Nathan Waks

Born in 1951 in Sydney, Nathan Waks is an Australian cellist, composer, record producer and arts administrator. He studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music under Lois Simpson and Robert Pikler, then briefly in Moscow with Mstislav Rostropovich and in Paris under Paul Tortelier, where he won a Premier Prix at the Conservatoire de Paris.

He won the 1968 ABC Instrumental and Vocal Competition, co-founded the Fidelio Quartet in 1969, and in 1970, at age 19, was appointed Principal Cellist of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the youngest in its history. He later returned to the orchestra as Co-Principal Cello in 1998. He spent ten years with the Sydney String Quartet from 1974, and has appeared as a soloist with all the Australian symphony orchestras and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

He commissioned and premiered Peter Sculthorpe’s Requiem for solo cello in 1979, and has given premieres of works by Anne Boyd, Matthew Hindson and Gerald Glynn. With pianist Kathryn Selby he performed Sculthorpe’s arrangement of Parting at Andrew Olle’s memorial at Sydney Town Hall in 1995. As a film composer, his scores include My Brilliant Career (1979), Hunger (1986), Kangaroo (1986) and For Love Alone (1986), the latter nominated for the 1986 AACTA Award for Best Original Music Score and the 1987 ARIA Award for Best Original Soundtrack.

He is a founding Director and Artistic Adviser of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, founding Director of the Australian Music Centre, former Director of Music at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, former Managing Director of Symphony Australia, Board Member of the Australian National Academy of Music, and Ambassador of the Melba Foundation. In 1998 he was appointed Chairman of the Australia Council’s Music Fund. He has produced recordings for guitarist John Williams, as well as concerts for Frank Sinatra, Rod Stewart and Tiny Tim.