Miriam Niessl was born into a large musical family where the passion for music has brought immense joy. From the age of four, she commenced her Suzuki studies under Christine Dunaway and after being awarded her AMusA at thirteen, continued her tutelage with Camerata’s Artistic Director Dr Brendan Joyce. With immense gratitude to her former teacher Michele Walsh, Miriam graduated from the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University (QCGU) being awarded the ‘Rotary Club of Brisbane Endowment Award’ and ‘The Griffith Award for Academic Excellence’.
While studying at QCGU, Miriam was prized joint winner of the Matilda Jane Aplin Prize alongside her colleague Theonie Wang. Both Miriam and Theonie, alongside Angelina Kim (viola) and Cindy Masterman (cello) form the Tarilindy String Quartet (TSQ). The group was honoured to represent Australia in Montreal, Canada, for the International Chamber Music Festival ‘Musical Chairs’. Miriam's involvement in her quartet played a significant role in her undergraduate studies, sparking her thrill for chamber music. Consequently, she was selected as a Young Artist for the Brisbane Music Festival in 2022-2023 and performed with Ensemble Q in several concert series.
As a longstanding member of the Queensland Youth Orchestras, 2023 was Miriam’s tenth year in the organisation where she toured to Singapore, Austria and Germany as Co-concertmaster under the baton of Simon Hewett. Previously working closely with the renowned John Curro AM MBE, Miriam was also delighted to participate in the 2017 tour to China, France and Germany. Her time in the Queensland Youth Orchestra fostered a deep love for orchestral playing and has led Miriam to perform in numerous programs with the Australian Youth Orchestra.
Some of Miriam’s performance highlights include performing Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony, Westside Story, Stanhope’s ‘Nephesh’ Octet with the Australian String Quartet and Korngold’s Suite for Piano Left Hand and Strings alongside the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) alumni Alex Raineri and Courtenay Cleary. While Miriam hopes to further pursue her performance career, she loves to teach and sees teaching as one of her ultimate goals as a musician. Miriam is a strong advocate for the Arts and has herself experienced the powerful emotions that music can evoke within us.
Miriam is excited to attend the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) and looks forward to commencing her studies with Head of Violin, Adam Chalabi, in 2024.
Miriam is supported by ANAM Syndicate donors Michael Schwarz and David Clouston, Julie Wehbe
Photo by Pia Johnson