Our Section Leaders
Second Violin: Rachel Kidd
Rachel Kidd began violin at age 3. Born into a musical family, she was given many performance opportunities as a child, performing regularly with her parents, Janet and Richard and with the District 6 string program. In high school, Rachel played in Symphony New Brunswick second violin section and in the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra; appearing twice as Guest soloist with Symphony New Brunswick. She also played weekly at 2 churches in Saint John with her mother, and would perform regularly with her father and his jazz combo. Rachel also began writing Celtic music when she was 13 after a very influential visit to Big Pond, Nova Scotia. In grade 12, she and her father put out a CD called Tea and Toast, featuring their original compositions.
After high school, Rachel went to McGill University in Montreal and completed a double degree in violin performance and mathematics. While at McGill, she also took courses in film score composition and began writing film music and playing violin for prominent film score composers in Montreal. After graduating, Rachel started up her own film score writing business, Tea & Toast Studios and spent a year in Montreal writing music for short films and working for other composers. After Montreal, Rachel moved to Vancouver for a year to pursue more film scoring opportunities, but then decided that this was too far away from home the East Coast. Rachel and her husband Ben now live in Halifax and have started a music publishing company. Rachel plays regularly with Symphony New Brunswick, the PEI Symphony, Nova Simphonia, The Chebucto Symphony, and her Celtic violin/harp duo Ragged Reef. She is currently recording tracks for her next CD “Rachel’s Aire” which will feature her original compositions.
Viola: Volker Metz
During a busy engineering and administrative career in international satellite telecommunication in Canada and the UK, Volker always found time to pursue his love of music, which started by taking up the viola in high school and studying with Karl Siebert in Germany and later on in Canada with Sydney Humphries. In the UK he had lessons for several years from Harold Harriet, the violist of the Amici Quartet. Volker’s enjoyment of chamber music led to many coaching sessions with professional groups such as the Alberni Quartet and the Maggini Quartet. For the last 22 years he has regularly participated in the Grittleton Chamber Music Course in the UK and has enjoyed the Sooke Chamber Music workshop since its inception 9 years ago under the tutelage of his friend and mentor Norman Nelson .
Volker has played with a number of ensembles in the UK and Europe. He recently moved fromVancouver Island, where he played with the Victoria Chamber Orchestra and was principal violist in the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sooke Chamber Orchestra, and the Victoria Civic Orchestra.
Cello: Adam Mueller
Adam Mueller was born in Romania and grew up in Germany, where he studied at the NWD Musikakademie, Detmold and the Hochschule fuer Musik, Berlin. His most influential teacher was George Neikrug. He played in the opera orchestras of Detmold and Heidelberg and the Chamber Orchestra of the Palatinate, Mannheim.
Adam came to Canada to join the newly-formed Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, where he made friends and established musical partnerships with orchestra members Paul Campbell, Tom and Bev Grove, Jan Wicha and Chris Wilcox, among others. He taught for over thirty years in theHalifax Schools’ Music Department, retiring as head of the Music Centre. Former students include, Hilary Brown, Bryndis Gylfadottir, Colin Matthews, Colin Meek, John Spearns and several successful scientists and scholars, who have all credited their musical experience as a major influence during their formative years. After retiring, he devotes time and energy to thecommunity orchestra, the Chebucto Symphony, and playing chamber music with old and new friends.
