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Keith Crellin

Head of Strings

Keith Crellin is head of the String Department and conductor in residence at the Elder School of Music at the University of Adelaide. He is also the Artistic Director and conductor of the Adelaide Youth Orchestra and widely recognized as a dedicated and inspiring teacher.

As the first violist to win the ABC Young Performers Award in 1972, Keith Crellin soon established himself as one of Australia's leading soloists and chamber music players. Having studied violin initially with Gretchen Schieblich and then Ladislav Jasek at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, he completed his tertiary studies on viola at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music under noted pedagog Professor Jan Sedivka. Subsequently he was appointed lecturer in viola and chamber music at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music, director and principal conductor of the Conservatorium Orchestra and artistic director and chief conductor of the Tasmanian Youth Orchestra.

He was a founding member of the Rialannah String quartet, performed with the Petra String Quartet and was a regular member of the Australian Contemporary Music Ensemble. In 1985, he became a founding member of the Australian String Quartet based in Adelaide, a position he held for sixteen years and with which he travelled widely throughout Australia, performed in many countries, and made numerous recordings. He has conducted concerts and recordings with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and has been guest conductor at National and State Music Camps throughout Australia.