Mimosa is a Sydney born and bred guitar and violin duo that is of international standard. It’s members, Phoebe O’Shea and Morgan Haselden, met whilst studying with scholarships at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music back in first decade of the new millennia. Focused on their studies the Mimosa Duo did not exist until both members had completed their Bachelors of Music in 2009. Surrounded by a world of possibilities Phoebe and Morgan began, slowly at first, to perform together. Their dedication and fervour for the project soon took over until both members were almost exclusively performing together for a wide variety of events every week. Phoebe and Morgan love performing together, they love it so much that they got married in early 2016! Having studied classical music, Mimosa naturally began building their ever increasing repertoire with classical arrangements that they did themselves. Over time though, Mimosa were not happy playing only this music and they now perform music from vastly different genres. Most noticeably, the gypsy jazz music of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli now have a permanent place in the Mimosa repertoire and deep within their swinging hearts.

Since their humble beginnings Mimosa have ‘been everywhere man’! Nationally, Mimosa have toured all over the East Coast of Australia, from local community halls to the highly esteemed Sydney Opera House main stage. However, Mimosa have not just stayed within their homeland as they have performed on cruise ships around the Mediterranean, Caribbean and on the rivers of inland France. They have also lived in Paris where their music led them to meet some of the gypsy jazz greats and to play in venues that the legendary Django Reinhardt used to regularly perform at. 

PHOEBE O’SHEA

Aside from the first 3 years of her life, Phoebe has always played the violin. It is now a permanent bodily attachment! Learning through the Suzuki Method, Phoebe flourished at a young age and was chosen to represent Australia at the international Suzuki convention in Japan in 1998 when she was 12. During high school she performed in the Sydney Youth Orchestra and during her time at university she performed with big name acts such as Amiel for the 2003 ARIA Awards, Angus & Julia Stone at Big Day Out 2007, Home Bake 2006 and Goldfrapp at her Opera House Concert in 2008. In this same period she was also part of a corporate outfit that took her overseas to perform for large corporations such as Emirates and Mont Blanc. It is clear that whilst Phoebe is a classical violinist of compelling standard, she also has other musical ‘stuffs’ that swim around inside her.

After completing her classical study Phoebe went straight to Cuba to continue her study of music and the violin in a different way. But it was not until her discovery of gypsy jazz during Mimosa’s earlier years that Phoebe found her true calling. Since that fateful discovery Phoebe is on track to becoming one of the most notable female gypsy jazz violinists worldwide in this generation of players. Phoebe is Mimosa’s visionary. Without her creativity, dedication and inspired visions of the future, Mimosa may well have never left Sydney. Now they can’t stop.

MORGAN HASELDEN

Morgan Haselden first picked up a guitar a little later in life at age 12. Inspired by what he heard on the radio, Morgan began his musical journey as many Australian guitarists do by playing rock/folk/pop styles sitting on the side of his bed. Half way through high school when music was well and truly ingrained in his person, he began learning classical guitar and jazz. He excelled in this and after school successfully auditioned for the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Under the guidance of his guitar teacher Greg Pikler, Morgan graduated from the Conservatorium 4 years later with his Bachelor of Music (performance) and a final recital that was awarded with High Distinction. During his time there, in 2008 Morgan was chosen to represent the Conservatorium on a two week tour of the East Coast of Australia to promote the Conservatorium and bring high quality music to remote places. Morgan has also had a wide experience of playing with different original groups and has often been hired as an accompanist for various performances.

Being more of a theory head than his inspirational counterpart, Morgan has spent many an hour arranging the pieces that the duo now regularly performs. He has also set up a larger Mimosa Ensemble that plays predominately in the gypsy jazz style. For this group Morgan learnt to sing in a raucous but amiable way. He also tried his hand at composing for the group and was rewarded for his efforts. Morgan, alongside Phoebe, has been wooed by the world of gypsy jazz and is making a name for himself within the style. However, not only does he hold his own in the world of gypsy jazz, Morgan still keeps up his beautiful long nails and his abilities on the solo classical guitar.