Rachael Beesley

Rachael Beesley is an internationally renowned Australian violinist, director and concertmaster. A versatile violinist and musician she has devoted her life to performing, teaching, and researching and is one of the world leaders in the field of historically informed performance (HIP). As regular member of some of Europe’s finest ensembles and orchestras, Rachael performs as guest concertmaster with Anima Eterna Brugge, La Petite Bande, Il Complesso Barocco, Restoration Company and the New Dutch Academy as well as performing regularly with Les Arts Florissants, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Combattimento Consort.

Based in Australia since 2009, Rachael is a guest concertmaster of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Pinchgut Opera, Opera Australia and Victorian Opera and has been invited to direct the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra (core member), Adelaide Chamber Players and NZBarok. She co-founded the ensembles Quartz, Ironwood and the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra and regularly leads the chamber music ensembles Ludovico’s Band, Salut! Baroque and Accademia Arcadia. Rachael also has performed with Orchestra Victoria, the Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphonies and the Australia Chamber Orchestra.

As a highly regarded teacher and mentor, Rachael is a lecturer at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, The Netherlands, the Sydney and Melbourne Conservatoriums of Music, the School of Music Monash University and guest director at ANAM. In the field of Practising in Flow, she has been invited to speak at conferences in Australia, New Zealand and The Netherlands and is listed in the Who’s Who of Australian Women. Rachael performs in festivals throughout the world, for broadcasts on radio and television in Europe and Australia and has recorded over 50 CDs for Harmonia Mundi, SONY, BIS, Accent, Pentatone, Et’Cetera, Centaur and ABC Classics.