Michael Bardon
Australian Institute of Music
As a school student Michael Bardon studied cello, oboe and clarinet performing as a member of the Pacific School Games Symphony, NSW Public Schools Symphony and the Sydney Olympic Marching Band.
Accelerated into university at age 17 he holds degrees from the Musikhochschule Luebeck (Germany), Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz (Germany), University of Newcastle (Australia) and professional orchestral training as an academy graduate of the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra (Germany). His principal teachers include Professors Diethelm Jonas, Nick Deutsch and Anthea Scott-Mitchell, and he has received master class and chamber music instruction from international artists including Professors Sabine Meyer, Christiane Edinger, Stefan Schilli, Angela Firkins, Jaques Tys, Jochen Muller-Brinken, Markus Möllenbek and Thomas Brandis.
After basing himself in Germany for almost 7 years he returned to Australia in 2011 having performed as soloist, chamber and orchestral musician in countries including Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, Poland, Israel, Korea and Sweden.
Michael was a member of the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra Academy, Neues Kammerorchester Bamberg (now Orchester M18), the wind quintet ‘Pentaphonie’, Sydney Symphony Sinfonia and has performed with orchestras including Oper Frankfurt, Sinfonietta Baltica, Neue Philharmonie Hamburg, Mainzer Kammerorchester and the Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra. He is a recipient of many awards including a prestigious German DAAD prize, a scholarship from the north German Possehl Foundation and a Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now scholarship. Additionally he held the University of Newcastle William Bowmore Prize for Postgraduate Studies in Cello and was the 2012-14 Young Ambassador for the Manning Winter Festival.
An initial teaching position in Hamburg has led to further appointments at Newington College, the University of Newcastle Conservatorium and the Australian Institute of Music. Michael is an enthusiastic pedagogue, with student success including the Music Captaincy of Newington College, scholarship holders at both the Newcastle Conservatorium and Grammar School, frequent high distinction candidates in AMEB examinations and tertiary graduates of the University of Newcastle and Australian Institute of Music. Michael is also employed as an orchestral mentor by the NSW Department of Education and Training for their productions of Star Struck.
Holding performance master’s degrees in both cello (Newcastle) and oboe (Luebeck), Michael maintains a busy career performing, teaching, researching and administrating. He has performed frequently as guest principal cello in the Darwin Symphony, is a regular collaborator with the Australian National College of Dance, has broadcast for ABC Classic FM Sunday Live and in 2016 became a permanent member of the Sydney Metropolitan Orchestra.