Violins
Harry Bennetts
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Harry is currently Associate Concertmaster with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and 1st Violinist of the Chroma Quartet. Born in Sydney where he began violin lessons in the Suzuki method at the age of four. He attended the Conservatorium High School, studying violin with Philippa Paige and then studied in Melbourne with Mark Mogilevski at the University of Melbourne and then with Dr Robin Wilson at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM). During his time with Dr. Wilson, Harry won the ANAM concerto competition two years consecutively, performing in the final with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. He was also a member of the winning string quartet in the 2015 ANAM chamber music competition, and later that year won the Kendall National Violin Competition. He completed his studies with two years in Berlin at the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, mentored by First Concertmaster Noah Bendix-Balgley.
Since his return to Australia, Harry has appeared as soloist with the Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra Symphony Orchestras. He has performed in recital at the Ukaria Cultural Centre, Melbourne Recital Centre, Sydney Opera House Utzon Room, Canberra School of Music as well as a number of regional centres.
Ike See
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Ike is a core player with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. A three-time first prize winner at the Singapore National Violin Competition, Ike has performed across Asia, Australia, Europe and North America as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player.
Ike grew up in Singapore as one of four children. He began violin lessons at the age of four with Sylvia Khoo and won his first national competition at the age of ten. He later studied with Qian Zhou, Head of Strings at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music before moving to Philadelphia to attend the Curtis Institute of Music, where he completed a Bachelor of Music under the tutelage of Joseph Silverstein and Pamela Frank.
Prior to joining the ACO, Ike was Associate Concertmaster of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and played as Principal Second Violin of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and Associate Concertmaster of Symphony in C. He has been a member of the Verbier and Pacific Music Festival Orchestras and has performed at the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, Kirishima International Music Festival, Singapore Arts Festival, Singapore Chamber Music Festival, Heifetz International Music Institute, and Curtis on Tour in Europe.
He studied chamber music with members of the Guarneri, Orion and Vermeer Quartets, and has collaborated with musicians including Roberto Diaz, James Dunham, Pamela Frank, Karen Gomyo, Susan Graham, Clive Greensmith, Gary Hoffman, and Anthony McGill.
Ike is proud to play on the first instrument he can truly call his own, made for him in 2021 by Brooklyn-based luthier Sam Zygmuntowicz.
Adam Chalabi
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Adam Chalabi holds the position of Head of Violin at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) and was Associate Professor at the School of Music at the University of Queensland for many years. He is first violinist of the internationally renowned Tinalley String Quartet and held the position of Concertmaster of Orchestra Victoria from 2009-2014 before assuming the Artistic Directorship of the company from 2013-2014. He has appeared as guest concertmaster with major Australian orchestras including the Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland, Adelaide, and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras and previously held the position of Head of Strings at ANAM.
Born in 1977 Adam Chalabi began his violin studies at the age of 4 with the Suzuki Method. His early teachers were Alison Apley and Felicity Lipman. He subsequently attended the junior department of Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Purcell School of Music before completing his studies at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester under the tutelage of Maciej Rakowski.
In 2001 Adam won a position in the Zürich Chamber Orchestra 1st violin group and in 2004 was appointed to Principal 2nd violin. In Switzerland he also worked as Principal 2nd violin in Camerata Bern and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and more recently as Guest Concertmaster of Symphonieorchester Vorarlberg in Austria and Suedwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim in Germany.
Adam has appeared as soloist with the Brisbane Philharmonic Orchestra playing Barber Violin Concerto and the Zürich Chamber Orchestra in performances of Bach, Vivaldi, and Schnittke Concerti. He has given performances of Nielsen Violin Concerto in England and Sweden and the rarely performed Alban Berg Chamber Concerto. He has recorded numerous acclaimed CDs for the Decca, ABC Classics and Capriccio labels with Tinalley String Quartet, UQ Chamber Players and Linos Ensemble.
Adam plays on an 1805 Joseph Panormo violin. He is also very grateful to have been supported by the Countess of Munster, Ian Fleming, and Lawrence Atwell Charitable Foundations.
