SOLOISTS & CONDUCTORS 2026
Michael Joel
Conductor
Musical Director of SMCO
NZ born conductor Michael Joel studied at Otago University and also with conductors Hienz Walberg, Niguel Harth-Bedoya, Jac van Steen and at the Darlington International Summer School. Equally at home in the orchestra, choral and operatic repertoire, Michael has conducted extensively throughout NZ and the UK including on the music staff of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He conducted pianist Pascal Rogé in Saint-Saëns’ 2nd Piano Concerto with the Lakeland Sinfonia in the UK to great acclaim. He has conducted many of the established orchestras and companies in NZ including Christchurch Symphony, Dunedin Symphony, Opera Otago, City of Dunedin Choir, NZSO National Youth Orchestra and principals and members of the NZSO and NZSQ in a critically acclaimed performance of Mahler’s 4th Symphony. Michael is currently Music Director of SMCO
David Kay
Conductor
Born in Palmerston North and now based in Auckland, David Kay is a versatile conductor and horn player, regularly appearing with all of New Zealand’s major orchestras. Since 2008 he has served as Sub-Principal Horn with the Auckland Philharmonia, while also building a dynamic career on the podium.
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David studied French horn at the University of Auckland, completing his Bachelor of Music with Honours in 2006, before receiving a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London for postgraduate orchestral training under Hugh Seenan, Richard Bissill, and Jonathan Lipton. His conducting studies include training at both the University of Auckland and Guildhall School with Sian Edwards, and he was an active participant in the Symphony Services International Conducting Program (2010–2015), working with conductors such as Christopher Seaman, Marko Letonja, and Johannes Fritzsch.
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Since his conducting debut with the Auckland Philharmonia in 2009, David has become a sought-after guest conductor across a wide range of projects. His work has included collaborations with New Zealand artists Neil Finn, Bic Runga, Don McGlashan, Sol3 Mio, Marlon Williams, TEEKS, and Tami Neilson and as well as large-scale outdoor events such as Christchurch’s Sparks Celebrations since 2020, Nelson Opera in the Park, and the Christchurch Theatre Royal Anniversary Concert. He has led performances for the Auckland Arts Festival, APO Does Disco, the Aretha Franklin Tribute, and Matariki celebrations with Troy Kingi, Ria Hall, Rob Ruha and Che Fu. His extensive experience with live film-in-concert presentations includes BBC Earth II, Blue Planet II, Home Alone, The Princess Bride, The Lion King, Toy Story, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hocus Pocus, and Love Actually.
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David is also one of the musical directors of North Shore Youth Music, a community music program on the North Shore, and a leading horn teacher at many local high schools. His passion for music in young people has enhanced his reputation as a sought-after leader of workshops and masterclasses throughout the country.
David Zhu
Oboe
Junyang (David) Zhu is currently a Year 11 student at Pinehurst School in Auckland, New Zealand. He began playing the oboe at the age of 10, under the guidance of Bede Hanley, Principal Oboe of the Auckland Philharmonia. Under his irreplaceable guidance and enrichment, David quickly emerged as one of the most promising young oboists in his intermediate school years-making his first concerto debut at the age of 12 with the Auckland Philharmonia and shortly thereafter, winning 1st Prize in both the Open categories of the NZ Double Reed Society (NZDRS) and Australasian Double Reed Society (ADRS)oboe competitions in consecutive years (2023, 2024).
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At just 13 years of age, he was selected as Principal Oboe of the2024New Zealand Symphony Orchestra National Youth Orchestra (NZSO-NYO), making him the youngest ever to be selected for that position. Following early achievements in the Oceania region, he sought international tutelage all over the United States in 2024 and 2025, receiving private mentorship from some of the most prominent North American oboists-most importantly from Frank Rosenwein, Principal Oboe of The Cleveland Orchestra. More include Eugene Izotov (Principal Oboe, San Francisco Symphony), Russ de Luna (Solo English Horn, San Francisco Symphony), and at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute with John Ferrillo and Mark McEwen of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, among others.
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Some very personal highlights of his journey so far include making his concerto debut with New Zealand’s leading orchestras; the Auckland Philharmonia and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) with Richard Strauss’ Oboe Concerto, and alongside pianist Gracie Francis, giving the premiere of a relatively neglected gem in the repertoire-Gunther Schuller’s Oboe Sonata-to the New Zealand community.
