Guest Artists

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violin

Donald Armstrong is Associate Concertmaster of the NZSO. He was formerly Music Director of the NZ Chamber Orchestra, Principal Second Violin of the Tivoli Sinfoniorkester in Denmark and Co-Concertmaster of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice in France. He studied in New York and Boston with teachers including Josef Gingold and Masuko Ushioda, and chamber music with Louis Krasner, Eugene Lehner and Laurence Lesser.

He performs regularly in New Zealand with his own chamber group, the Amici Ensemble. Donald is interested in preserving and advancing New Zealand’s musical heritage. He has taught as an artist teacher at the New Zealand School of Music and he teaches, coaches and encourages young instrumentalists.

He plays a violin by Nicolo Gagliano of 1754.

violin

Simeon has recently returned to NZ to join the NZSO after 10 years in Europe. He began the violin at the age of four years in Auckland, and completed Performance Violin studies at Auckland University with Mary O’Brien, before receiving a DAAD (German Academic Exchange) Scholarship and moving to Germany where he studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Düsseldorf with Professor Ida Bieler. During this time he played in the Gürzenich Orchestra in Cologne as well as performances with ‘Live Music Now’.

In 2004 Simeon was a finalist in the Young Musicians' Competition in New Zealand. He has since performed as soloist with orchestras both in New Zealand and in Germany.

In 2006, Simeon moved to London to complete his Masters at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, studying with David Takeno and Jack Glickman. He was a finalist in the Beares Solo Bach Competition in London and winner of the Sonata Competition at the North London Music Festival. He then spent several years freelancing and has played in orchestras such as the Royal Opera House (Covent Garden), English National Opera, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Bergen Philharmonic and the Sydney Symphony, before taking up his position in the NZSO.

cello

Originally from Christchurch and a music graduate of Canterbury University, Roger is a former winner of the NZ National Concerto Competition. Scholarships from the International Festival of Youth Orchestras and the QE2 Arts Foundation took him to London to study with the distinguished ‘cellist William Pleeth. He subsequently studied with Jaqueline du Pre and Antonio Janigro.

Roger was based in London for 23 years working mainly as a chamber orchestra and ensemble player. He returned to NZ in 1999 to take up a position with the NZSO. Roger is a keen gardener and tramper. He is a certified Iyengar yoga instructor.

cello

Born and raised in upstate New York, David Chickering (Chick) began his musical studies on the piano at the age of 5. The cello was added a few years later after a brief and embarrassing stint with the baritone horn.

After completing a performance degree at Northwestern University and prior to his appointment to the NZSO, David was a member of several orchestras worldwide including those in Milwaukee, Syracuse, Chicago, Santa Fe, San Jose (Costa Rica) and Auckland.

But his first orchestra was the Little Falls Symphony where, at the age of 12, he would help the conductor, Leon Dussault, set up the chairs and stands before each Monday night rehearsal.

Originally Section Principal Cello of the NZSO and paired with the legendary Allan Chisholm, he has been steadily making his way towards the back.

piano

Rachel returned to New Zealand in 2013 after 10 years based in Europe. She completed her Masters of Music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2008, studying with Caroline Palmer on the specialised Chamber Music Course. Prior to this, Rachel studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, with Florence Millet and Ilana Schapira-Marienescu. In 2008 she was First Prize Winner in the Duo-Sonata Competition at the North London Music Festival with violinist Simeon Broom.

Originally from Wellington, Rachel completed piano studies at the Universities of Auckland and Waikato with Bryan Sayer and Katherine Austin. She is now based in Wellington where she performs and teaches. She is a Chamber Music Tutor for the New Zealand School of Music’s Young Musicians’ Programme and has toured for Chamber Music New Zealand.

viola

Born in Maidstone, Kent, Michael emigrated to New Zealand with his family at the age of 11, settling on the North Shore in Auckland. Like many viola players he began his musical life as a violinist, changing to the viola when he was15. After completing his Diploma of Music at the University of Auckland where he studied with Glynne Adams, Michael successfully auditioned for the NZSO at the end of 1976. Over his career with the NZSO, spanning 44 years and counting, he has worked with a huge number of conductors and soloists, toured extensively in NZ and overseas and seen many changes in the orchestral scene, but he remains committed to his work and to his colleagues.