Lerida Delbridge
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Lerida has carved out a rich career as a chamber musician, orchestral player and educator. In 2003, Lerida co-founded the Tinalley String Quartet, with whom she toured extensively over the next two decades, performing throughout Europe, America, Canada and Australia in the world’s finest concert halls and festivals. Winners of the 9th Banff International String Quartet Competition, the quartet’s career highlights included performances in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Musikverein, Bremen’s Die Glocke, Hamburg Laeiszhalle, Berlin Konzerthaus and the Frankfurt AlteOper, as well as in Paris, London and New York. The Quartet released numerous critically acclaimed recordings with ABC Classics and DECCA Australia and collaborated with Australia’s finest artists including Konstantin Shamray, Liwei Qin, Brett Dean, Daniel de Borah, Piers Lane, Umberto Clerici, John Bell and Lior.
Lerida was Assistant Concertmaster with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra from 2013 and in 2025, moved to the position of Principal 2nd. She has performed as guest Principal with the Tasmanian, Adelaide and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras and has toured with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Australian World Orchestra.
Lerida commenced her tertiary studies aged 15 at The University of Melbourne and was awarded a Doctor of Musical Arts in 2003. Lerida has also studied at the International Menuhin Academy; International Holland Music Sessions; Banff Centre for the Arts, Canada; International Musicians Seminar Prussia Cove, UK; Yale Summer School of Music and Stanford University. Keen to give back to the arts community, in 2024 Lerida became Artistic Director of Hunters Hill Music.
Originally from a rural property in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, Lerida is privileged to play on a 1793 Joseph and Antonius Gagliano violin, a gift from her late father.
Alexandra Osborne
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Alexandra Osborne enjoys an exciting and versatile career as a solo artist, chamber and orchestral musician, and educator. Appointed to the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC by Christoph Eschenbach in 2009 as the youngest violinist, she spent thirteen seasons with the NSO, including as Assistant Concertmaster.
Now deeply embedded in Australia’s musical life as a performer, collaborator and mentor, Ms. Osborne is currently the Associate Concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
A passionate chamber musician, she has performed at many Australian music festivals, including the Bendigo, Blackheath, Bangalow, Coriole, Four Winds and Orange Festivals. Internationally, she has appeared at the Taos, Pan Pacific, Kneisel Hall, Sarasota and Colorado Music Festivals, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and the Fortas Chamber Music Series.
Recent highlights include Guest Concertmaster invitations with the Singapore, Melbourne, Adelaide and Queensland Symphony Orchestras, Opera Australia, and tours with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Offspring,
Australian World Orchestra, the Australian Piano Quartet, and the Australian String Quartet.
Ms. Osborne performed the soundtrack for The Last Violin, a documentary on luthier Harry Vatiliotis (SBS On Demand), including its World and European Premieres at the 2023 Bangalow, Cyprus and Corinth (Bridges) International Film Festivals. She has served as Guest Artistic Director/Concertmaster of the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, curated classical music events at Australia’s celebrated restaurant Bennelong, and undertaken a multisensory recording residency at UKARIA. She tours with Kathy Selby and Friends, is a founding board member/violinist of Jackson Hole Chamber Music, and released her debut album of world premiere works on ABC Classic. She has also performed in recital on the historic “King Louis XIV” Amati violin at the Smithsonian Institution, mentored at the Hawaii Youth Symphony Summer Festival, and appeared at major European Festivals, including Lucerne, Bonn, Grafenegg, and Rostropovich, and the BBC Proms.
A graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, and after 20 years in the USA, Ms. Osborne is thrilled to be back in Australia as a prominent musical voice and leader. Deeply committed to inspiring young musicians, she maintains a private studio in Sydney, with a particular focus on audition preparation and career development.
Violas
Stephanie Farrands
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Stefanie is Principal Violist of the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Stefanie grew up in Melbourne and began her studies on violin before making the switch to the viola at the age of 16. She describes her connection with the viola as instant, saying that from the moment she played the instrument for the first time she knew she ‘had found her voice.’
Stefanie studied at the Australian National Academy of Music and spent a year as an ACO Emerging Artist in 2008, before moving to Berlin to continue her studies with the renowned violist Tabea Zimmermann at the Hochschule für Musik. She has won numerous awards and chamber music prizes including the Asia Pacific Chamber Music Competition (as a member of the Hamer Quartet).She has performed extensively throughout Europe, America, Asia and Australia with orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Camerata Salzburg. Prior to her role with the ACO she was Principal Viola with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and has performed as Guest Principal Viola with the Strasbourg Philharmonic, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Australian World Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra. She has performed as a soloist with the ACO, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and Melbourne Chamber Orchestra
Stefanie is passionate about commissioning and performing new music for the viola, and as recipient of the Freedman Classic Fellowship, she used her scholarship to commission several new works for the instrument. She performs on a 1610 Maggini viola on loan from the ACO Instrument Fund.
