ROWENA HAMMILL
 Originally from Australia, Rowena Hammill came to the US to study with Raya Garbousova at Northern Illinois University and then was assistant to Janos Starker at Indiana University for her master’s degree. While at IU she was winner of the concerto competition and awarded the Performer’s Certificate. For the next four years she served as Professor of Cello at the University of Northern Iowa before moving to Los Angeles in 1989 to take up the same position at California State University, Northridge.
     

In 1990 she joined the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, an ensemble with which she performed for ten years, eventually as Associate Principal. She was concurrently the Associate Principal Cello of Los Angeles Opera, a position she still holds.
     
In 2008, she moved with her family to Vashon Island in Puget Sound and is now actively performing in the Pacific Northwest, dividing her time between Los Angeles and Seattle.
     
She has toured with I Solisti Veneti, appeared as soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Iowa, and has won prizes in the Washington International Competition, the Minnesota Young Artist Competition and the Carmel Music Competition. She has performed at many summer music festivals, including the Bach Aria Festival, the Ravinia Festival, the Oregon Bach Festival and the New Hampshire Music Festival. Rowena has recorded for the Erato, Dorian and Centaur labels and has also played on hundreds of film and television sound tracks.