounge, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Sydney Theatre, City Recital Hall, Paddington Uniting Church and The Independant Theatre.

The aim of the ensemble is to provide important performance opportunities for emerging young professional musicians, many of whom are recent Conservatorium graduates or postgraduate students. The ensemble supports young Australian composers through its annual Composition Fellowship funded by Ars Musica Australis. Additionally, promising young musicians and ensembles are invited to collaborate and perform concertos and similar works in our concerts.

We also aim to educate and introduce our music to new audiences. Breaking down the 'barriers', we offer cheap tickets to our concerts, engaging programs, drink vouchers for interval, special offers, the opportunity to meet our young musicians post-concert and much more. The best way to experience us is to come to one of our concerts.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank a number of people that have helped us over the years including Maja Baska (photographer), Thijs Rozeboom (film-maker), Paige Shipway, Goetz Richter, Father Arthur Bridge, Liz Gormley and of course all the talented musicians that make up our ensemble.

Mathisha Panagoda
Artistic Director

Concertmaster

Liz Gormley began musical studies on violin at the age of 5. A passionate chamber musician, Liz has won numerous prizes and performs regularly with different ensembles around the country. Liz was a founding member of the Greenway String Quartet, of which she was first violinist for 6 years, and was awarded a scholarship to spend a year studying chamber music in the UK and Germany over 2006/7.

Liz has extensive orchestral experience, having been guest Associate Concertmaster of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, guest Concertmaster of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Concertmaster of the Australian and Sydney Youth Orchestras, and regularly working professionally with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra on both violin and viola. She has also held a 3 month touring contract with OzOpera, and performed casually with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras.

Also an accomplished viola player, Liz has performed the Walton Viola Concerto with the Tasmanian Discovery Orchestra, Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with Edwin Paling (violin) and the Hobart Chamber Orchestra, and been Principal viola of the Australian Youth Orchestra.

Liz is currently enrolled in a PhD in performance at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music where she studies with Jeremy Williams. The focus of her study is the use of virtuosity and extended performance techniques in violin repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Artistic Director

Born in Sydney, Mathisha Panagoda began learning the cello at the age of four and at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music he completed a Bachelor of Music (Honours) studying under Georg Pederson.

Mathisha has been awarded a number of fellowships and training opportunities including the AYO/TSO Orchestral Career Development Program (2007), Sydney Sinfonia (2006-09), AYO/MSO Fellowship (2009) and a Symphony Australia Fellowship (2010).

Since 2007, Mathisha has been a casual member of The Queensland Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra with whom he works regularly. He has also collaborated with a number of Australian bands including the Hilltop Hoods, Angus & Julia Stone, Tina Arena and Dave Hosking.

Mathisha performed as a member of the Australian Youth Orchestra from 2005 - 2010 participating in two international tours to Europe and Asia performing at festivals including the BBC Proms (London) and Young Euro Klassics (Berlin). Internationally in 2008 Mathisha was selected as an academy member of the Pacific Music Festival in Japan, in 2010 he performed as a founding member of the Aldeburgh Strings and in 2011 performs with the Britten-Pears Orchestra under Edward Gardner.

In Australia and overseas, Mathisha has performed in master classes for Pieter Wispelwey (UK), Antonio Meneses (Brazil), Richard Aaron (USA), Desmond Hoebig (USA), Jens Pieter Maintz (Germany), Howard Penny (Australia), Li Wei (Australia), Alexander Baillie (Germany), Hannah Roberts (UK) and Rebecca Gilliver (UK).

Outside of Sydney Camerata, Mathisha blogs for ABC Limelight Magazine, volunteers at the Arts Law Centre of Australia and is completing a Juris Doctor degree at the University of Sydney. He is a winner of the 2011 YouTube Symphony Orchestra and has a much-loved dog called Sparky.

1st Violin, Sydney Camerata String Quartet

Freya Franzen began playing the violin at the age of six in Canberra. She graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with First Class Honours in 2008 studying with Associate Professor Goetz Richter and Mr Christopher Kimber.

During her time at the Sydney Conservatorium, Freya was awarded many scholarships for excellence in violin, and participated in The Euro Arts Music Festival in Leipzig (2005) where she studied with Professor Klaus Hertel. She has since received master classes from Rudolf Koelman, Elizabeth Walfisch, Berent Korfker, The Jerusalem String Quartet, Arabella Steinbacher, Jacqueline Ross, David Takeno and Stephanie Gonley.

Freya currently plays as a core member of the Sydney Camerata Chamber Orchestra, and first violin in the Sydney Camerata String Quartet. She also plays with the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s Emerging Artists ensemble and regional touring group, ACO2. In 2011, Freya has been awarded the prestigious Sydney Symphony Fellowship.

Freya enjoys the challenges of exploring a wide range of musical genres in both her solo and ensemble playing. She has performed chamber music works on both period violin and viola, has given live performances of compositions by upcoming Australian composers and relishes the opportunity to get stuck into anything by Astor Piazzolla.