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Woodwind

At UC performance study in woodwinds, you join a creative community that offers an important stepping stone for your future career. We provide you with a diverse range of skills in your journey to becoming a pragmatic, creative and compelling artist. These are crucial qualities to building a career in music today, whatever your chosen path.

Woodwind teaching staff

Our woodwind staff are all prominent performers and teachers. Tony Ferner, flute, runs the wind performance class. First flute in the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Tony enjoys an extensive career, including as a conductor and vocal coach from the UK to Italy, Australia and throughout New Zealand. Our double reed faculty, Selena Orwin, bassoon, and Jenny Johnson, oboe, are both very active chamber musicians in addition to being the respective principal players in the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. Our clarinet instructor David McGregor is principal clarinet of the Christchurch Symphony as well as being a busy freelancer in Australia and New Zealand. He also assists with running the wind performance class and coaching ensemble music.

Learning and performing

The wind performance class is designed to support your instrumental studies as well as provide professional-level advice on everything from preparing for auditions, to details of instrumental maintenance, from career strategies in a competitive world to nuanced understanding of wind repertoire.

We also offer courses in chamber music and orchestral music, and plenty of opportunities to further your performance interests. You can audition for the UC’s Christchurch Youth Orchestra, join our Balinese gamelan, the Consortia chamber choir, or participate in Contemporary Workshop for those pursuing contemporary forms of expression from jazz to rock, folk and experimental pop. 

Our community of UC performance students comes together weekly for a combined performance workshop. This forum offers career advice, exploration of challenging new and experimental ensemble projects, guest artists’ presentations on their pathway in music and a platform for peer-to-peer playing.