Andrew Jezek
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Andrew began his musical journey on the piano at the tender age of six and added violin to the mix at his primary school in Canberra so he could join the local youth orchestra society. He studied viola with Vincent Edwards and Charmian Gadd at the Australian National University, Canberra School of Music, graduating with honours in 1991.
With a strong desire to explore his central European roots for a couple of years, Andrew continued his studies in Europe with scholarships at at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich with Jürgen Weber (viola) and the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna with Karl Österreicher (conducting).
Andrew was co-principal viola in the renowned Viennese contemporary music ensemble Klangforum Wien from 1996 to 2013, and has performed at most major contemporary music festivals in Europe.
Andrew has had the great fortune to work closely with some of the foremost contemporary composers including Georges Aperghis, Luciano Berio, Beat Furrer, Georg Friedrich Haas, Enno Poppe, Helmut Lachenmann, Salvatore Sciarrino.
Andrew was also strongly involved in the avantgarde music scene in Vienna and delved into many genres as a member of the Vienna Art Orchestra, MozartBand (ever heard an electrified viola with a wah-wah pedal?) and active in the improvised jazz scene.
In 2013, Andrew relocated to Sydney and now performs regularly with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Australian Chamber Orchestra, and as guest principal viola with the Australian and Opera Ballet Orchestra and Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. He is also a member of the Australian World Orchestra.
Andrew has been a member of the Sydney Art Quartet since 2019, and Co-Artistic Director since 2023.
Andrew plays a Anton Kreutzinger viola, c. 1908.
Justin Williams
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Justin Williams holds the position of Assistant Principal Viola with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and was the founding violist of the Tinalley String Quartet (TSQ). He has performed as Principal Viola with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Australian World Orchestra, Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra (AOBO), Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra and Australia ProArte, and as ripieno viola with Australian Chamber Orchestra.
As a member of Tinalley String Quartet, Justin shared in the experience of winning the 9th Banff International String Quartet Competition and the 2005 Australian Chamber Music Competition. With TSQ he has toured extensively throughout Australia, Europe and North America performing in major concert halls such as Vienna’s Musikverein and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and has released several recordings with Move Records, Decca Australia and ABC Classic.
As a composer, Justin released his ‘Movement for String Quartet’ in 2020, which has since been performed throughout Australia and in Europe by the Australian String Quartet, and in Japan by Australia’s award winning ‘Affinity Quartet’. In 2022, Justin was the recipient of a Sydney International Piano Competition Composing the Future juror’s prize for his ‘Three Intermezzi’ for solo piano. In 2023, his set of songs ‘Three Pieces for String Quartet and Voice: Love – Despair – Hope’, was commissioned and premiered at Blackheath Chamber Music Festival, and his first symphony was jointly commissioned by Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra and premiered by QSO under the direction of Maestro Umberto Clerici as part of the Brisbane Festival. His symphony has since been performed by Sydney Youth Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2026. In 2024, Justin added to his oeuvre a duo for violin and cello (Theme and Variations), and a piece for solo piano, ‘A Storm’, commissioned by the Australian National Academy of Music as part of ANAM Set 2024. In 2025, Justin completed a work for wind quintet which was performed by musicians of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in SSO’s Chamber Music Series at the Sydney Opera House, and he was commissioned by Hymie and Darina Factor to write a string quartet, completed in 2026. Justin has also been commissioned by SSO and Principal Cor Anglais, Alexandre Oguey to write a work for cor anglais, violin, viola, cello and double bass, which will be premiered at the Sydney Opera House in 2027.
Cello & Bass
Timothy Nankervis
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Cellist, Timothy Nankervis, is a member of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He has won numerous awards for cello solo, and for chamber music as a member of the acclaimed Seraphim Trio. As an active chamber musician, Tim has performed extensively with Seraphim Trio nationally and internationally. He also performs regularly as a guest artist with various ensembles.
Tim has performed widely throughout Australia as a soloist, and has broadcast regularly for the ABC and MBS-FM radio stations across the country. He has performed the Beethoven Triple Concerto and Brahms Double Concerto with orchestras in Sydney and Queensland, and he has performed as soloist with Orchestra Victoria, playing Tchaikovsky’s ‘Rococo’ Variations.
