Conductors and Soloists 2025
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 Sharp
Conductor
David Sharp’s diverse conducting credits include the major Symphony Orchestras of Australia, opera, chamber ensembles and education programs. He has appeared on television, film and radio, as well as on the international stage.
Recent engagements with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra include the inaugural Meditation concert Silence, the world premiere of Glyn Lehmann’s song cycle for young people Space Race, and a concert of latin/jazz music with Mark Ferguson. David has been the conductor, compere and curator of the ASO’s highly successful Tea and Symphony concert series, as well as conducting in the East End Rush Hour Concert Series, and Gigs at Grainger. He has conducted ASO Family concerts, regional South Australian tours, and the very popular ASO Alfresco concerts at Mount Lofty and Monarto. David conducted the ASO in the soundtrack to the feature film Disgrace starring John Malkovich as well as recordings of chamber ensemble music for use by the renowned circus troupe “Circa”.
Developing a specialisation for working with young people, David has conducted a number of education projects for the ASO, working closely with Paul Rissmann and the Young Adelaide Voices among others. He has also conducted projects for the Adelaide Youth Orchestra, Australian Youth Orchestra, and the Elder Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra.
David made his international debut conducting St Matthew’s Chamber Orchestra in Auckland, New Zealand and enjoys an ongoing relationship with this orchestra.
Luka Venter
Conductor
Luka Venter is a composer-conductor, countertenor, and writer from Te Whanganui-a-Tara. With a keen interest in music from the late Baroque through to vibrant contemporary works, Luka’s wide-ranging practice has seen them conduct Te Tira Pūoro o Aotearoa | the NZSO, the NZSO National Youth Orchestra, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Wellington, Ensemble Zar and others. Alongside viola da gambist Imogen Granwall, Luka is co-director of Pōneke-based period ensemble The Night Watch.
A previous Conducting Fellow with the NZSO, Luka was a Britten-Pears Young Artist (2023-24) in association with the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme, and in 2023 joined the Royal Ballet and Opera for the UK première of George Benjamin and Martin Crimp’s Picture a day like this — assisting Corinna Niemeyer and working closely with the composer. Luka’s operatic work saw them join New Zealand Opera in 2024 as the assistant and cover conductor for Rossin’s Le comte Ory.
As a composer, Luka’s works have been performed internationally in the UK (including premières at St Martin-in-the-Fields), across Aotearoa, and in Brazil, where Ariana Tikao and Sophia Acheson premièred puāwai (for taonga pūoro and viola) at the International Viola Congress in July 2024.
A previous winner of the NZSO Todd Corporation Young Composer Award, Luka’s music has been recognised by numerous accolades including the Edwin Carr Foundation Scholarship, which supported them to take up one of 3 places as a composer on the Guildhall School of Music and Drama’s MA in Opera Making and Writing. Run in association with the Royal Ballet and Opera, this programme resulted in the creation of Lanternfish, a new chamber opera premièred at London’s Barbican Centre in 2023.
As a singer, Luka has worked extensively with New Zealand Opera, having also sung with
Orchestra Wellington (Stravinsky’s Renard), Days Bay Opera, developed new works with the Auckland Arts Festival (Gareth Farr and Renee Liang’s The Bone Feeder), alongside extensive choral work including with the NZ Youth Choir which saw them sing in locations including Notre Dame (Paris), Singapore’s Victoria Concert Hall, Cambridge, Ely Cathedral, and others.
Luka is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Te Kōkī | the New Zealand School of Music, and the International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML). Their training has seen them study under mentors including Neeme Järvi, James Judd, Hamish McKeich, Timothy Redmond, Sarah Ioannides, and Baldur Brönnimann, and they’ve participated in masterclasses with Gemma New, Martin Sieghart, and Miguel Harth-Bedoya.
Beyond music, they have an active practice as a published poet, as well as interests in
interdisciplinary creative work, historical linguistics, and conservation.
Luka’s work and development has been supported by the Edwin Carr Foundation Trust, Deane Endowment Trust, Todd Trust, Lankhuyzen/Whetū-Kairangi Masonic Trust, New Zealand Opera Foundation Trust, as well as support from New Zealand Opera and Jack C. Richards.