In his spare time Michael repairs and rehairs bows, has a passion for wine and the study of theology and is the devoted granddad of 6 (soon to be 7!) grandchildren. He and his wife Berys have been called 'the ultimate viola joke' - two violists who have been married for 44 years!

violin

Ursula began her violin lessons in Christchurch, and played in numerous chamber groups and orchestras of the then CSIM (Christchurch School of Instrumental Music). She was a finalist in the National Secondary Schools Chamber Music Competition, and of the National Concerto Competition (1982).

After completing a BA and Dip.Mus, Ursula was awarded a DAAD Scholarship for post-graduate study in Germany, where she studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne with Professor Igor Ozim.

While in Germany she attended summer schools and masterclasses, played a lot of chamber music, and was a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie.

In 1987 she became Sub-Principal of the Second Violins of the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra, Germany. Three years later Ursula returned to the NZSO to join the First Violin section. Since then she has been active as a chamber musician and teacher.

With an NZSO Study Bursary in 2003, she went with her family to London to spend a year studying at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

taonga pūoro

Alistair is a Dunedin born and raised musician, craftsperson, and father of three who lives in Vogeltown, Wellington and has a B.Mus. Perf. 2000 (Massey University).

In 2011 Alistair was the recipient of a CNZ/DoC Wild Creations Artist Residency, which took him to Rakiura/Stewart Island to research, make and record taoka pūoro using mostly found materials from the Mason Bay area. More of this project can be seen here.

Alistair has been making and playing taonga puoro since 2000, when he attended workshops run by the ‘dynamic trio’ of Brian Flintoff, Richard Nunns and the late Hirini Melbourne. Alistair now plays, produces and composes taonga pūoro in a wide variety of settings.

Source: SOUNZ website

double bass

After finishing his initial studies in Spain, Joan Perarnau Garriga moved to the UK, where he graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London in 2005. He then moved to Japan as a founding member of the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra where he was principal double bass until 2008. In 2008 and 2009 he was a member of the Lucerne Festival Academy and since 2009 he has been a member of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra in Switzerland.

In 2010 Joan won a Co-principal position in the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León in Spain, a position he held until he was appointed Associate Principal Double Bass with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in April 2013. He is an Artist Teacher at the New Zealand School of Music.

author

Patricia Grace is a major New Zealand novelist, short story writer and children’s writer. She is of Ngati Toa, Ngati Raukawa and Te Ati Awa descent, and is affiliated to Ngati Porou by marriage. Grace began writing early, whilst teaching and raising her family of seven children. Shehas since won many national and international awards, including the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize for fiction, the Deutz Medal for Fiction, and the Neustadt International Prize for Literature (widely considered the most prestigious literary prize after the Nobel). A deeply subtle, moving and subversive writer, Grace received in 2007 a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to literature.

Source: NZ Book Council

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Imogen started cello with James Tennant in Auckland. After six inspiring years, Imogen moved to Australia to study at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and by 1998 she had completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Performance Cello with the late, legendary Lois Simpson.

Imogen has now relocated back to NZ and settled in Wellington in mid 2016. She has built a thriving cello studio there and welcomes students of all ages and cello stages.

Imogen currently work as a freelance musician on modern cello, baroque cello and viola da gamba (the bass of the viol family) and is currently enrolled at the Sydney Conservatorium pursuing a Masters degree on viola da gamba with Daniel Yeadon.

She has had an eclectic musical career and while studying classical music, she has delved into the world of Latin American Song for more than two decades resulting in numerous concert collaborations.

In 2013, Imogen's interest in Latin American Music and Historical Performance Practice (HIP) came together. She directed a wonderful concert of Latin American Baroque music with Baroque Iluminata, a group which she hopes to present again in the future.

