Sally Maer is an accomplished musician and respected teacher with over 25 years of experience. Originally from London, Sally studied at The Royal Academy of Music where she performed in the presence of Diana Princess of Wales. After graduating with an honours degree presented to her by Lord Yehudi Menuhin, she headed towards the sunshine and relocated from England to Australia in the late 90s.

Sally began her career as an orchestral musician working first in West Australian Symphony at age twenty- two, then at twenty-five with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and The Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. Sally’s regular appearances as cellist for television shows such as The Voice, Australian
Idol and X Factor helped carve out what are now regular spots for young string players in the business. During her years playing on TV, she found herself accompanying some of the biggest names of the International music scene such as Liza Minelli, Lionel Richie and Michael Bublé.

With her ability to slip effortlessly between classical and modern music, and her warm performing style honed from years of busking and playing in less conventional settings, ABC Classics signed Maer to their label in 2005 as “Cello Diva” and produced her first album, “Bed of Roses” accompanied by the ABC orchestra, Sinfonia Australis. It was the first classical crossover album for the ABC Classics label and Sally worked closely with the label’s executives and producers. Since then Sally has had another two solo albums with ABC Classics; “Celtic Cello” and “Cello at the Opera” accompanied by the Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, which reached No.1 on both the Classical and Crossover Aria Charts, and No. 1 on the Australian iTunes charts. Maer’s recordings are aired regularly on ABC Classic FM.

Sally had a once-in-a-life-time invitation to perform at the Dawn Service at Anzac Cove in Gallipoli 2004 with The Peter Sculthorpe String Quartet and didgeridoo virtuoso, William Barton. Here, she was talent spotted by the manager of Popera sensation ‘Amici’, and was invited to perform as their guest act on their Australian tour in 2005. As such, Sally Maer performed her solo Cello Diva show in all the major concert venues across Australia including the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, the Melbourne Hamer Hall, Canberra Theatre, Queensland Performing Arts Centre Concert Hall, Newcastle Civic Theatre, Adelaide Festival Theatre and at the Famous Speigeltent for the Melbourne International Arts Festival.

After touring around Australia as Delta Goodrem’s cellist for her first Australian tour, Sally worked as a headline act on luxury cruise ships, including the Queen Mary II where she happened to be sharing the bill with Desmond Tutu.

In parallel to her performing career, Sally has been a dedicated teacher since the age of 17, passionate about getting young children to learn an instrument. She studied Art of Teaching whilst at the Royal Academy of Music and has a Teaching Diploma as a string specialist in addition to her Honours Degree.

Sally has taught at a schools all with a huge cross section of cultural backgrounds; The First String Experience at the Royal Academy of Music, Jesus and Mary Language College London, Sydney Grammar School, Burswood School for Girls, Central Coast Grammar School, Pretty Beach Public School, Newcastle Grammar School and from 2013 to 2019 ran her own studio: “The Fleurys Music School” on the Central Coast which she co-founded with her husband, JP Fleury. In addition, the pair trained as Kindermusik Teachers and opened “Maestro Possums”, running classes for 0-4 year-olds.

During her time spent on the Central Coast, Sally performed the Elgar Cello Concerto accompanied by the Symphony Central Coast and featured as a guest soloist at a special opera extravaganza concert, “Opera in the Arboretum” with opera stars David Hobson, Andrew Jones and Sally-Anne Russell. Sally also appeared on the award winning ABC television show “The Recording Studio”, where she was invited to both write and perform for a special televised recording with Guy Sebastian.

In a new chapter, Sally is now a Lake Macquarie local and teaches at a school in Maitland. She is thrilled to be part of the Music Works collective in Erina, teaching on Saturdays.