Andrew Beer
Violinist
Awarded Best Classical Artist at the 2020 NZ Music Awards, violinist Andrew Beer has been described as a "musical gift" (New York Times) and a "virtuoso soloist" (San Francisco Classical Voice). His NZ-premiere performance of the Ligeti Concerto was described by Peter Hoar (RNZ Concert) as "one of the most exciting things I've heard for a while. Andrew has served as Concertmaster of the APO since 2014, and performed as guest Concertmaster with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Hallé (Manchester), Melbourne, Adelaide, and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras.
As a soloist, he has performed with leading orchestras in Vancouver, Montreal, New York, Boston, Birmingham, Catania, Auckland and Hamilton with conductors including Gemma New, Gil Rose, Joseph Silverstein, Victor Feldbrill, Giordano Bellincampi, Tecwyn Evans, Hamish McKeich and Holly Mathieson.
As a chamber musician, he has performed at the Music@Menlo, Prussia Cove, Banff, Orford, Domaine Forget, Tanglewood and Aspen festivals, and has appeared in concert with Midori, the Parker Quartet and members of the Emerson Quartet.
Contemporary music plays a large role in Andrew's career, and his debut CD with Sarah Watkins, 11 Frames, features works by 11 of NZ's leading composers.
Diedre Irons
Pianist
Diedre Irons is one of New Zealand’s most distinguished performing musicians. Born in Winnipeg, Canada she made her deut 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 by her teacher, Rudolf Serkin, to join the faculty of that prestigious conservatory where she taught for the next seven years. During those years she toured Canada and the USA as a soloist and as a chamber music player.
Since moving to New Zealand in 1977 Irons has performed regularly with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Auckland Philharmonia and the Christchurch Symphony, toured many times under the auspices of Chamber Music New Zealand and recorded extensively for Radio New Zealand. With the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and conductor Marc Taddei, she has recorded the complete Beethoven Piano Concerti on the Trust Label.
Irons has travelled internationally having to date presented concerts in 25 countries. 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 form 1992-2003 and in 2011 left her position as the Head of Classical Performance at the NZ School of Music, in order to focus fully on her own career as a concert pianist.
Somi Kim
Pianist
Hailed for her “breath-taking range of colour, tone and inflection” (The Times), South Korean born New Zealand pianist Somi Kim is one of Aotearoa’s most sought after pianists.
A winner of the Royal Over-Seas League Accompanist Prize and the Gerald Moore Award for Accompanists, Somi enjoys an impressive career as a chamber musician and soloist. She performs extensively as the official pianist of NZTrio, one of New Zealand’s most indispensable ensembles. Somi has worked as a studio pianist for internationally acclaimed violin professors including György Pauk, Pierre Amoyal, Krzysztof Wegrzyn and Takashi Shimizu.
Somi is a graduate of the University of Auckland (NZ) and the Royal Academy of Music (UK) where she obtained a Master of Music in solo piano and an Advanced Diploma in Performance and Master of Arts in collaborative piano with Distinction. She was awarded the Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) to recognise her contribution to music.
Amalia Hall
Violinist
Noted by The Strad for her "blazing insight and dazzling virtuosity", New Zealand violinist Amalia Hall displays natural and dynamic versatility as an international soloist, as the violinist of NZTrio, and as Concertmaster of Orchestra Wellington.
Her international career blossomed out of winning the top prize at five international competitions. She is also a major prize winner at numerous others, including the Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition, the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, and the Premio R. Lipizer International Violin Competition. As a teenager she won all of the major national awards in New Zealand including the Gisborne International Music Competition at the age of 16, the National Concerto Competition, and the PACANZ National Young Performer of the Year.
Since making her solo debut with the Auckland Philharmonia at the age of 9, Amalia has been a regular soloist with orchestras in New Zealand, and has performed as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician in Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States, Mexico, Honduras, Cuba, Argentina, Asia, South Africa, and Australia.
Solo appearances include performing with I Virtuosi Italiani, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan, NDR Radiophilharmonie ,Sinfónica Nacional de Cuba, Mexico State Symphony Orchestra, Filarmónica de Querétaro, Filarmónica de Acapulco, United Strings of Europe, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Vallejo Symphony and Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as performing the world premieres of violin concertos by Claire Cowan and Michael Norris with Orchestra Wellington.
She has recorded for the Atoll, BIS, Bridge and Rattle record labels, and appeared as guest concertmaster with orchestras including l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Macao Orchestra.
Amalia studied at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music with Pamela Frank and Joseph Silverstein preceded by studies at the University of Auckland with Dimitri Atanassov. She plays the c. 1700 Vincenzo Rugeri ‘Baron Knoop’ violin, generously on loan from a private benefactor.