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In addition to oboe, he currently studies piano with Stephen de Pledge. Looking ahead to the coming months, he is eager to deepen his collaborations with both professional and rising young musicians, further develop connections with major leading oboists and musicians alike, and to prepare for the upcoming conservatory auditions, recitals, and concerto appearances that will continue to shape his artistic growth as he works toward pursuing undergraduate studies in the United States in the coming year.(Current biography as of September 2025)
Hayden Chiu
Violin
Hayden Chiu is a 15 years old student from Auckland Grammar School. He began violin studies with Elena Abramova and learns from Stephen Larsen and Professor Robin Wilson. Hayden performed at Carnegie Hall at age 8, and attended the King's School as a John Henley Music Scholar. At 11 years old, Hayden successfully auditioned to the NZSO National Youth Orchestra and enjoyed performing and touring with the orchestra. He was appointed Associate Concertmaster in the following year. At 13 years old, Hayden performed as soloist with the Accademia d'Archi Arrigoni orchestra during the Il Piccolo Violino Magico competition in Italy and was named a 2024 NZSO Emerging Artist. Hayden subsequently won the Michael Hill National String Competition at 14years old and received the award for Best Interpretation of a New Zealand Work. Hayden was a 2025 Ysaÿe International Music Competition Senior Category Semi-finalist and performed as soloist with the Auckland Philharmonia and Manukau Symphony Orchestra. He has also been invited as returning soloist to perform concerto with the Devonport Chamber Orchestra in 2025.
Shan Liu
Piano
Shan Liu, a 16-year-old pianist and Year 12 student at Westlake Boys High School, is rapidly gaining recognition as one of New Zealand’s most promising young classical musicians. Under the mentorship of renowned pianist Stephen De Pledge, Shan has achieved remarkable success on both national and international stages. His accolades include top prizes at major international competitions such as the Grand Jury Prize at the 8th Macao International Piano Competition, Grand Gold Prize at the Pacific Rim International Music Competition, and Gold Award at the GOCAA New York International Music Competition. He has also won First Place at the César Franck International Piano Competition (Belgium) and the International Piano Competition for Young Musicians (The Netherlands). In New Zealand, Shan made history in 2023 as the youngest-ever winner of the Lewis Eady National Junior Piano Competition and received the VAC Classical Music Award. In 2024, he was honoured with the GOCAA Young Artist Award and the AIMES EmergingTalent Award. That same year, he became the first New Zealand pianist invited to the prestigious Morningside Music Bridge Program at the New England Conservatory in Boston—a fully funded residency offering mentorship from world-class musicians. Shan’s musical journey has been marked by a series of remarkable achievements. He was invited to perform as a Featured Soloist with the NZSO National Youth Orchestra in 2024 and will return to the stage with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra as a Featured Soloist in their 2026 season. His talent was also recognized early on, performing as an Emerging Artist with the NZSO in both 2023 and 2024. Shan has been a recurring soloist with the Manukau Symphony Orchestra across three consecutive seasons—2023, 2024, and 2025. In a historic milestone, he claimed First Place at the 2025 National Concerto Competition, becoming the youngest winner in the event’s 57-year history.
In 2024, his international reputation expanded further when he became the first New Zealand young pianist invited to the prestigious Morningside Bridge Music Program (MMB) at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, a fully funded, one-month program that offers mentorship from some of the world’s leading musicians. Shan's performances have graced renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, the Sydney Opera House, and Auckland Town Hall. His solo recital at the 2022 Beethoven Orbit Festival in Aachen, Germany, garnered widespread acclaim for his technical brilliance and emotive interpretation. He has collaborated with many of New Zealand's leading orchestras, including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, NZSO National Youth Orchestra, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra Chamber Orchestra, Auckland Youth Orchestra, Manukau Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Symphony Orchestra, Bay of Plenty Symphonia, St. Matthews Chamber Orchestra, and Orchestra Auckland, making his soloist debut at the age of nine. Shan Liu will be 16 years old and in year 12 in 2026.
Henry Meng
Composer
Henry Meng is a New Zealand pianist and composer. He studied at the University of Auckland under Rae de Lisle and Stephen de Pledge, and now studies under Douglas Humpherys at the Eastman School of Music. As a pianist, he has performed with the Auckland Philharmonia and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. He was the 2023 winner of his university’s Concerto Competition and came second place in New Zealand’s national piano competition of 2024. He also won second in New Zealand’s 2023 and 2025 National Concerto Competitions. Meng toured with clarinettist Julian Bliss with 2024, and has appeared at the Gijón International, At the World’s Edge, and Adam Summer School festivals. As a composer, he was the recipient of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra’s 2023 TODD Young Composer’s Award; one of his orchestral pieces, Fanfare, was part of the NZSO’s 2024 concert season.