In 2014 she joined with colleague, Tara Hashambhoy, to form the Pearl and Dagger Company with a mission to produce and perform entertainment that provides a snapshot of musical and theatrical life from other eras. Their first production was the C17th masque Cupid and Death, written by Shirley, with music by Matthew Locke and Orlando Gibbons. With a cast of nearly 20 singers, musicians, dancers and actors, this was a unique and challenging undertaking. The following year the Pearl and Dagger Company produced The Raven, parlour entertainment from the turn of the C20th. This programme included chamber music from the time, a corny Victorian skit and two melodramatic settings of brooding Edgar Allan Poe poems to piano, one of which was, of course, The Raven.

double bass

Oleksandr was born in Kiev, Ukraine, where he studied at Lysenko School of Music and Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He became a member of the National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra at the age of 19 and at the age of 20 gained position with the National Chamber Orchestra of Ukraine. Oleksandr joined the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in 2007. He has participated in Master Classes with Paul Ellison, Thomas Martin, Joel Quarington, Catalin Rotaru, Miloslav Gojdos, Barry Green and Jeff Bradetich. He is a member of the contemporary ensemble ‘Stroma’, and also regularly performs solo recitals.

viola

Benjamin leads a varied musical career, balancing his chamber music work and orchestral projects around his enthusiasm for coaching young musicians.

Benjamin studied at the Royal College of Music, London with Ivo-Jan van der Werff and Jonathan Barritt and was a prize winner at the International Kenneth Page Viola Competition. He graduated with honours in 2009 and then completed his Postgraduate Degree where he studied jointly with Simon Rowland-Jones and Lawrence Power.

His quartet the ‘Alke Quartet’ was formed in 2011 and were in residence at the Royal College of Music on the Chamber Music Course from 2015-17, kindly supported by a legacy from the late Albert and Eugenie Frost. Following their highly successful Park Lane Group (PLG) audition in Spring 2015, the quartet gave the PLG’s annual performance of Haydn’s The Seven Last words from The Cross at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, performed with great success in the PLG Young Artists Spring Series in St John’s Smith Square last April and made their Wigmore Hall debut presented by the PLG in March 2017. Part of the ChamberStudio, Kings Place London, the quartet received masterclasses from Rita Wagner, Krysia Osostowicz, Simon Rowland-Jones and Richard Ireland. They were finalists in the Bloch Music Competition and St. Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Music Competition and were accepted for the International Music Seminar Prussia Cove, working closely with the Endellion Quartet’s David Waterman. In January 2017 they participated in the Winter Residency Programme at Banff, Canada. Their performance venues include St. Martin-in-the-Fields, St John’s Smith Square, St James’s Piccadilly, Bath’s Pump Room and the Barbican Centre.

Aside from his string quartet Benjamin has performed with the Arienski Ensemble for the North Norfolk Music festival, performed Schumann’s Quintet with Raphael Wallfisch and toured Scotland with the Dulcinea quartet. Benjamin enjoys playing with his viola quartet Mit Dӓmpfer.

Since moving to New Zealand in 2022 Benjamin has played with Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and Orchestra Wellington and is looking forward to exploring the country.

Benjamin plays on a viola by Luigi Soffritti, 1875.

cello

Since 2015 Ken has been the Associate Principal Cellist of the NZSO. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London, Ken has performed with many orchestras including the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where his father worked as Principal Second Violin for 30 years. While studying at the Royal Academy of Music, Ken formed the Galitzin String Quartet completing tours around Europe and the UK. He has predominantly worked as a freelance orchestral musician, performing in concert halls all around the world.

double bass

The Brazilian-born Japanese Contrabassist HIROSHI IKEMATSU has gained his fame through a variety of music activities. He is uniquely talented and regarded as one of the leading contrabassists in Japan.