Tim performs regularly with the Australian World Orchestra and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and he has performed casually with the Melbourne, Adelaide and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra’s. He has taught cello and chamber music at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and tutors regularly for Sydney Youth Orchestra and Australian Youth Orchestra.
Tim completed his Bachelor of Music degree in Sydney with Lois Simpson and graduated from Melbourne University with a Masters of Music degree with Nelson Cooke. He has also studied at the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne, and in London with William Pleeth and Raphael Wallfisch.
Jesper Svedberg
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Jesper Svedberg began studying the cello at the age of eight and went on to complete his Soloist Diploma at the Edsberg Institute of Music in Stockholm, studying with Frans Helmerson and Torleif Thedéen. He later moved to London, where he completed a Master’s in Chamber Music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Louise Hopkins and was shortly after appointed to the Music faculty of the University of Gothenburg where he remained for ten years.
As a soloist, Jesper has performed with orchestras including the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. He is also a founding member of the Kungsbacka Piano Trio, which won First Prize at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition in 1999 and was subsequently selected for the BBC New Generation Artists scheme. The trio has performed extensively at leading venues and festivals worldwide, including Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Concertgebouw and Wigmore Hall, and has released recordings on the Naxos and BIS labels with music including Haydn, Mozart, Chopin, Schumann and Faure.
In 2011, Jesper was appointed Principal Cellist of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. He has performed as Guest Principal with orchestras including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.
Jesper plays a rare 1699 Grancino cello, generously on loan from the Järnåker Foundation.
Jesper commenced as Principal Cello with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in September 2026.
Eliza Sdraulig
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Eliza Sdraulig is a Sydney-based cellist originally from Melbourne, Australia. Eliza regularly performs as a guest musician with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Opera Australia Orchestra and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. She has studied at The University of Melbourne, New England Conservatory (Boston, USA) and the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM). Eliza was an Emerging Artist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in 2018 and a Fellow with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2019.
An avid solo, chamber and orchestral musician, Eliza has appeared as a concerto soloist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and The University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. She is a founding member of the Chroma Quartet and has performed at various festivals such as the Mimir Chamber Music Festival (USA), Australian Festival of Chamber Music and Huntington Festival.
Julian Smiles
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Julian has occupied many of the most prestigious positions in the Australian classical music scene. He was for several years principal cellist with the ACO and has performed frequently as guest principal cello with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. In 1991 he was invited to join the Australia Ensemble, the University of New South Wales’ acclaimed resident chamber music ensemble, and in 1995 formed the highly successful Goldner String Quartet with ensemble colleagues Dene Olding, Irina Morozova and Dimity Hall. These two groups continue to be regarded as representing the pinnacle of chamber music in the country, and the Goldner Quartet in particular has established an international reputation with rave reviews of their recordings and performances in the UK. Julian is also frequently heard as a soloist, and has performed concertos with the Melbourne and Canberra Symphony Orchestras, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and several community orchestras in Sydney. He has also performed as a soloist at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music and the Huntington Estate Music Festival, and premiered solo works by Australian composers such as Mark Isaacs, Carl Vine and Ross Edwards. As a well respected teacher Julian draws on his many years of experience as a performer at the highest level, as well as his studies with Nelson Cooke, one of the most significant teachers in Australia, and with Janos Starker at Indiana University.
Kees Boersma
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Kees Boersma has held the position of Principal Double Bass with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra since 1990. He has performed with Australian World Orchestra since its formation in 2011.
In recognition of his solo talents, the SSO has commissioned new works from leading Australian composers featuring Kees as soloist. His 2013 performance of Mary Finsterer’s “Lake Ice Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra was a finalist in the prestigious APRA Awards for ‘Best Performance of a New Australian Work’. He has been similarly recognized with the commission and performances of the Concerto for Double bass and Orchestra ‘Young Tree Green’ by Colin Bright.
In 2012, Kees was invited to be the founding Artistic Director of the SSO ‘Vanguard’ – curating a concert series in innovative and contemporary venues, seeking to encourage young philanthropists to engage and invest in their orchestra. He is currently the President of the SSO Musician’s Association.
