MEG COHEN
Meg is a Melbourne-based violinist and historical performance specialist. She performs regularly with the Melbourne Chamber and Symphony Orchestras, Inventi Ensemble, and the Australian Haydn Ensemble. She is artistic director of Moirai, co-artistic director of Wattleseed Ensemble, and regular guest with the Penny and Partridge Quartets. Meg is a core member and member of the board for Genesis Baroque, facilitating their education program ‘NextGen’. Meg has performed at all the major festivals and concert halls across Australia, recorded multiple albums with ABC Classics, and was a Freedman Fellowship Nominee in 2023. Internationally, she has attended the Mahler Chamber Orchestra Academy and various chamber music academies with the award-winning Geist Quartet. Meg founded the Sydney Baroque Music Festival, an education program for young Australians, running from 2013 to 2018. She holds Bachelor (Hons) and Masters degrees from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, studied at the Australian National Academy of Music, and recently commenced a PhD at Monash University as a recipient of the 2024 Faculty of Arts Research Scholarship.
DAVID MORAN
David is an Adelaide-based cellist specialising in contemporary and exploratory music. David performed with the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra in 2022 and 2023, and the ULYSSES Ensemble in 2023, featuring a performance with Ensemble Intercontemporain at Centre Pompidou. He completed a Masters with High Distinction at Monash University in 2022, contributing to an edited volume published by Routledge. In 2022, he was a Freedman Fellowship Nominee, and received a nomination for an Australian Art Music award in 2023 for his While You Sleep Australian tour. David holds a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours from the University of Adelaide and has studied at the Australian National Academy of Music. He has a longstanding duo with Dr Iran Sanadzadeh and performs regularly with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Next year, David will co-present a seminar and performances at Darmstadt Ferienkurse with composer Charlie Sdraulig on his work arc, composed for and premiered by David in 2023.
ALEXANDER MEAGHER
Alexander is a versatile percussionist based in Melbourne. A Bespoke Artist with Speak Percussion (2023-24), he has performed in projects like Sonic Eclipse, Scream Star, and has developed a 40-minute percussion and electronics piece inspired by Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull. In 2024, he commissioned and premiered a work by Richard Sanderson for percussion, cello, electronic sounds, and ambient visuals. Alexander performs regularly with the Astra Chamber Music Society, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and Victorian Opera, and has appeared with Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and Adelaide Festival. He appears on the soundtrack for the Nicholas Cage film The Surfer (2024) and Jacob Boehme’s dance work Guuranda, which premiered at the 2024 Adelaide Festival. A graduate of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and the Australian National Academy of Music, Alexander was awarded the 2021 Directors’ Prize.
Moirai personify the ancient powers of human destiny, death, and the in-between.
Melbourne’s new crossover ensemble combines old and new music into dynamic and innovative performances. This versatile trio featuring Meg Cohen on violin, David Moran on cello and Alexander Meagher on percussion, combines folk, medieval and improvised music with a curiosity for unusual rhythms and sounds. Described as “thoughtful performers and careful curators,” with a sound “capable of full warmth yet never far away from something unexpected or biting,” Moirai are “not afraid to push boundaries.” (Classikon, 2024)
This year, Moirai debuted at 3MBS Radio's Music, She Wrote Festival celebrating female composers. They were 2024 Bundanon Artists in Residence, collaborating with composer-improviser Chloe Kim to create a series of semi-improvised works. Moirai collaborates annually with Monash University's Composition and Music Technology Department, mentoring students, and workshopping and performing new compositions. In 2025, Moirai will record and release works by Chloe Kim and perform at the inaugural Wagga Festival.