Nicolette Ella Fraillon (born 29 July 1960) is an Australian conductor, who was chief conductor of

The Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur and direc ...

from 2003 until 2022.

Career

Fraillon grew up in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, a child of immigrant parents of Huguenot-Sicilian and Austrian Jewish origins. Her family is musical: both grandfathers were cellists, and her brother Guillaume was principal bass player with the

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an Australian orchestra based in Melbourne. The MSO is resident at Hamer Hall. The MSO has its own choir, the MSO Chorus, following integration with the Melbourne Chorale in 2008. The MSO relies on f ...

. She started violin and piano studies as a child; her teachers included Brian Buggy (violin) and Ada Corder (piano)."The Good Life: Lunch with Nicolette Fraillon", ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

'', 2 March 2013, Life&Style, p. 3 She played with the Victorian Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Melbourne Youth Orchestra for some time. As an adult she studied viola under Chris Martin at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

. She studied conducting at the

Hochschule für Musik A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

in Vienna, Austria, from 1984, and later in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, Germany.'' Limelight'', January 2014, Guest column: Female conductors, p. 20 Her professional conducting debut was with the

Nederlands Dans Theater Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT; literal translation Netherlands Dance Theatre) is a Dutch contemporary dance company. NDT is headquartered at the ''Amare'' building in The Hague. NDT also performs at other venues in the Netherlands, including Amste ...

, when she deputised for another conductor who had fallen ill. In the Netherlands, she also worked on a production of ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...

'', both playing viola in the orchestra and working as second conductor. Later she was appointed music director and chief conductor of the

Dutch National Ballet The Dutch National Ballet (Dutch: Het Nationale Ballet) is the official and largest ballet company in the Netherlands. History The Dutch National Ballet was formed in 1961 when the Amsterdam Ballet and the Nederlands Ballet merged. The company h ...

."Meet Nicolette"

. Retrieved 25 October 2016 In the Netherlands she also met her fourth husband, Aernoot Kervert, an employee of the Hilversum Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. Her three earlier marriages ended in divorce."Chief Conductor Australian Ballet"
interview by Martine Harte, engagingwomen.com.au. Retrieved 25 October 2016. In 1995 she was engaged by the

Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It is the smallest of the six orchestras established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). History The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestr ...

, becoming the first Australian woman to conduct an Australian symphony orchestra. She later conducted the

West Australian Symphony Orchestra The West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Perth, Western Australia. Its principal concert venue is the Perth Concert Hall. WASO also gives concerts at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre. , W ...

. In October 1997 Fraillon was appointed director of the

Canberra School of Music The ANU School of Music is a school in the Research School of Humanities and the Arts, which forms part of the College of Arts and Social Sciences of the Australian National University. It consists of four buildings, including the main School of ...

, effective from June 1998.Helen Musa, "From the top, please", ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'', 18 October 1997, Saturday Magazine, p. C1 In 1998 she commenced at the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. In 2003 she was appointed chief conductor of

. She was their first woman conductor, and, in 2016, the world's only woman music director of a ballet company. In November 2021, Fraillon announced that she would leave that position in 2022."Nicolette Fraillon will farewell The Australian Ballet in 2022"
by Deborah Jones, '' Limelight'', 19 November 2021

Personal life

Fraillon has two sons. Fraillon has been married five times, most recently to First Nations soprano, Deborah Cheetham Fraillon. Cheetham and Fraillon married on 2 January 2023 at their home in Church Point, NSW.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraillon, Nicolette 1960 births Living people Australian conductors (music) Women conductors (music) Members of the Order of Australia Australian people of Austrian-Jewish descent Australian people of French descent Australian people of Sicilian descent 21st-century conductors (music) Musicians from Melbourne Australian lesbian musicians