Ikematsu started to play the contrabass at the age of 19, learning under the instruction of Mr. Shunsaku Tsutsumi. During his university years at the TOHO Gakuen College, Ikematsu has been the regular participant of the prominent contrabass workshop and festival by Gary Karr, the world's leading solo bassist and teacher based in Canada. In 1989, Ikematsu joined the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, appointed as the Principal Contrabassist since 1994.
Ikematsu was performing not only as a soloist, he was leading a string ensemble "Vega" which regularly performs at their annual concert, as well as his founded contrabass ensemble.
In addition to the chamber music activities involved at "Kioi Symfonietta" and "Tokyo Ensemble", Ikematsu was also the core member in a group called "Pleiade Quintet", which has been well known for its performance of contemporary music and released the album from BMG.

Since his first solo recital in Casals Hall in 1999, Ikematsu has established a strong name as a great solo contrabassist in Japan. He has played with numerous distinguished musicians, and released 3 solo CDs nationwide successfully. His unique concert with the combination of solo performance and contrabass ensemble has received highly success. Ikematsu was also teaching at KUNITACHI College of Music as well as the Toho Gakuen College in Tokyo.
Ikematsu immigrated to New Zealand with the family by joining NZSO officially as the Principal Contrabassist since April, 2006. As well as an enthusiastic trout fishing, camping and soccer goer, Ikematsu also enjoys spending time with his two kids at leisure, with such reasons, no wonder why he moved to NZ claimed as one of his dreamed countries!

piano

Born in Winnipeg, Canada, Diedre Irons made her debut with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra at the age of 12 playing the Schumann Piano concerto. She graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and was subsequently invited to join the faculty where she taught for the next seven years.

Diedre moved to New Zealand in 1977 and has performed regularly with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Auckland Philharmonia and the Christchurch Symphony, toured under the auspices of Chamber Music New Zealand, and recorded extensively for Radio New Zealand.

She was awarded an MBE in 1989 and an ONZM in 2011 for services to music and in 2007 received the degree Doctor of Music (honoris causa) from Brandon University in Manitoba, Canada.

She taught at the University of Canterbury from 1992-2003 and at the New Zealand School of Music from 2003-2012.

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Andrew is currently Principal Cellist of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. He was born in Norwich in England. Passionate about music from an early age, at 11 Andrew went to London to pursue his musical studies at the Purcell School of Music with Amanda Truelove and Michal Kaznowski. He went on to study at the Royal College of Music with Alexander Boyarsky and the Musikhochschule Lübeck with Troels Svane, as a holder of the coveted DAAD Scholarship. He also performed in masterclasses with the late Bernard Greenhouse, Alexander Baillie, David Geringas, Alexander Rudin, Natalia Gutman, Karine Georgian, Leonid Gorokhov, the Takacs Quartet, the Kopelman Quartet. Violinist & Leader of the London Symphony Orchestra, Gordan Nikolic, also played a very important role in his artistic development and continues to be a source of inspiration.

Before joining the NZSO in Septmeber 2010, Andrew spent five years freelancing in London, during which time he performed all over the world with the London Symphony & London Philharmonic Orchestras. He also played as Guest Principal with Northern Sinfonia, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

A dedicated chamber musician, Andrew performed regularly with pianist Simon Watterton, most notably the complete Beethoven Cello Sonatas, the Bartholdy Trio and the Jigsaw Players and he continues to perform with the Puertas Quartet both in the UK and in New Zealand, with further tours planned for 2012 and 2013.

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Dr Songwen Li is among the most recognised pianists and sought-after piano teachers in China. Currently he is serving as a full professor and the chairman at the Piano Department of Xinghai Conservatory of Music, Guangzhou.

