When asked what instrument she first wanted to learn, violinist Adele Ohki replies “I didn’t have a choice!”. Both Adele’s parents were distinguished violinists- her father, Reginald Larner, was a long-time member of the London Symphony Orchestra, and then later transitioned from the Assistant Concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra to the Concertmaster position in the Canberra Symphony Orchestra. Her mother was at the same period of time the Principal Second of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, and together they juggled an active private music studio and the successful and popular chamber ensemble, “The Salon Players”.
Born in Melbourne and growing up in Canberra, as a young person Adele was surrounded by music at home and encouraged by both Mary Tatchell at the Canberra Girls Grammar School, and Lindy Reksten, a family friend and Principal cellist of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra as well as a professor at the Canberra School of Music. But it was an invitation to attend the AFCM Winterschool at the age of 15 that changed Adele’s life for ever. Here she met the visiting American pedagogue, Charles Castleman, who encouraged and supported her to move to the USA where she completed a High School Diploma at the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts in California, followed by a Bachelor of Music at the Eastman School of Music at Rochester, NY. At the latter, she met her future husband, Thomas Ohki.
Before settling permanently in USA, during a return visit to Australia, her mother encouraged her to undertake the Advanced Performance Program at ANAM. Adele describes this program (2002) as transformative and life-changing because of the emphasis on live performance, the teachers (notably Alice Waten, James Buswell and Wanda Wilkomirska) and her cohort of ANAM Fellows, many of whom are now senior members of the Australian musical fraternity and life-long friends. These include Simon Hobcroft, Shaun-Lee Chen, Grace Kim, Rowena McNeish (née Crouch), and Helen Ireland. As Adele says “We played hard but we also partied hard! There was lots of cooking, sharing meals and laughing!”. To top off her year at ANAM, Adele and Tom decided in the spur of the moment to marry, and the date chosen for the wedding happened to coincide with the ANAM end-of-year concert, in order that Adele’s mother – suffering from advanced terminal cancer - could attend both.
After ANAM, Adele returned to the USA where she and her family have more recently spent almost two decades, mostly in Boston, MA (2009-2020). Following further studies (Master of Music from Northwestern University, Chicago) and Boston University (Master in Baroque Violin, 2014) Adele forged a very successful career as a freelance musician and teacher.
For a couple of years in Goteborg, Sweden (2006-2008), Adele performed with the Goteborg Opera and Goteborg Symphony Orchestra-National Orchestra of Sweden – which gave her an opportunity to compare the “big, bold, brassy’’ style of American music playing with the refined, precise, controlled techniques of European music making. Adele has since cultivated an active interest in early music, and continues to experiment with purity of sound, and historical performance techniques.
Adele has performed with many of America’s most successful regional performing ensembles, such as the Vermont, Cape, Portland and New Hampshire Symphony orchestras, and has also had the opportunity to participate in some of the most prestigious chamber music festivals in the world (Spoleto Festival, Music Academy of the West, Bach Akademie Stuttgart, Oberlin Baroque Institute, Adriatic Chamber Music Festival in Italy, and Cursos Internacionais de Música de Guimaraes Portugal). Whilst in Boston, she established herself as an active freelance musician, playing regularly with the Boston Ballet, Opera Boston, Landmark Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic.
Adele’s broad and varied teaching experience includes incorporating many of the principles of movement developed by Paul Rolland, Robert Gillespie and Mimi Zweig, the latter whom she studied pedagogy with at Northwestern University. Adele has also taught violin as a visiting artist at the Vermont Youth Orchestra Summer Program and the Indian Hill School of Music in Boston, and has undertaken several levels of Suzuki Teacher Training. Her USA teaching experience culminated in a Full-time Artist in Residence position at the Boston Conservatory Lab Charter School, overseeing the El Sistema Program.
In late 2020, Adele and her family moved from Boston to Sydney when she took up the position of Head of Strings, Newington College. This full-time position is spread across three campuses, with four string ensembles ranging from beginner to advanced, a beginning string program and a beginning through advanced chamber music program.
Based on her own experience of the debilitating physical and mental effects of the tension associated with high-level training and performance, Adele places special attention on relaxation, ergonomics and avoiding stress.
Adele currently has three violins, including a much-prized 1829 French violin by Charles Henry and a collection of eight valuable bows, inherited from her father. As of 2021, Adele has performed with the Australian Haydn Ensemble and the Sydney Philharmonia, and is focusing on establishing herself as a Baroque violinist back home in Australia.
Adele currently has two sons in primary school. Do they have a choice in whether to play a musical instrument? “No way!”
Interview by Hugh Hallard (ANAM Volunteer)
Profile last updated April 2022
Photo Credit: Tatiana Daubek