Deborah Lander is one of Australia's most distinguished and versatile violists. Perhaps best known as a chamber musician, Dr Lander became a member of the Australian Chamber Orchestra whilst a student with Winifred Durie in Sydney.
She later travelled to London, where she was invited by Sir Neville Marriner to become a member of his prestigious ensemble the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. With them, she recorded extensively and performed in the world's major concert halls, including Royal Festival Hall, the Concertgebouw, the Musikverein, the Mozarteum, Teatro de Colon, and Carnegie Hall. In addition to her commitments with "the Academy", Dr Lander was a member of the Romney Trio and was principal with the London Bach Orchestra.
As soloist, Dr Lander has performed with the Sydney Symphony, London Bach, Townsville Festival, Ku-ring-gai Symphony and University of Newcastle Symphony and Chamber Orchestras. She was a prize winner at Tunbridge Wells and in the Park Lane Group's 'Young Artists and the 20th Century' Competition, and has been recitalist in England (most notably at the Purcell Room, South Bank), Europe, the USA, Canada and throughout Australia.
Her symphony orchestra experience includes many performances with the Philharmonia Orchestra (London) and guest principal positions with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.
Dr Lander has long been an advocate of the commission and performance of new music, and has given premieres of works written for her by Elena Kats-Chernin, Daryl Pratt, Mark Isaacs, Margery Smith, Colin Spiers, Jackie Orszaczky, Robert Sherlaw Johnson and Julian Milone. She was a member of the contemporary chamber ensemble Sydney Alpha, with whom she also gave many premieres. In 2006, she gave a joint lecture/recital on Australian Viola Music at the XXXIVth International Viola Congress in Montreal.
Dr Lander held the tenured viola position at the University of Newcastle (Australia) for 11 years, and has served on the string faculties of the Sydney Conservatorium and the Australian Institute of Music. She has given classes in London, the USA and throughout Australia.
Dr Lander holds a PhD from the University of Newcastle and is the author of the Australian Music Examinations Board's Viola Syllabus and Technical Work Book. In 2005, she was the host of the Australian and New Zealand Viola Society's International Viola Conference in Newcastle. Her CD of works written for her, VIOLA VIBES, is to be released in 2006.