As both a performer and educator, Dr. Li is frequently engaged in concerts and academic activities both in and outside of China, including performing solo recitals and conducting masterclasses in cities such as Guangzhou, Beijing, Shenzhen, , Shanghai, Hong Kong, Zhongshan, Shunde, Tianjin, Vienna and Eisenstadt and Manchester, working together with world-renowned musicians such as Paul Badura-Skoda, Dmitri Bashkirov, Boris Berman, Peter Donohoe and Leslie Howard.

piano

Chinese-American pianist Jian Liu, Senior Lecturer in Piano at Te Koki, the New Zealand School of Music, is a highly sought-after solo pianist, chamber musician, and educator. He has appeared on concert stages in China, Japan, Singapore, Portugal, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United States and New Zealand, and has been honoured at various state, national, and international competitions. Jian’s performances have been broadcast by various TV and radio stations in the USA, China, Switzerland and New Zealand. Jian is a member of the Te Koki Trio.

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German-born Anne studied violin at the Frankfurt Musikhochschule and joined the first violin section of the NZSO in 2000.

Before emigrating to New Zealand, Anne played in the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn and Hesse State Theatre Orchestra in Wiesbaden. She was also a member of the award-winning Orfeo Quartet which won a DAAD scholarship for a year’s post-graduate study with Sandor Devich of the Bartok Quartet in Budapest. With the Quartet she toured throughout Europe and in South America.

During her teenage years Anne's principal violin teacher and mentor was Prof. Helmut Heller, Wilhelm Furtwängler's concertmaster in the Berlin Philharmonic. More recently she worked with many inspiring musicians, among them Norbert Brainin of the Amadeus Quartet, Thomas Kakuska of the Alban Berg Quartet, Hermann Voss and Peter Buck of the Melos Quartet, Shmuel Ashkenasi of the Vermeer Quartet and members of the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.

Anne's love for chamber music has seen her play in various ensembles, ranging from baroque on authentic instruments to modern throughout Germany and New Zealand. Anne has played with NZ Barok and performed with the Darmstädter Barocksolisten and L’arpa festante Munich. She led the Renaissance Ensemble for Eternity Opera’s production of Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo”.

Anne is a member of the Koru Piano Trio, the Orion String quartet and concertmaster of the Days Bay Opera Orchestra. She has played with Aroha Quartet on many occasions. Anne is the musical director and leader of Camerata, a Wellington based chamber orchestra dedicated to performing Haydn’s early symphonies.

As soloist Anne has appeared in various cities in Germany, Russia and New Zealand.

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Tom McGrath was born in Wellington and studied with Diedre Irons at the University of Canterbury where he graduated with First Class Honours. He completed postgraduate studies at the Richard Strauss Konservatorium in Munich in solo piano with Yasuko Matsuda and song accompaniment with Donald Sulzen. He was a finalist at the 2000 International Schubert and Music of Modernity Competition in Graz for singer and pianist duo.

The same year at the Gasteig Culture Centre Competition in Munich the jury created a special prize to recognise his abilities as an accompanist.

Since returning to live in New Zealand in 2003, he has performed throughout the country including the Christchurch Arts Festival, Stroma, tours for Chamber Music New Zealand with
his wife, soprano Goeknil Meryem Biner as well as the Antipodes String Trio. As a soloist he has appeared with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and Wellington Chamber Orchestra.

piano

Catherine was awarded an Associated Board Scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music in London with Irina Zaritskaya and went on to study and work in Canada, initially at the Banff Centre and then to complete the Diplôme d’études supérieures spécialisées under Marc Durand in Piano performance & French at the Université de Montréal.

Now based in Wellington Catherine works at the New Zealand School of Music as accompanist and tutor in chamber music for their Young Musicians Programme, in between freelance concert performances and as teacher of piano. She collaborates with many Wellington-based NZSO musicians in classical chamber recitals and with 4XTango, specialising in Argentinean Tangos and the music of Piazzolla.

In 2008/9 she returned to the Banff Centre for to work as their collaborative pianist for their Fall & Winter semesters. In 2011 she lived in Venice for two months to play daily on the Parekowhai piano for visitors and present several concerts at the NZ Pavillion for the Venice Biennale. In 2012 she continued this collaboration with the Parekowhai piano presenting a series of solo piano recitals at Te Papa.

cello

Brigid O’Meeghan, currently Assistant Sub-Principal Cello Emeritus in the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, was raised and educated in Christchurch.

