Biography

Shaun Ng

Bachelor of Music, Amsterdam Conservatorium
Bachelor of Music with Honours, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching and Learning Practices, University of Wollongong
Master of Arts, University of Western Australia
Doctor of Musical Arts, Sydney Conservatorium of Music

Profile

Performer of the violin, viola, cello, viola da gamba, violone, lute and theorbo; accompanist, researcher and teacher.

Principal Teachers

Violin

Alexander Souptel, Margaret Faultless, Oliver Webber

Viola da gamba

José Vázquez, Mieneke van der Velden, Daniel Yeadon

Lute

Lucas Harris, Tommie Andersson, Xavier Díaz-Latorre

Short Biography

Shaun Ng has established himself as one of the most versatile early musicians in Australia, performing on the instruments of the violin, viola da gamba and lute families. He received his music training at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Conservatorium of Amsterdam, University of Western Australia, and Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where he received the Australian Postgraduate Award to pursue his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in historical performance and musicology. In addition, he also participated in many notable early music seminars and conferences such as Oberlin Conservatory’s Baroque Performance Institute, the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute and the Lute Society of America Seminars. As an active freelance performer, he has performed with many ensembles throughout Australia such as Thoroughbass, Sydney Consort, Marais Project, Bach Band at St James’ and Da Vinci’s Apprentice. In addition, he operates a busy private studio and runs his own record label, A415 Music. 

Detailed Biography

After gaining the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama's String Scholarship in 1999, Shaun moved to Europe to study the instrumental performance with many of the best practitioners of early music. He studied the violin with Margaret Faultless and Oliver Webber (RWCMD), and the viola da gamba with Richard Boothby, Lucy Robinson (RWCMD) and Mieneke van der Velden (Amsterdam Conservatorium). He also participated in the masterclasses of José Vázquez, Catharina Meints and, most recently, Paolo Pandolfo.

On his return to Australia, at the University of Western Australia, Shaun studied musicology with David Tunley and Suzanne Wijsman as well as orchestral conducting with Peter Moore. During this time, he also taught himself to play the theorbo and subsequently received lessons from Lucas Harris and Xavier Diaz-Latorre. He received further training at the Baroque Performance Institute at the Oberlin Conservatory, the Tafelmusik Baroque Performance Institute at the University of Toronto, and the Lute Society of America's seminars at Case Western Reserve University and University of Victoria, where he participated in the masterclasses of Nigel North, Robert Barto, Sylvain Bergeron and Elizabeth Kenny.

In 2010, Shaun won the Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) to pursue doctoral studies at the Conservatorium of Music at the University of Sydney and relocated to that city. Three years later, he graduated with a Doctor of Musical Arts, studying with Alan Maddox (musicology), Neal Peres Da Costa (historical performance), Daniel Yeadon (cello/viola da gamba) and Tommie Andersson (lute). 

As an active freelance performer in Australia, Shaun has performed and recorded with ensembles such as Ensemble Battistin, Ironwood, Bach Band at St James', Sydney Consort, The Marais Project, Thoroughbass, Perth Viol Consort, The Camerata of St John's, Opera Queensland, the Melbourne Bach Choir and The Sydney Conservatorium's Early Music Ensemble. He has presented his music research at conferences such as The Pan-Pacific Gamba Gathering (Hawaii, USA), Baroque Performance Institute (Oberlin, USA) and the Musicological Society of Australia. He has published his research in The Viola da Gamba Society Journal (United Kingdom).

In 2018, he joins 'Da Vinci's Apprentice', Musica Viva's education programme bringing early music instruments to schools throughout Australia. To date he has performed nearly a thousand concerts in schools all over New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia. In addition, he operates a busy private studio and runs his own record label, A415 Music.