Tinalley String Quartet’s cellist delivers her top tips for a successful “portfolio” career 


A few years ago I was asked to be involved in a Q&A style session with a group of young musicians in Melbourne who were about 10-years younger than myself. I was asked to open up about my life in music – specifically, how it was I came to have (and I quote) “my enviable portfolio career.” I found myself asking the obvious question – what exactly does portfolio mean? It seemed to imply that I had my life neatly packaged into a small suitcase, and as a cellist, I can assure you, that is never possible! 

This model of professional multi-tasking has become a familiar career path for many classical musicians. For me, it’s a combination of orchestral work with the Melbourne Symphony, chamber music with Tinalley String Quartet, wonderful (but sometimes draining) peripatetic teaching and coaching, and any freelance performing that comes my way. Frankly, I think ‘musical mongrel’ would have been a more apt description of my career, as it’s hard to feel like a pedigree pooch with so many different things competing for attention. 

Fortunately, I like it that way. As I described to the group that day, it seems that the modern classical musician is now expected to be a flexible hybrid of many things. However, this portfolio style career is very rarely on the mind of a young musician. In my student days, my immediate focus was simply on finding time to improve the skills I knew I was lacking and balance that with a busy schedule of lectures and performances. But, if I’d had the opportunity, there are three things I would have said to the 22-year-old version of myself:

Realise that time (to practice) is a luxury

Oh, how I wish for the days when I had six blissful hours to work things out. These days it’s amazing if I have 3 hours, and that usually means I have three times the amount of repertoire to learn. Everyday life and music aren’t always compatible; Schubert doesn’t understand that I need two hours to make a promotional video for a concert when I’d really like to be using the time to practice his quartet. The best teachers I ever had taught me that time management and organisation were the most important tools for maintaining my career I’d ever have – and they were right. 

Playing chamber music will make you a better musician (& person)

In my early twenties, I was only on the cusp of realising what a huge mark chamber music (specifically, quartet playing) would make on my life. Tinalley would teach me the true meaning of hard work, humility, negotiation, patience, compromise and the sheer joy of sharing a stage with your closest musical friends. It’s a type of communication that needs no words, and yet the words you do use need to be the right ones. It’s also given me the ability to listen more acutely than I ever thought possible. These are the most rewarding skills that I have ever learned and they have influenced everything else that I do. For this, I am forever grateful. 

Step back occasionally and get the bigger picture

When you’re in a career that consumes almost every waking moment, it is inevitable that stress and being overworked will become an unavoidable aspect of your life. The classical music industry is one that demands all of you – both emotionally and physically – and the high highs and low lows of such a life can take a profound toll in the long term. There’s no easy strategy for overcoming this, but surrounding yourself with extraordinary people, taking time away from the instrument occasionally, and keeping the reasons you love what you do front of mind, have always been points of refuge for me. And, of course, the music, because the music is extraordinary. 


Tinalley String Quartet performs the first concert of their season in Melbourne and Sydney May 2 – 4.

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