By Hugh Robertson

Orchestras are built around four families: strings, woodwind, brass and percussion. But the Sydney Symphony has had a fifth family at its heart almost from the very beginning: the Hazelwoods.

Donald Hazelwood first played with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 1952, under our inaugural Chief Conductor Eugene Goossens, and served as Concertmaster from 1965 until his retirement in 1998. While still at student at the Conservatorium Don had met Anne Menzies, and once she won the position of Second Clarinet with the Orchestra in 1966 they were inseparable onstage and off.

Many years later their daughter, Jane, joined the Viola section of the Sydney Symphony in 1995, but after nearly 30 years is retiring at the end of this season.

There are many people who say that music is in their blood; few can make that claim more literally than Jane. She had only just started school when her mother won her position, and the Orchestra looms large in Jane’s childhood memories.

‘I basically grew up with the Orchestra,’ says Jane with a smile. ‘The audience were all part of my extended family. Almost all my childhood memories are linked to the orchestra.’

‘Because my father was concertmaster, they used to entertain the conductors and the visiting soloists, and would sometimes take them into the bush on picnics,’ Jane recalls. ‘I remember [French conductor Antonio] de Almeida on a rock in the bush, looking most uncomfortable.

‘My parents also organised chamber music evenings, so I remember I got to hold a lamp for the great violin soloist Henryk Szeryng, which was super exciting.’

With role models and memories such as these, it’s no surprise that Jane pursued a career in music. But even she is a bit surprised at how everything has worked out since – to paraphrase a famous sledge once levelled at the cricketer Mark Waugh – she wasn’t even the best musician in her family.

‘I really loved the idea of becoming a musician, because my parents looked so happy, and it seemed like a dream job. So that was my goal. But my brother was always the talented one – he was also really rebellious. He wouldn't listen to any classical music except The Rite of Spring, and he went on to be an amateur rock drummer.

‘Whereas I had always said my goal was to be an orchestra musician just because it seemed so wonderful. I didn't know if I would achieve it, but I think I just thought, “let’s actually start to practice and see where it gets me.”’

Before long it got Jane to the Conservatorium High School, then to the Con proper, her talent clear enough to any listener that at 18 she made her first appearance with the Sydney Symphony, as a casual. Not long after she found herself back onstage with the Orchestra – but this time as soloist, a state finalist in the ABC Young Performers Awards, performing Alfred Hill’s Viola Concerto on stage at Sydney Town Hall.

‘That was a very big night in my life,’ says Jane. ‘It was very exciting. Dad wouldn't normally do those dates, but he led it – and mum played. That was pretty incredible to get to play as a soloist with them in the orchestra.’

From there – in a move that would make any musician green with envy – Jane spent three years studying in Berlin, including regular performances with the Berlin Philharmonic under their legendary conductor Herbert von Karajan.

‘I got to play in the Salzburg Festival and doing Carmen with him, with Agnes Baltsa,’ says Jane when asked for an abiding memory of that time. ‘He knew every single note. And even though he was quite old at that stage, he was very inspiring to work with.’

Then, says Jane, ‘it was time to finish studying and get a real job.’ She returned to Australia in 1986 and got some work with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and on contract with the Sydney Symphony, which meant she was able to join the Orchestra – and her parents – on the 1988 Bicentenary Tour of the United States, led by then-Chief Conductor Stuart Challender. Then, after a few years in Melbourne while her husband, Carl Pini, was concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for six years, Jane auditioned for – and won – a role with the Sydney Symphony in 1995.

‘There was a lot of exciting stuff happening in Sydney,’ she says. ‘So many good things were happening with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Edo de Waart, who was our Chief Conductor then, worked incredibly hard to attract some amazing Australians back from Europe and America to join the Orchestra – for instance Diana Doherty and Matthew Wilkie. That was a really exciting time.’

Thirty years is a long time to stay in one place, especially when you grew up there too. But when speaking to Jane about her career with the Sydney Symphony you are never in any doubt that she has been able to find joy and inspiration in her work constantly, and that is what has kept her sustained and nourish all these years.

‘I’m in total awe of some of the other players,’ she says with a broad smile. ‘They make such a wonderful sound and their phrasing is so incredible. I really feed off their brilliance.

‘I love playing next to my viola colleagues, and listening to the woodwind and the brass and percussion solos. Every week they come up to such a high standard – musically, I find that keeps me going, and energises me for whatever’s coming next.’

Jane has a unique perspective on the sound and quality of the Orchestra, having listened to them over some seven decades – and she believes that this current iteration holds its own with all who came before it.

‘I think there have always been good players in the Orchestra,’ she says. ‘You hear people saying the orchestra has never played better – and maybe that's true, but there was some pretty amazing things going on in each decade, as far as I'm concerned.

‘But certainly…we have built a very strong artistic body. And I'm so proud of the way the Orchestra is playing now.

‘What I'll miss most is the incredible feeling of belonging, and the pride of being part of this incredible orchestra,’ she continues. ‘And also working in this iconic building – to actually walk into the Opera House and think, ‘this is my home’, I'll never find anything again like that.’

That pride is evident in everything Jane says about her colleagues. And there is pride, too, in the knowledge that in fact there will be a member of the family on stage with the Orchestra every night, even if her sons Daniel (a cellist, and a Fellow in 2018) and Sebastian (double bass) haven’t followed their forebears into the family firm just yet – though Sebastian did recently make his Sydney Symphony debut in Rachmaninov’s Symphony No.2 in September.

No, the family member who will be remaining centre stage is in fact a violin – one made in 1716 by the famous Milanese luthier Giovanni Grancino. Donald bought this magnificent instrument in London in the 1960s, and wielded it in every concert he performed with the Orchestra until his retirement. In 2019 that violin was purchased by a generous donor, Vicki Olsson, and loaned to the Orchestra, and ever since it has been played by Associate Concertmaster Harry Bennetts. Now, in a further act of philanthropy, Vicki has donated the violin to the Sydney Symphony – her only stipulation was that the instrument be renamed the ‘Hazelwood’ Grancino in honour of Don. So in a very real sense, the Hazelwoods will remain at the core of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s sound forever.

‘I hear my father when I hear Harry tuning. That violin for me is part of his soul – that sound is my father. So it means I’m not totally deserting the ship,’ she says with a laugh. ‘There are still bits of the Hazelwood family in the orchestra, which is brilliant.’

Even though she won’t be seen on stage, one gets the sense that Jane won’t ever be far away from a Sydney Symphony concert – certainly not if Don is anything to go by, still in regular attendance at concerts up until last year at 93!

‘If I think back over the 30 years – or in fact it's probably more like 45 years that I've been involved with the Orchestra – I feel such wealth of music-making, and I'm so appreciative of being able to be making music for my profession. And also the support of our wonderful audience over those years. I will truly miss being part of everything it has given me.’

Jane, on behalf of everyone at the Sydney Symphony, we will truly miss everything that you have given us. Congratulations on an extraordinary career.