Born in Adelaide, Alison Rayner began playing the violin as a Suzuki student at the age of three. She received her Bachelor of Music Performance from the Elder Conservatorium at the University of Adelaide under the guidance of Peter Tanfield. During her studies Alison was awarded the Florence Cooke Violin prize and was invited into the Golden Key Society for academic excellence. As a member of the Elandra String Quartet Alison attended chamber music workshops and seminars at the Banff Centre for Arts in Canada and at Stanford University in California, USA.
Soon after completing her degree Alison was appointed to the first violin section of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Alison has held the position of Associate Principal Second Violin with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and has also appeared as Guest Associate Concertmaster with the ASO. In 2010 Alison joined the first violin section of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, of which she was a member until 2020. During the ten years she lived in Norway, Alison performed regularly with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and was a member of the Fragaria Vesca (“Wild Strawberry”) ensemble, which championed and recorded the music of lesser-known Norwegian composers.
Since returning to her home city of Adelaide at the end of 2020 Alison has enjoyed a busy and varied performing life as a chamber and orchestral musician. As well as appearing regularly with Adelaide Baroque she has performed with the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Adelaide Cantata Band, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Recent chamber music engagements include performances as a guest artist with both the Flinders Quartet and Australian String Quartet.
Alison has been playing with the Australian World Orchestra since 2015 and since 2023 has again become a member of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