The Australian World Orchestra commissioned Elena Kats Chernin to compose The Witching Hour, the first concerto for eight double basses in orchestral history on the occasion of the AWO’s Fifth Anniversary. Kats-Chernin composed The Witching Hour especially to showcase the extraordinary AWO double bass section comprising Max McBride (formerly ACO, Vienna State Opera, Senior Lecturer ANU School of Music), Kirsty McCahon (formerly Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Orchestra of The Age of Enlightenment), Matthew McDonald (Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra), Ciro Vigilante (Vienna Chamber Orchestra), Robert Nairn (Professor of Double Bass Juilliard School and Penn State University), Kees Boersma (Principal, Sydney Symphony Orchestra), Tim Dunin (Professor of Double Bass, University of Music, Graz; formerly Vienna Philharmonic) and Alex Henery (Principal, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, formerly Philharmonia London).
A great lover of chamber music, Kees Boersma is a regular artist at Musica Viva’s Chamber Music Festivals and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music.
Kees was a founding member of the Australia’s pre-eminent contemporary music group ELISION, premiering, touring and recording the works of Franco Donatoni, Richard Barrett, Liza Lim and Brian Ferneyhough. .
After studies at the Victorian College of the Arts, Kees travelled to his birthplace in the Netherlands to undertake post-graduate studies at the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam. He consequently performed for several seasons with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam under conductors such as Haitink, Dorati, Harnoncourt, Chailly and Giulini.
On his return to Australia, Kees performed as Principal Bass with the State Orchestra of Victoria and the Australian Chamber Orchestra before joining the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Kees is a Lecturer of Double Bass at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and enjoys being a regular tutor with the Australian Youth Orchestra and Sydney Youth Orchestra.
He is a regular Guest Principal Bass of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
As a result of his enthusiasm to explore historically informed performance practice, Kees has enjoyed recent opportunities to play with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (London), the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and Pinchgut Opera.
In collaboration with his vivacious life partner Kirsty McCahon, his ‘Bass Extravaganza’ concerts as part of the ‘Resonate’ series at the National Art Gallery of NSW explore new ways of presenting music for their beloved basses!
Piano & Voice
Laurence Matheson - Piano
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One of Australia’s most exciting young musicians, Laurence Matheson is in demand across the country as a soloist, chamber musician and collaborative pianist. He studied at the Australian National Academy of Music with Timothy Young as one of their youngest ever students and became a Fellow of the Academy in 2016 after winning the Directors’ Prize, subsequently serving on the faculty.
Laurence records for Decca Classics and ABC Classic, and has appeared as soloist with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria and the Australian Ballet, as well as in recital at UKARIA, the Melbourne Recital Centre and Sydney Opera House.
Laurence has a particular passion for chamber music and has performed at festivals and recitals across Australia and internationally. He has also mentored many of Australia's promising young musicians, including Christian Li and Edward Walton, and enjoyed collaborating with internet stars TwoSet Violin.
Aside from piano, Laurence is a keen conductor and has play-directed multiple projects from the keyboard with orchestras across Australia. He is also an accomplished harpsichordist and his compositions have been commissioned by Victorian Opera and the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra.
Konstantin Shamray - Piano
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Australian-based pianist Konstantin Shamray is celebrated for the rare combination of fearless virtuosity and deeply poetic musicianship that has made him one of the country’s most sought-after performers. As critic Graham Strahle observed, “Shamray has a technique that enables him to take any interpretative decision, but it was the depth of his insight that impressed right through this performance.”
Konstantin first came to international prominence in 2008 when he won First Prize at the Sydney International Piano Competition, becoming the first and only pianist in the competition’s history to receive both the First Prize and the People’s Choice Prize, in addition to six other awards. He further cemented his international reputation by winning First Prize at the 2011 Klavier Olympiade in Bad Kissingen, Germany, where he was also presented with the prestigious Luitpold Prize for outstanding musical achievement.
Widely acclaimed as both a concerto soloist and recitalist, Konstantin regularly performs with Australia’s leading orchestras, including the Sydney, West Australian, Adelaide, Queensland and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, and, the Australian Chamber Orchestra.
A popular recital artist, he appears frequently at leading venues and festivals including Ukaria Cultural Centre, Musica Viva, Adelaide Festival, the Harris International Piano Series, Melbourne Recital Centre and Live At Yours. Chamber music remains central to his artistic life, and he has collaborated with distinguished musicians including Jeroen Berwaerts, Sergey Krylov, Daniel Müller-Schott, Richard Tognetti, Satu Vänskä, Kristian Winther and Li-Wei Qin.