Helene Pohl
Violin
Born in Ithaca, New York to German parents, Helene Pohl spent her childhood on both sides of the Atlantic. Starting with the Suzuki Method at 4 1⁄2, she first learned violin with Sanford Reuning, one of the seminal teachers in the spread of the Method in the USA. She must have not practiced enough, because she also found time for lessons in piano, guitar, and clarinet, and played the baritone saxophone in her high school jazz band. At 17 she began tertiary study at the Musikhochschule Cologne. She continued her studies with members of the Cleveland Quartet at the Eastman School of Music and at Indiana University with Josef Gingold, and spent many summers at the Aspen Music Festival. She also had voice lessons with Renee Fleming and viola lessons with Kim Kashkashian. From her teenage years she was irresistibly drawn to chamber music in general and string quartet in particular, and enjoyed receiving coaching from members of many great quartets, including the Amadeus, Juilliard, Orion, Emerson, Vermeer and Tokyo.
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As first violinist of the San Francisco based Fidelio String Quartet (1988-1993), Helene performed extensively in the USA, Germany, England, Italy and South America. The Fidelio Quartet was a prize winner in the 1991 London International String Quartet Competition and quartet in residence at both the Tanglewood and Aspen Music Festivals.
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Helene was the first violinist of the New Zealand String Quartet from 1994 to 2024. As well as performing more than 2000 concerts worldwide with the group, premiering hundreds of new NZ compositions and recording many CDs, she was also a devoted violin teacher and coached chamber music at Victoria University’s New Zealand School of Music Te KoÌ„ki. Her former students are members of the NZSO, Orchestra Wellington, the Christchurch Symphony, play chamber music, conduct, teach, compose and add value to New Zealand’s cultural life in myriad ways. With the NZSQ, she founded and taught at 31 Adam Chamber Music Summer Schools.
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From 2001-2025 she was Artistic Director, with fellow quartet member Gillian Ansell, of the Adam Chamber Music Festival. She has been a judge for the Michael Hill Violin Competition three times, twice on the international jury and once on the selection panel, where close to 200 applicants were whittled down to 16.
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Deeply committed to nurturing younger students, she is the founder of the Chamber Music Intensive Weekend (now the Chamber Music Mega Weekend) in Wellington for young chamber musicians preparing for the New Zealand National Chamber Music Contest. She is the Patron of Arohanui Strings+, the longest running Sistema music teaching programme in New Zealand. She has enjoyed her involvement with local Suzuki programmes over many years, has commenced Suzuki teacher training and is active in the Wellington String Academy.
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Her new chamber group, the piano trio Korimako, with Michael Endres and Rolf Gjelsten, is launching in November 2025.
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In 2016 she gave the world premiere of Louise Webster’s concerto “In Hollowed Bone I hear the Seas Roar,” which was dedicated to her, with the St. Matthews Chamber Orchestra. She has also performed concertos with the Nelson, New Plymouth, Napier, and KaÌ„piti orchestras, Orchestra Wellington and Wellington City Orchestra. This is her fourth concerto performance with SMCO, and she can’t wait! Playing the Brahms Concerto has been a long held dream, and she’s enjoying writing her own cadenza for the performance.
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In 2014 she was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for her outstanding services to music in New Zealand. She is a Thomastik-Infeld Artist and proudly plays a combination of Thomastik Titanium Vision Solo and Dynamo strings. www.helenepohl.com
Lara Hall
Violin
Lara Hall has been a member of the New Zealand Chamber Soloists since 2006 with performances taking her to Australasia, Europe, Asia, and North and South America. As the only violinist residing in NZ to have obtained semi-final status in NZ’s most prestigious competition, the “Michael Hill International Violin Competition” she is one of the finest violinists in the country.
Lara began performing as a soloist around New Zealand at a young age including concerto performances with major New Zealand orchestras as a teenager. Her chamber groups won the New Zealand National Schools Chamber Music Competition when she was 15 and 16, by which stage she already had extensive experience performing as a chamber musician and soloist. Lara has gone on to become recognised nationally and internationally as a vibrant and virtuosic performer – in demand as soloist, orchestral concert-master, chamber musician and baroque specialist.
