The Cello Retreat 2026
5th ANNUAL CELLO RETREAT
Student Program 9th - 12th July
Venue: St. Peter’s School, Cambridge
Registrations open 14th April 2026
Cello Retreat 2026 Tutors
Anna-Marie Alloway has been playing cello since she was three years old. Originally taught by her mother and esteemed cellist, Sally-Anne Brown, a graduate of Mozarteum Salzburg, Austria. Anna-Marie found a great passion for music. In 2013 she completed her Bachelor of Music in Performance Cello and her Postgraduate Diploma in Performance Cello under the tutelage of Rolf Gjelsten, of the New Zealand String Quartet. In 2010 - 2013 she was a member of the Cello section of the NZSO - National Youth Orchestra. In 2014 Anna-Marie won the spot as principal cellist for NZSO-NYO's summer residency course held in Waikanae. She has also participated in the Adam Foundation Nelson Summer School, the Bay of Plenty Concerto Competition and has participated in masterclasses with esteemed cellists Lynn Harrell and Rapheal Wallfisch. In 2014 she attended the Kronberg Academy in Germany.
Anna-Marie has undertaken Suzuki Teacher Training in New Zealand and Suzuki Pedagogy Training in Lucerne, Switzerland. In 2016 she participated in the Adam Chamber Music Festival in Nelson as the cellist in the Troubadour Quartet. Anna-Mare featured in several concerts during the festival; Cellisimo, Bach by Candlelight and the Grand Finale Concert where she performed Dvorak’s Serenade for Strings with the New Zealand String Quartet and the Goldner Quartet. In 2017 her quartet The Troubadours toured New Zealand on an encompass tour with Chamber Music New Zealand.
Since 2020 Anna-Marie has been an active member in the events industry, organising musicians to perform across New Zealand in collaboration with touring artists. Recently she performed alongside Ms. Lauryn Hill on her New Zealand leg of her Miseducation tour 2023. Alongside her performing, Anna-Marie has flourishing studios in the Auckland and Waikato regions, encouraging and inspiring New Zealand’s next generation of aspiring musicians.
Margaret Cooke works as a Suzuki Method cello teacher in Auckland and enjoys playing baroque cello with chamber ensembles. She graduated from the University of Otago where she studied with Robert Glenton, and with the help of the Fanny Evans Travelling Scholarship in Music undertook further studies in London on modern cello with Christopher Bunting and baroque cello with Jennifer Ward-Clarke; she later continued her baroque cello studies with Anner Bijlsma and Phoebe Carrai.
Margaret teaches a wide range of students from pre-school to adult in her home studio, at St Cuthbert’s College and Royal Oak Primary School, and online around the country. She is President of the New Zealand Suzuki Institute and serves on the Boards of the Pan Pacific Suzuki Association and the International Suzuki Association.
Sally-Anne Brown – Suzuki Cello Teacher Trainer
Sally-Anne studied cello at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. After graduating she returned to New Zealand and played with the Auckland Philharmonia and the Queensland Theatre Orchestra. During this time, she gave regular solo recital tours and was a national recording artist with Radio NZ.
Since 1990 Sally-Anne has been active as a Suzuki teacher trainer and been instrumental in founding Suzuki Cello in NZ. She has been president of the NZ Suzuki Institute and is on the International Suzuki Cello Committee.
Sally-Anne teaches regularly at national camps and workshops throughout NZ and in her capacity as the only NZ Teacher Trainer, runs teacher training programs all year with a very healthy growth of cello teachers at all levels.
She has taught at International Conferences in Australia and Japan and been guest tutor at festivals in Melbourne and Sydney.
With her Suzuki parent hat on, Sally-Anne has nurtured two daughters through the Suzuki books and is proud to see them with their own flourishing Suzuki teaching studios.
Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, cellist Margaret Guldborg and her family moved to New Zealand in 2008. When not teaching, she regularly performs with Orchestra Wellington and local chamber ensembles, and has also shared the stage with non-classical performers such as Laser Kiwi, Liam Finn, and Eminem. Margaret has a busy cello studio, and is Programme Director for Arohanui Strings+. Teaching music brings hope and happiness which is needed today. As Dr. Suzuki says, “Perhaps it is music that will save the world.” Before moving to New Zealand, Margaret taught and performed in Malaysia, Denmark, and the United States. While living in Denmark she held the position of Assistant Sub-Principal Cello in the Odense Symphony. She holds a Master of Music Performance from the New England Conservatory in Boston and has played for such legends as Yo-Yo Ma and Anner Bylsma.
Felicity Bayliss née Baker, has been surrounded by music all her life, growing up in a large musical family. The Baker Bunch and Baker Trio (with her siblings on mostly strings and harp), played extensively, nationally and internationally. Upon moving to Wellington, New Zealand, her love for music, dance and the arts increased. She is a graduate of Te Koki New Zealand School of Music,
studying primarily with Rolf Gjelsten. In her time at Victoria University, she studied cello performance and musicology, as well as some psychology and religious studies.
Felicity is an experienced musician and Suzuki teacher, who is trained in Suzuki Cello, Piano and ECE. She holds her Level 2 Certificate with the NZ Suzuki Institute, and is passionate about teaching via the Suzuki Method.
FAB Music, her music school, comprises of cellists of all ages, as well as structured Little Musos Classes for babies and preschoolers. A mother of three little ones herself, Felicity has a close connection to each child she teaches and believes that every child deserves a chance to explore and find their own musical voice.
The Cello Retreat 2026 is set to be another wonderful Cello filled event!!
Students attending The Cello Retreat 2026 will be able to experience a multitude of classes.
Daily tonalisation
Group classes
Focus classes
Cello choir
Daily concerts
Advanced masterclasses
Musicians’ health
Evening performances
And the opportunity to have one-on-one classes with our wonderful guest tutors.
The Winter Cello Retreat 2026 is set to be a sensational event filled with inspiring & motivating learning opportunities.
Spaces are limited - not to be missed !!