Alongside his performing career, Konstantin is a Senior Lecturer in Piano at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne, where he mentors the next generation of pianists.
Andrew Goodwin - Tenor
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Andrew Goodwin has appeared with opera companies and orchestras in Europe, Asia and Australia including the Bolshoi Opera, Gran Theatre Liceu Barcelona, Teatro Real Madrid, La Scala Milan, Opera Australia, Pinchgut Opera, Sydney Chamber Opera, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Auckland Philharmonia, New Zealand, Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland, Adelaide and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, Moscow and Melbourne Chamber Orchestras, and in recital with pianist Daniel de Borah at Wigmore Hall, the Oxford Lieder, Port Fairy and Canberra International Music Festivals.
This year Andrew also returns to Queensland Symphony for Beethoven Symphony No. 9, to Sydney Symphony for the Britten Serenade for tenor and horn and to sing Mime in Das Rheingold, and to Melbourne Symphony for Messiah. Andrew will also feature at the Canberra International and Sanguine Estate Music Festivals, at Brisbane Festival in Britten’s War Requiem, with the Australia Ensemble at UNSW, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, in recital in Brisbane and at Ukaria, and with the vocal ensemble, Avé.
Recent engagements have included Mozart’s Requiem with Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra’; Messiah with Canberra Symphony; Lysander, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Adelaide Festival); Jacquino, Fidelio (West Australian Symphony Orchestra); Nadir, The Pearlfishers (State Opera South Australia); Diary of one who disappeared and Rape of Lucretia (Sydney Chamber Opera); Artaxerxes title role (Pinchgut Opera).
Woodwind & Brass
Emma Sholl - Flute
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David Griffiths has carved out a reputation not only as a superb clarinet soloist but as a consummate musician, equally accomplished as a chamber musician, recitalist and educator. He is Head of Woodwind and Professor of Music at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne, and a member of two leading Australian chamber ensembles, the Australia Ensemble@UNSW and Ensemble Liaison.
Concerto highlights include performances with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, the Sydney and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras and the Real Filharmonía de Galicia, with an upcoming appearance with the National Symphony Orchestra of Chile. A recent Mozart Concerto performance was praised as "so compelling and precise" that the audience scarcely dared draw breath.
With Ensemble Liaison he curates and performs an annual concert series, now past its 21st season. He enjoys long-standing collaborations with the American, New Zealand, Goldner and Australian String Quartets, and has performed with artists including Richard Tognetti, Nemanja Radulović, Ray Chen, Anthony Marwood and Henning Kraggerud. He has appeared as Guest Principal Clarinet with all of Australia's major symphony and opera and ballet orchestras.
A passionate teacher, David returns each year to Chile's Portillo Festival as performer and teacher, appears at Spain's Galicia Clarinet Festival, and presents masterclasses across Asia, Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Australasia.
Shefali Pryor - Oboe
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Shefali Pryor is Principal Oboe with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. She grew up in Sydney where she graduated with First Class Honours from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. During her studies she participated in numerous programs with the Australian Youth Orchestra and was a member of the Sydney Sinfonia. Upon graduating she joined the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as Second Oboe.
In 2004 and 2005 she was granted leave in order to study with Stefan Schilli at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. Not long after her return to Australia she was appointed Associate Principal Oboe. In 2006 she won the Other Instrumental category of the Symphony Australia Young Performer Awards. She has performed as soloist with the Sydney, Melbourne and Tasmanian symphony orchestras, including performances with violinist Nigel Kennedy in 2006.
Shefali Pryor has performed as guest principal with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Auckland Philharmonia, and as a casual musician with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. She is a founding member of the Sydney Omega Ensemble and has performed with the Australia Ensemble, Sydney Soloists, and Southern Cross Soloists as well as with the staff of the Sydney Conservatorium, where she teaches oboe.
She is also the Artistic Director of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra's Vanguard program for young philanthropists.
David Griffiths - Clarinet
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Emma Sholl began working with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the age of 19 and was awarded the Second Flute post the following year – one of the youngest musicians ever appointed. In 2003 she was appointed Associate Principal Flute.
She was named 2MBS Young Performer of the Year in 1997, and won the 1999 National Orchestral Flute Competition, the Other Instruments category in the 2001 ABC/Symphony Australia Young Performers Awards, and the 2002 National Solo Flute Competition.