Throughout her professional career, Brigid has had extensive involvement with youth music and community programmes both here and abroad including the HK Academy for Performing Arts, Asian Youth Orchestra, Australian Youth Orchestra, NZSO National Youth Orchestra, Dunedin Youth Orchestra, Wellington Youth Orchestra, Wellington Youth Sinfonietta, Schola Sinfonica, Kapiti Youth Orchestra and Hutt Valley Orchestra.

She has been an adjudicator for the NZCT Chamber Music Contest and in 2016, Brigid received the Marie Vanderwart Memorial Award, which recognises outstanding service and commitment to fostering the love of chamber music.

Brigid is a former trustee of the Alex Lindsay Award and the Michael Monaghan Young Musicians Foundation and is a founding, current trustee of Music Futures, which supports young musicians in the Greater Wellington region. As an NZSO player, Brigid particularly enjoys participating in its Education and Community Engagement activities.

oboe

Robert is principal oboe of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. He has also played as guest principal oboe with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Robert is an established recital artist having appeared for the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts, and Chamber Music New Zealand. As a soloist he has played with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra. Robert is an Artist Teacher at the New Zealand School of Music.

violin

Violinist Blythe Press studied with renowned teacher Prof. Yair Kless for five years at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Graz, Austria, where he gained his Masters degree with distinction in 2011. Prior to that Blythe studied with Vesa-Matti Leppanen at the New Zealand School of Music in Wellington.

Competition successes include third prize at the 2008 Andrea Postacchini International Violin Competition in Italy and second prize in the 2006 NZ National Concerto Competition.

As a freelance musician, Blythe has performed as Concertmaster of the Christchurch Symphony orchestra and recently as Assistant Concertmaster of the NZSO.

cello

Born in England in 1964 Rowan started to play the cello at the age of six. She moved to New Zealand in 1975 and studied with Ellen Doyle in Christchurch. At the age of 18 she won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she won several prizes and commendations for solo and chamber music performance, including the prize for ‘Most Promising Student’ in her first year. Once Rowan graduated she spent several years touring Europe, Asia and New Zealand as part of Prelude, a duo of violin and cello. Rowan returned to New Zealand in 1990, where she played with the Wellington Sinfonia before joining the NZSO and the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra. She is also a member of Stroma, a contemporary music group, and Felix the Quartet, with other NZSO players.

community musician

Julian Raphael (B.Mus, M.Phil, PTCS) is a highly experienced community musician, music educator, composer and performer who works alongside children and grown-ups with a philosophy and teaching style that is influenced and informed by music-making of the world's cultures. He is director of Community Music Junction, which has been operating in Wellington for the past ten years, enabling both children and adults to sing together and learn a variety of musical instruments. He is a student and teacher of music from the Shona culture of Zimbabwe and is one of the very few New Zealand facilitators of African marimba and mbira.

Julian also tours the country leading choral and instrumental workshops for schools, teachers and singing communities. In 2012 he and Carol Shortis established the Song Leaders’ Network Aotearoa, an organisation designed to support the work of vocal leaders in schools and communities. Julian was a guest conductor at the NZCF’s Sing Aotearoa in 2013 and has been invited to lead the Tui stream in 2016.

He facilitates the ‘accessible concert’ programme for Chamber Music New Zealand in conjunction with Arts Access Aotearoa and is a passionate advocate of the Arts for All philosophy. As a vocal leader Julian leads the Wellington Community Choir and MaleVocale as well as a number of daytime informal singing groups where he enjoys accompanying songs and improvisations on the guitar and piano.

Julian is a composer and arranger of music for voices and his recent works include An African Tale (2011), and Sing it to my Face (2014) a collaboration with Jo Randerson & Barbarian Productions. Our Songs, a multi-choir work in collaboration with Hinemoana Baker premiered at the 2015 CubaDupa Festival and in June Nota Bene gave the first NZ performance of his song cycle Untold Stories. Julian was commissioned by the Wellington Community Choir to compose the song Singing People Together for their 10th birthday concert (August 2015) at the Michael Fowler Centre.