Lara was raised in Auckland and gained her BMus at the University of Auckland, while studying with Mary O’Brien. She then gained an Advanced Diploma in baroque violin which she studied with Graham McPhail, thus cementing a love and expertise in both musical genres. Lara then studied extensively in the USA, starting in the Dorothy Delay studio at the Aspen Summer School. She then gained her Masters and Doctoral degrees at the University of Michigan studying with renowned pedagogue Paul Kantor. During that time, she taught as a Graduate Student Instructor and was also a faculty member for the pre-University programme Young Strings. She played in numerous master classes, including one given by the eminent violinist Ruggiero Ricci from whom she received high praise.
A passionate teacher, Lara teaches violin and viola at the University of Waikato where her students currently range from undergraduate through to doctoral level. Her students have achieved success at a national level. Lara displays an unusual degree of versatility. As well as her teaching career, she is the only musician to have performed in Chamber Music New Zealand’s main series concerts variously on violin, viola, and baroque violin.
In addition to recordings with the New Zealand Chamber Soloists which include the best-selling ‘Elegy’, Lara has released other CDs on the Atoll label in which she is the featured artist, and has recorded for the Naxos label as a chamber musician. A CD in which Lara performs baroque violin concerti accompanied by the period instrument orchestra NZ Barok was the first CD of period instrument concerti to be recorded in New Zealand. While her work as chamber musician and baroque period instrumentalist are two very different aspects of her work, one of her CDs (Telemann’s Fantasias for solo violin) deliberately sets out to demonstrate stylistic influence that modern violin performance can take from the period instrument movement.
Concertmaster of the Waikato and Bay of Plenty’s Opus Orchestra since 2006, Lara has led numerous other orchestras including the National Youth Orchestra, the Auckland Chamber Orchestra, and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.
Jonah Levy
Trumpet
Jonah Levy is a trumpet player from San Francisco, California. He has made a name in the trumpet world as a teacher, recording artist, soloist and orchestral player. As an orchestral musician, he has most recently served as Second Trumpet with the San Diego Symphony, Associate Principal Trumpet with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Third Trumpet with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Trumpet of the Orquesta Filarmonica de Jalisco. Jonah currently plays with the Auckland Philharmonia and will be joining them as their tenured Sub-Principal Trumpet for the 2026 season.
Levy is equally at home in the worlds of studio recording, contemporary music, jazz, klezmer and experimental art, and was lauded by the New Yorker’s Alex Ross as an “assassin of the ordinary” for his appearance as a rooftop soloist in the Industry’s “Hopscotch” opera production in 2015. Over the past decade, Levy has been heard as a member of the Grammy nominated ensemble Wild Up, as well as a substitute musician with the Hollywood Studio Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, LA Opera, San Diego Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Hawaii Symphony, LA Master Chorale, Santa Barbara Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, Fresno Philharmonic, Golden State Pops Orchestra, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, and The Bay Brass. Jonah’s studies included summers participating in the Lucerne Festival Academy, Orford Arts Academie, Spoleto Festival USA, and the Center for Advanced Musical Studies at Chosen Vale.
His primary teachers have been James Thompson at the Eastman School of Music, Edward Carroll at the California Institute of the Arts, and James Wilt at the Colburn School. As well as vital teachers/mentors whose influence remains, including William Mitchell, Jay Rizzetto, Mark Inouye, Markus Stockhausen, Jon Lewis, Ryan Darke, and Chris Smith.
Tony Chen Lin
Piano
Chinese-New Zealand pianist Tony Chen Lin has been described by Tamás Vásáry as “a true artist ... a musician who has something truly exceptional to say in music.” Praised for his poetic insight and imaginative, thought-provoking programming, he performs regularly throughout New Zealand and Europe, appearing at venues such as the Semaine Internationale Piano & Musique de Chambre festival in Switzerland. His debut album, DIGRESSIONS (Rattle Records), received critical acclaim and reached No. 1 on the New Zealand Classical Charts.
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A prizewinner at the New Zealand National Concerto Competition, the Weiner Leó National Chamber Music Competition in Budapest, the Kerikeri International Piano Competition, and the Lepthien Piano Competition, Tony is also a multiple recipient of the Dame Malvina Major Foundation Arts Excellence Award.
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After studies in New Zealand with Péter Nagy and Gao Ping, he completed his Master of Music and Konzertexamen (mit Auszeichnung) at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg, and continued his artistic development at the Liszt Academy in Budapest under Balázs Szokolay and András Kemenes. He has also been mentored by pianist Edith Fischer and participated in festivals and masterclasses across Europe with artists including Paul Badura-Skoda, Ferenc Rados, and Leon Fleisher.
