Robert Harris

Play to Learn: we ‘learn to play’ but can also ‘play to learn’.

Using examples of his own Cafe Viola gatherings and his tutorial links to the ACMS Amateur Chamber Music Society’s activities Robert Harris discusses varied projects, in Australia and elsewhere, which afford string players – young or young at heart; honorary (as in unpaid) enthusiasts or professionals (hopefully also enthusiastic?) – the opportunity to play for pleasure: at-home social music-making, out-of-the-house rehearsals, public performances. Yet all such playing time can also be learning time – self-help “solo” or with friends, guidance from teachers and tutors, or the focal influence of a Conductor or ‘Leader’ guiding community or professional orchestras. Whether the Adelaide or Armidale Symphony, your school’s 7am string orchestra or the ACO, a Mt Buller summer school or an ACMS Playing Day, an AUSTA repertoire afternoon or an AUSTA Euro tour, playing should be fun, but can also be educational. Repertoire not only for performance pleasure but also for pedagogical potential – as in a Bach Suite, filled with scales and arpeggios, with a ‘flip side’ of those same scales having their own intrinsic molto espressivo potential.

About Robert Harris

A founding member of AUSTA since 1975, now living near Canberra and a member of the AUSTA ACT Chapter committee, Robert balances professional performing, teaching & events management with the contrasting pleasures of a rural acreage lifestyle shared with his wife, double bassist Dorit Herskovits. Robert offers a worldly experience, in over thirty countries, as violist, violinist (a past Concertmaster of AYO & the International Youth Orchestra), teacher, clinician, conductor, examiner, adjudicator and public speaker. His Cafe Viola gatherings have enjoyed repeat success in Brisbane, Newcastle, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, many regional centres, in New Zealand, Thailand and USA – a complement to his scholarly presentations for International Viola Congresses. A past Principal Viola of ACO and of professional orchestras touring Asia, North America, USA, Robert has also toured as Principal for the greats – Pavarotti, Streisand, Stevie Wonder and more. Robert’s part-time teaching (private studio; major independent and tertiary level schools in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane) has been complemented by his honorary committee roles e g ANZ Viola Society, Orchestras Australia. Robert’s Churchill Fellowship (1998-99) researched regional concerts networking, later manifest in hundreds of concerts (e g Montville, Galston, Music in the Galleries) for Robert’s professional colleagues and young artists.