One of Aotearoa’s most versatile violinists, Arna Morton is a passionate performer, educator and composer, equally comfortable as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral leader, improviser and commercial event entertainer.
After completing her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the New Zealand School of Music, Arna earned her PhD in Violin Performance at the University of Melbourne, where her research explored a personal, authentic and collaborative approach to interpretation, focusing on Britten’s Violin Concerto, which she performed with the University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra after winning the University of Melbourne Conservatorium of Music’s Concerto Competition. Arna was a prize-winner at the 2016 Gisborne International Music Competition and joint winner of the 2014 NZ National Concerto Competition, leading to performances of Szymanowski’s First Violin Concerto and Ravel’s Tzigane with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, where she has been Principal Second Violin since 2021.
Chamber music holds a special place in Arna’s career, appearing at the 2016 Mimir Chamber Music Festival with Melbourne’s Curve Quartet, and in the 2017 Adam Troubadour Quartet. She is a core member of CSO’s Arvida Quartet, regularly performing around Ōtautahi, and a co-founder of the Morton Trio with her husband, horn player Alex Morton, and pianist Liam Wooding. In 2019, the trio toured the UK with Pettman/ROSL Arts, later performing across Aotearoa with Chamber Music New Zealand, and releasing their debut album (2024, Atoll Records) featuring Arna’s composition ‘Summer’ alongside Brahms’ Horn Trio Op. 40 and her arrangement of his Piano Trio Op. 8 for horn trio.Arna has appeared as a guest artist with the New Zealand String Quartet and performs on a 1900 Joseph Hel violin, generously on loan from the CSO Foundation. Though deeply rooted in classical music, she thrives equally in commercial settings, regularly switching to her electric Spur violin for weddings, corporate events and cabaret shows.