Diana Doherty, Principal Oboe with the Sydney Symphony, is an internationally acclaimed soloist.
BRISBANE
I grew up in Greenslopes, Brisbane, in a rambling old Queenslander on top of a hill, with a big back yard, ringtail possums, huntsman spiders and paper-thin walls. I am the last of nine children, so it was noisy and chaotic, but I loved it that way. Every night I went to sleep with the lights on, someone studying, someone practicing an instrument, Mum doing the ironing, Dad at his desk. I could never understand people who had to have dark and quiet to go to sleep.
MELBOURNE
I left home at 18 to study in Melbourne and it was a big shock for me in many ways. Going to the laundromat and all my clothes coming out of the machine the same colour, navigating a huge new city and experiencing a whole new kind of cold; the learning curve was a steep one. Then my oldest brother and his wife moved to Melbourne, so I had a base to go to for beautiful meals and colour-coded washing.
SWITZERLAND
Leaving Melbourne to do postgraduate study in Zurich was another adventure: new language, very limited budget, different mentality. The oboe class was very welcoming and became my new family. One of those fellow students was a very cute French-Swiss boy, now my husband of 25 years. His family has a chalet 2000 metres up in the Swiss mountains in a small village called Chandolin, and we married there in 1990, in a tiny little church with an incredible view of the Matterhorn. Chandolin then became a regular part of our lives and the scene of many family milestones.
NEW YORK
My first trip to New York in January 1995 was like a fairytale. I was there to play in the final round of the Young Concert Artist auditions after gruelling European auditions. In New York I was billeted by a lovely lady who lived in an enormous apartment on Park Avenue.
SYDNEY
Sydney has been my home since 1997. It stills amazes me that I finish "work" at the Opera House late at night and walk out to the sounds and smells of the sea and city, all at the same time. The stunning setting of that building takes my breath away.
Diana Doherty will perform at Concert For Life on World Suicide Prevention Day, 10 September at Sydney Town Hall. See concertforlife.com.au.
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