John Keene
Associate Principal Double Bass
John joined WASO in 2019
John Keene started learning double bass at the age of seven in a school string program simply because he was the tallest in his class. In 2015, he became the youngest player ever to be awarded the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellowship, and was awarded the Fellowship again in 2016. In the following year, he became an Emerging Artist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, touring regionally with the ACO Collective as Principal Double Bass.
John studied with Alex Henery, Principal Double Bass of Sydney Symphony Orchestra, at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music from 2015-2018. In 2015, John won the Conservatorium’s String Concerto Competition. This resulted in his performing Bottesini’s Concerto No. 2 with the Conservatorium Chamber Orchestra. In 2016 and 2017, he was a finalist in the Great Romantics Competition held at the Melbourne Recital Centre.
John is also an avid conductor and debuted with WASO in concert in 2022 conducting Handel's Water Music, arr. Harty. He is also the conductor and music director of his own orchestra, The Orchestra Collective, which he founded in 2021. John also regularly conducts the Fremantle Chamber Orchestra as well as many other ensembles in Perth. John was a participant in the Australian Conducting Academy in 2022 and the Symphony Services International Conducting Course in 2016, and as a result participated in conducting masterclasses with several Australian and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras, including WASO.
In 2018, John played with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra as Associate Principal Double Bass, and later that year on contract as Tutti Double Bass with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. John also teaches several double bass students and is a sessional teacher at the University of Western Australia. John is delighted to be playing in such a vibrant and world-class orchestra as WASO; he and his wife Brianna moved to Perth at the beginning of 2019 and have loved living here since.
John’s Chair is supported by Janet Holmes à Court AC & Gilbert George through the Duet program.