Source: SOUNZ website

piano

Emma Sayers studied piano for many years with noted Wellington teacher Judith Clark, with whom she completed her undergraduate degree at Victoria University in Wellington. From 1993- 1998 she attended the Ferenc Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungary, studying with renowned Hungarian musicians Rita Wagner, Ferenc Rados, Péter Solymos, János Devish (Kodály Quartet) and Hargitai Géza (Bartók Quartet).

Emma is also an enthusiastic teacher. As a lecturer at the Massey Conservatorium of Music & NZ School of Music from 1999-2012 she coached and accompanied students of all instruments and vocal types, as well as teaching chamber music and solo piano. These days she runs a busy private teaching studio, and is an artist teacher at the New Zealand School of Music.

viola

Brian Shillito was for 35 years the Sub-Principal Viola of the NZSO and was also an active chamber musician, including as a member of the Pleyel Piano Quartet, the Gezentsvey Quartet and the Linden Ensemble. He was a founder member of the NZ Chamber Orchestra. Brian retired from the NZSO in 2016 and now enjoys pottering in the garden, the occasional tramping trip, and playing chamber music with friends.

viola

Lyndon Johnston Taylor, Assistant Concertmaster of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, comes from a family of musical excellence. He and his siblings performed as the Taylor String Quartet throughout the United States and abroad. After preparing for a career in medical research, he recognized his passion for music and obtained a teaching position at the University of Redlands (CA). He completed the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at the Juilliard School of Music under the direction of Dorothy DeLay and Naoko Tanaka. There he received the Fritz Kreisler Scholarship.

He has performed as a soloist and recitalist throughout the United States and abroad and has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, among them the Coleman Chamber Music Award, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago Soloist Auditions, the Joseph Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the Lipizer International Competition (Italy). For 17 years, Taylor played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, serving as Principal 2nd Violin for 10 of those years.

Taylor plays on a JB Guadagnini violin made in 1777. He resides in Wellington with his wife Elizabeth (director of research at Mary Potter Hospice) and daughters Rilla and Lynn.

kapa haka

viola

Belinda Veitch studied viola with Vyvyan Yendoll. She was appointed to the position of Principal Viola with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra before joining the NZSO Viola section in 1989
after a period of study in London. Belinda was inspired to begin music at the age of ten when her parents took her to an NZSO concert in Palmerston North. She heard the violins play and was mesmerised. Clace Schwabe was her teacher and mentor.

At age 15 Belinda realised that she was more suited to the viola than the violin.

Belinda really enjoys tutoring, teaching and performing music in the local community. She regularly tutors for WELLSO and the Hutt Valley Orchestra as well as performing with Camerata, the St. Peter’s Orchestra and the Kapiti Concert Orchestra.

clarinet

Rachel Vernon has held the position of Principal Bass Clarinet in the NZSO since 1995. She has recorded for Radio New Zealand and Re-Sounz and performed as a soloist with the Wellington Chamber Orchestra and the Manawatu Sinfonia.

Rachel studied in London with Antony Pay and freelanced with orchestras including Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Scottish Opera Orchestra.

She was Sub-Principal clarinet with the NZSO from 1989 - 1991.

In 2016 Rachel joined the Zephyr Wind Quintet in a series of concerts featuring NZ composers including the premiere of a new work by Leonie Holmes.

taonga pūoro

violin

Dr Manshan Yang, a native of China, moved to New Zealand in 2013. Prior to that, Manshan was the senior lecturer of violin performance at the Art College of Jinan University in China from 2006. Her students have been admitted to major music schools in the US, France and Russia. She was also a tutor for the Master’s Chamber Music Programme at Xinghai Conservatory of Music from 2006 to 2008. As an engaging soloist and chamber musician, she performs regularly in China, North America and New Zealand.