Martin Butler

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Conductor of Adelaide Youth Strings

Martin Butler was born in London and began learning the violin at the age of eight.  When he was 11, Martin received a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music.  After leaving school he studied music composition at Surrey University under Reginald Smith-Brindle and Robin Maconie, graduating with a first class Honours and a Masters Degree.  Martin then worked as a keyboard player in a rock band for a couple of years.  He also worked as a peripatetic violin teacher for the Inner London Education Authority.  In 1981 he moved to Portugal, where he was a violinist in the ‘Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos’ in Lisbon.  During the eight years Martin lived and worked in Portugal he was able to pursue many other musical interests, including arranging music for various ensembles and playing jazz violin.  Together with a Polish violinist, Martin formed a strolling gypsy duo and worked throughout Portugal as well as performing on many Mediterranean cruises. He worked as an assistant teacher for the Tibor Varga school in Portugal.

Martin was the longest serving conductor of the Burnside Symphony Orchestra (one of Adelaide’s community orchestras) where he conducted for over twelve years.  He has also conducted at State Music Camp, workshops for the Australian String Teachers’ Association, Suzuki music camps and at many schools around Adelaide.  Martin has conducted his own arrangements for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra Christmas Proms concerts. He regularly gives pre-concert talks for the ASO Masters concert series.

As well as permanent member of the ASO (as a violist), Martin is currently involved in youth music in Adelaide as an educator, conductor and arranger.  He has conducted and arranged music for the ASO in both education and community concerts.  He is currently the director of the Adelaide Youth Strings (a part of Adelaide Youth Orchestras) which he founded in 2001 after an invitation to begin a string training ensemble by the founding director Janis Laurs.  He is currently Head of Strings at Concordia College.  He is a member of ‘The Desperados’, a trio formed with other ASO players, which performs jazz and gypsy music.