In 2002–03, several awards – including the Martin Bequest and Dorothy Fraser Scholarship – enabled her to study in Geneva with Jacques Zoon. During that time she performed in St Petersburg and Moscow as part of the World Orchestra for Peace conducted by Valery Gergiev.
As a guest principal, she has appeared with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, and the Adelaide, Queensland, Tasmanian and West Australian symphony orchestras. In 2011 and 2013 she performed in the Australian World Orchestra.
As a soloist she has appeared with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, performing Bach with Geoffrey Lancaster. Other solo engagements have included the ASO and TSO as well as the SSO, and she recorded Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No.4 with Angela Hewitt, Alison Mitchell and the ACO.
Emma Sholl has performed in recital for Musica Viva and ABC Classic FM and in 2015 released Vignettes, an album for flute and harp with Jane Rosenson. As a chamber musician, she has performed in many festivals around Australia, and with such groups as the Australia Ensemble, Sydney Soloists, Sydney Omega Ensemble and Southern Cross Soloists. She has taught for the Australian Youth Orchestra, the Australian National Academy of Music and is Lecturer in flute at the Sydney Conservatorium.
Matthew Wilkie - Bassoon
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Matthew Wilkie grew up in Canberra and in 1979, after studying at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, went to Europe, where he ended up staying for 23 years. While studying bassoon in Hanover, Germany with Klaus Thunemann, he was a prize winner at the International Music Competition in Geneva. He has since appeared as soloist with many orchestras, including the Orchestra de la Suisse Romande, Württemberg Chamber Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra of Europe, as well as the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, which he joined as Principal Bassoon in 2000.
He has been a member of the COE since 1986, travelling to Europe five times a year, and has worked under such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Meta, Roger Norrington, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Bernard Haitink. He appears on countless recordings with the COE, many of which have received international awards. His solo and chamber music recordings include concertos by Mozart, Vivaldi and Richard Strauss; the complete wind chamber music of Mozart and Richard Strauss; and six trio sonatas by Zelenka. His 2009 recording of Bach and Telemann sonatas, The Galant Bassoon, was shortlisted for an ARIA award and has been praised internationally. He has also appeared at many international festivals and is a regular guest at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville, and is much in demand as a teacher, giving masterclasses in Europe and Japan.
Matthew Wilkie’s solo appearances with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra include Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto (2008), the premiere of James Ledger’s Outposts bassoon concerto (2011), which was written for him, and a Playlist series concert (2018).
Samuel Jacobs - Horn
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Sam is Principal Horn with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Prior to his appointment with the SSO, Sam was Principal Horn with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, which followed a three-year tenure as Principal Horn of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London.
During his time in the UK, he performed as a guest Principal Horn with numerous leading symphony orchestras. In the Southern Hemisphere, he often collaborates as guest Principal Horn with the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras and played a significant role in the 2016 Ring Cycle in Melbourne.
Sam has made numerous commercial recordings for the film and pop industries, including albums with Sting, Sam Smith, and Florence & the Machine, and soundtracks for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Interstellar, The Martian, and the James Bond film Spectre. He has also contributed to scores for television and video games, including the Halo franchise. He has recorded on the LSO Live label and numerous live BBC Radio 3 broadcasts and as Principal Horn on the Deutsche Grammophon, Dutton Epoch, and RPO record labels.
Some of Sam's career highlights include performing with Sting at iconic venues such as the Hollywood Bowl, New York Met, and MGM Grand in Las Vegas. He also played Principal Horn on the Star Wars In Concert tour across America, Canada, and Europe with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.
As a soloist, Sam has performed concertos by Haydn, Mozart, Hoffmann, Franz Strauss, and Richard Strauss, as well as Schumann’s Konzertstück on Principal Horn. He recorded John Rimmer’s Horn Concerto with the NZSO, and his performance of Mozart’s Fourth Horn Concerto with Sinfonia Viva was broadcast on Britain's Classic FM. Samuel also toured this concerto with the NZSO in 2016.
Sam's previous teachers include Richard Kennedy, Beccy Goldberg, Julian Plummer, Martin Owen, Michael Thompson, and Richard Watkins. He has given masterclasses at the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music, and the Royal Northern College of Music. Currently, he teaches horn at the New Zealand School of Music at Victoria University Wellington.
Besides music, Sam has been an extra in the hit Bollywood movie Blue and appeared on four UK television quiz shows, including Countdown.