CREATORS OF THE COAST
Charmian Gadd with her 18th-century Venetian, Matteo Goffriller violin.
Charmian Gadd © PETER HISLOP
From a barefoot childhood to violin virtuoso WORDS ROSALIE PAINO
A
s a three-year-old barefooted girl in the bush (in Ourimbah), Charmian Gadd used to watch returned soldiers on the family property put down their rifles to take up the violins and cellos they’d left behind to fight a war overseas. ‘They’d disappear into the bush to practise Bach suites and concerti,’ Charmian recalls. ‘They’d walk along the track practising their violins. But when one of them saw a rabbit, another would hold the violin and bow, and – bang – rabbit stew for our dinner. ‘There was music-making in our home in the evenings and I so very much wanted to participate, but had to play on a full-sized violin and a half-sized cello. Finally, when I was six, I was given a half-size violin.’
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At the age of eight, Charmian’s mother entered her in the City of Sydney Eisteddfod, where she won first prize in the under-16s. ‘That’s when Mum realised she had to get me to a proper teacher,’ says Charmian and, at 12 years of age, she was sent to the Conservatorium High School in Sydney where she faced the shock of having to wear shoes and a uniform. The rest, as they say, is history. Charmian emerged as a talented young violinist, winning the 1963 ABC Concerto and Vocal Competition (Young Performers) and the Australian Music Examinations Board Overseas Scholarship. ‘The Viennese-trained violinist [and founder of Musica Viva], Richard Goldner, was one of my great teachers; he was exceedingly demanding,’ says Charmian. ‘Together with Josef