Lev Sivkov
Cellist
Sivkov was born into a musical family in Novosibirsk, Russia, in 1990. In 2006 he moved to Basel, Switzerland, to study with Ivan Monighetti, completing his Bachelor studies with Conradin Brotbeck in Stuttgart.
He has participated in masterclasses with Janos Starker at Indiana University, USA, Wolfgang Schmidt at Kronberg, Germany, Ferenc Rados at Prussia Cove, England, and Jean-Guihen Queyras in Freiburg, Germany.
In 2016 he was appointed Principal Cellist of the Royal Danish Opera, Copenhagen,Denmark. The following year, 2017, he became Principal Cellist of Opernhaus Zürich, Switzerland.
Lev is a laureate of numerous competitions, most notably the prestigious Naumburg Competition in New York, USA, which he won in 2015. In October 2018 he won 3rd prize in the Isang Yun Competition in Tongyeong, South Korea, and was also awarded the Unesco Creative City of Music Special Prize by the audience.
He is constantly active on the international stage as a concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. He has concertized in many countries: including Carnegie Hall, New York, and in San Francisco; Zürich, Paris, Besançon, Avignon, Aix-en-Provence and Montpellier; Belarus, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Korea and New Zealand. He has performed as soloist with the Zürich Philharmonia, Stuttgart Philharmonic, Prague Philharmonia, Mulhouse Symphony Orchestra, Baden-Baden Philharmonia, Orchestra Wellington and Christchurch Symphony Orchestra.
Lev is currently on his third visit to New Zealand. He has played Benjamin Britten's Cello Symphony as soloist with Orchestra Wellington, and is concertizing and recording with his well-known colleagues Andrew Beer and Sarah Watkins, who formed the Levansa Piano Trio with him in 2019.
Katherine Winitana
Soprano
Hailing from Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāariki Kaiputahi, Katherine Winitana is a Flaxmere-born soprano whose diverse musical journey spans contemporary music, jazz, and opera. Katherine initially launched into the creative industry as a jazz singer before pursuing a Bachelor of Commercial Music at Massey University, where she graduated in 2018 and was honoured as the inaugural recipient of the Vodafone New Zealand Music Award.
Her passion for classical singing was sparked after participating in the Project Prima Volta programme, which marked the beginning of her transition into opera. Katherine quickly immersed herself in the world of classical music. Within a short period, she was accepted into the New Zealand Opera School, attending from 2020-2024. This was followed by the completion of First Class Honours in Classical Voice, and two years as a Dame Malvina Major Studio Artist with New Zealand Opera. Katherine has recently completed her Master’s degree in the inaugural cohort of Te Pae Kokako – The Aotearoa New Zealand Opera Studio at the University of Waikato.
With a unique blend of contemporary and classical influences, Katherine is excited to share her passion for music and contribute to the vibrant cultural landscape of New Zealand opera.
Gillian Ansell
Violist
Born in Auckland, Gillian Ansell made her concerto debut as a violinist with the Auckland Philharmonia at the age of 16. At 19, an Associated Board Scholarship took her to the Royal College of Music in London for three years to study violin, viola and piano. She then won a German Academic Exchange (DAAD) scholarship for further study in Germany at the Musikhochschule Cologne with Igor Ozim and the Amadeus Quartet.
After working professionally in London she returned to New Zealand to become a founding member of the New Zealand String Quartet in 1987. She was second violinist for two years before taking up the position of violist of the group.
With the New Zealand String Quartet, Gillian has toured overseas bi-annually to countries such as to the US, Canada, Mexico, Curacao, the UK, Germany, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, China, South Korea, Japan and Australia as well as regular touring within New Zealand. The NZSQ has a discography of 19 CDs from Beethoven to Jack Body and appeared on many other compilation CDs. The quartet has been involved in commissioning and given countless premieres of New Zealand works and always include NZ pieces on any overseas tour.
In 1992, Gillian founded the Adam Chamber Music Festival with a group of friends, performing five concerts in five days. Gillian has been the Artistic Director of the festival since 2001. She served on the jury of the Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2019.
In 2008 she was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for her outstanding services to music in New Zealand.
In any free time, Gillian‘s favourite activities include dinner parties, tramping, movies, gardening and immersing herself in a great book. Gillian plays on a 1619 Nicolò Amati viola, generously loaned by the Adam Foundation.