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A passionate chamber musician, Tony collaborates widely and has performed with ensembles such as Quatuor Sine Nomine. His long-standing partnership with Hungarian cellist Balázs Dolfin has led to performances across Europe, and in 2026 the Dolfin-Lin Duo will tour New Zealand with Chamber Music New Zealand. Tony’s compositions have been performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, and Christchurch Youth Orchestra.
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Tony lives and works in Budapest, where he is also completing his Doctor of Liberal Arts (DLA) at the Liszt Academy of Music.
Monique Lapins
Violin
Monique Lapins is Associate Concertmaster of the Auckland Philharmonia.
Monique began her life in music learning the violin by means of the Suzuki method. She has studied music at prestigious institutions, namely, the Elder Conservatorium of Music (Adelaide University), the Australian National Academy of Music (Melbourne), and the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (Singapore). Her principal violin teachers have included Nicholas Milton, James Cuddeford, William Hennessy, and Professor Qian Zhou. Monique has been mentored by members of the Tokyo, St. Lawrence, Australian, Shanghai and T’ang String Quartets. She has participated in numerous education programs including: the Ozawa International Chamber Music Academy, (Okushiga), the IMS Prussia Cove Masterclasses (UK), the International Holland Music Sessions (Netherlands), the Hyogo Performing Arts Centre Orchestra (Japan), and the Emerging Artists Program, managed by the Australian Chamber Orchestra.
As a member of the New Zealand String Quartet (2016-2024), Monique’s participation included extensive collaboration with many artists including members of the Takács and Jerusalem String Quartets, Dénes Várjon, Horomona Horo, Matthew Barley, Wu Man, Nikki Chooi, and Anthony Marwood. Monique has recorded 5 albums with the New Zealand String Quartet, and the most recent (Notes from a Journey II) won the Best Classical Album at the NZ Music Awards. One of Moniques’ treasured experiences with the NZSQ was performing the full Beethoven Quartet Cycle both nationally and internationally. Monique is a dedicated educator and lecturer and has held an academic position with the New Zealand School of Music – Te KoÌ„kÄ« (Victoria University).
Internationally, Monique has performed as soloist and chamber musician, appearing at major festivals throughout France, the Czech Republic, Holland, Japan, Germany, Canada, Hong Kong, China, Australia, USA, and at the Open Chamber Music Seminars in Prussia Cove (UK), directed by world-renowned cellist, Steven Isserlis. As a chamber musician Monique has collaborated with international artists including Pekka Kuusisto (Finland), Penderecki String Quartet (Canada), Piers Lane (NZ), Australian Chamber Orchestra Collective and Henning Kraggerud, Jian Liu (NZ) and with international concert violinist Olivier Charlier (France). As soloist, Monique has performed with the Auckland Philharmonia, Dunedin Symphony, the Hyogo Performing Arts Centre Orchestra and has participated in a Concert duet with Olivier Charlier and Dénes Várjon.
As an active and renowned interpreter of contemporary music, Monique has collaborated with and premiered pieces by distinguished composers including Martin Lodge (NZ), Gordon Kerry (AU), Ross Harris (NZ), Samson Young (HK), Simon Eastwood (NZ) and Jacob ter Veldhuis (NL) among others. She is also a member of the Ghost Piano Trio.
Monique performs on an 1883 Gand violin kindly on loan from the Rin Collection in Singapore.
Matthias Balzat
Cello
New Zealand-born cellist Matthias Balzat (1999) has gained recognition as an international soloist and chamber musician. He has won prestigious competitions, including the Schoenfeld International Cello Competition, Accordi Musicali International Cello Competition, 69th ROSL Annual Music Competition, Sieghardt-Rometsch Concerto Competition, and New Zealand National Concerto Competition (2014, 2017). He has performed with leading orchestras such as the NZSO, Harbin Symphony Orchestra, CSO, Sinfonietta Köln, and St. Matthews Chamber Orchestra, and collaborated with conductors including Jindong Chi, Guy Noble, Benjamin Northey and Rüdiger Bohn.
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Balzat has appeared at major festivals like Aspen Music Festival, Classiche Forme, and Edinburgh Fringe. He has worked with renowned musicians, including Daniel Müller-Schott, Johannes Moser, and Wolfgang Schmidt. After completing his postgraduate studies at the Robert Schumann Hochschule under Pieter Wispelwey, he now holds a Master’s and Konzertexam degree, as well as a Bachelor’s from Waikato University, which he began at the age of 14. In 2026 he will join the NZTrio as a permanent member.