When Paul Dean pulled me aside in the corridor to quickly tell me that I would be joining the Australian World Orchestra for 2013 as a part of their academy, all I could do was blink and nod (although this is not an uncommon reaction from a viola player). It was a few minutes later that his words actually sank in.  The AWO is an orchestra founded two years ago, formed with the aim to bring the best Australian orchestral players together from around the world. Among them this year you might glimpse an awe-struck girl sitting among the violas – that would be me. Both in 2011 and this year, the AWO has included a few students as a part of the AWO Academy, designed to allow younger musicians the chance to play alongside some of the most successful Australian instrumentalists around. We’re there to listen, to learn, and to discover the depth of talent that we sometimes forget comes from our home, thinking that Australians could never live up to the standard of classical music centres like Europe and America.

Since then, a few things have happened – emails have been exchanged, practice parts sent, printed, and scrawled over with markings and reminders, photos taken, and a general sense of excitement has set in. As I write this, there are three-and-a-half days until our first rehearsal (but who’s counting?). We’re going to be tackling two major works – Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Mahler’s First Symphony. Happily, I’ve just come back from an Australian Youth Orchestra tour on which we played the Stravinsky a number of times, but that doesn’t guarantee anything except knowing the notes – tempi, articulation, phrasing and balance can be completely different from conductor to conductor and from orchestra to orchestra.

For each piece, the roster changes, which means everyone gets two different deskies (string player’s lingo for desk partner). I’ve found out I will be sitting with Tobias Lea, solo viola of the Vienna Philharmonic, and John Lynch, principal viola of RTE National Orchestra, Dublin. I’ve met Toby before, at the Australian National Academy of Music’s ‘VIOLA! Week’ last year, and have found his casual and generous nature to belie his lofty position, so I will certainly be kept on my toes. For the next three-and-a-half days, I’ll be practising my part, singing along to recordings of the works, and trying to keep my level of excitement to a dull roar.