Following a long and celebrated career as Concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Wilma now focuses on chamber music and guest-performing opportunities with the Australian and New Zealand orchestras. She plays regularly with the Australian World Orchestra, relishing the opportunity to work with distinguished conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle and Zubin Mehta.

Born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand, Wilma studied at the New England Conservatory in Boston with Dorothy DeLay (violin) and Louis Krasner (chamber music). She was founding First Violinist of the Lydian Quartet, winners of the Naumburg Award for Chamber Music and multiple prizes at Evian, Banff and Portsmouth International String Quartet Competitions. She also worked regularly with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and led the Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra and the Harvard Chamber Orchestra before returning to New Zealand as founding First Violinist of the New Zealand String Quartet.

In addition to being curator/violinist of Wilma & Friends, now entering its fourteenth season, Wilma has returned to her string quartet roots as Second Violinist of the Flinders Quartet. She is also Musica Viva Australia’s Artistic Director of Competitions, overseeing the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition and Strike A Chord, the Australian national chamber music competition for secondary school students. Enjoying active connections across the ditch, Wilma is Co-Artistic Director of the annual Martinborough Music Festival and is on the Board of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

Photo credit: Agatha Yim, Polyphonic Pictures

New Zealand born Matthias Balzat (1999) has established himself as an international soloist and chamber musician. His competitive success includes first prizes in the 69th ROSL Annual Music Competition, Accordi Musicali Competition, Sieghardt-Rometsch Concerto Competition, International Wallace Cello Competition, Sir Edmund Hillary Gold Medal Award, New Zealand National Concerto Competition (both 2014 and 2017) Creative and Performing Arts Person of the Year (New Zealand), PACANZ, as well as 2nd Prize in the Gisborne International Music Competition, and many more. Matthias has extensive performance experience as a soloist, such as with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonieorchester Opus.125, Sinfonietta Köln, St. Matthews Chamber Orchestra, Auckland Chamber Orchestra, Robert Schumann Hochschulorchester, Opus Orchestra, and NZ National Youth Orchestra among others. Collaborations with conductors include Guy Noble, Benjamin Northey, Rüdiger Bohn, Leh-Qiao Liao, Peter Scholes, Peter Walls, Cornelius Frowein, and Hamish McKeich among others.

Participation and performances at prestigious festivals all over the world include the Aspen Music Festival, Villa Pennisi in Musica, Classiche Forme, Miesbach Kammermusikfestival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Lake District Summer Music Festival, Martinborough Music Festival and Wilma and Friends. Matthias has enjoyed numerous Masterclasses and chamber music collaborations with notable names, such as Daniel Müller-Schott, Johannes Moser, Wen Sinn Yang, Wolfgang Schmidt, Richard Aaron, Li Wei Qin, Philippe Muller, Brannon Cho, Avos Quartet, and many more. 

Currently enrolled in the prestigious Konzertexamen degree at the Robert Schumann Hochschule für Musik in Düsseldorf under renowned soloist Pieter Wispelwey, he also completed his Master of Music at the same place. James Tennant was his previous teacher in New Zealand, with whom he completed his Bachelor of Music at the age of 17 at Waikato University.

Internationally praised for his clarity, depth of expression, virtuosity and versatility, Melbourne-born Stefan Cassomenos is regarded as one of Australia’s leading concert pianists. His concerto repertoire now exceeds forty works, and has led to performances with the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, Opera Australia Orchestra, and Melbourne Chamber Orchestra. He has performed as a soloist at Tonhalle Zurich, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Beethoven Festival Bonn, Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre, and at concert halls across Germany, Netherlands, England, Italy, Malta, Greece, Slovenia, Poland, Estonia, Russia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia. 

In 2013, Cassomenos was a grand finalist and recipient of both the Second Grand Prize and the Chamber Music Prize at the International Telekom Beethoven Piano Competition Bonn. He studied on full scholarship at Melbourne University and the Australian National Academy of Music, mentored by Stephen McIntyre, Margarita Krupina, Ian Munro, and Michael Kieran Harvey.

Cassomenos is a founding member of acclaimed ensemble PLEXUS, which since launching in 2014 has commissioned and premiered over 110 new works.

Cassomenos began composing at an early age, giving the premiere of his own Piano Concerto No 1 with Adelaide Symphony Orchestra at age 16. He has composed for Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Victorian Opera, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir, for German pianist Susanne Kessel, and for the Festival Neue Musik Rockenhausen.

Cassomenos is currently co-Artistic Director, together with violinist Monica Curro, of the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival.

Cassomenos is generously supported by Kawai Australia.

Violinist Monica Curro has been Assistant Principal 2nd Violin of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra since 1998, and was previously a core member of the Australian Chamber Orchestra. She has played with the Australian World Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and Guest Concertmaster of West Australian Symphony Orchestra and Auckland Chamber Orchestra. In 2009, Monica was invited as the only Australian to play in the World Orchestra for Peace, and has since joined them regularly for concerts around the world. Monica has appeared as soloist with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and in 2012 gave the world premiere of Stefan Cassomenos' Double Violin Concerto, with her sister Sarah. Monica was a member of the Board of Directors of the Australian Youth Orchestra for 9 years. She has tutored regularly for AYO, and has taught at various tertiary institutions. In 2016, Monica was the Director of the AYO’s Smalley Chamber Orchestra. Also in that year, she directed MSO’s outreach program in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. 

Monica is currently joint Artistic Director of the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival, together with pianist and composer Stefan Cassomenos. Monica was Artistic Director of Melbourne’s Women in Music Festival 2019-20, and since 2022 has curated the “Music at McClelland” series at McClelland Sculpture Park & Gallery. Monica is sought after as a public speaker, giving regular pre-concert talks and conversations for major concert presenters, as well as keynote addresses at universities and educational organizations. Monica is a founding member of acclaimed ensemble PLEXUS, which since launching in 2014 has commissioned and premiered more than 110 new works.

Peter began learning the violin in 2009 through the Suzuki Method with Lynley Culliford. He began his bachelor at the New Zealand School of Music under Monique Lapins in 2021 before leaving a year early to study at the Australian National Academy of Music with Sophie Rowell in 2023, and with Adam Chalabi in 2024. In April 2025 he moved to Berlin to study for his bachelor degree as a student of Stephan Picard at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule.

The NZCT Chamber Music competition was a major learning experience for Peter where with help from coaching by members of the NZSQ, his groups won the first prize award in 2019 playing viola, and First Prize in 2020 playing violin.

Peter took part in the Adam Summer School in 2019-23, where in 2023/24 he was awarded a spot in the Troubador Quartet. where he played in the biannual Festival and received coachings from the Takacs Quartet. 

In late 2021, Peter won the NZSM and Wellington Youth Orchestra concerto competitions and performed Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with both orchestras. 

He recently performed Sibelius Violin Concerto in the National Concerto Competition in March 2024 where he was awarded joint 1st place.

Peter also took part in the 2022 Whakatipu Music Festival where he enjoyed an intense week of chamber music and private lessons.

Peter has been playing in orchestras and ensembles since 2011 through Suzuki workshops and camps. In 2017 Peter joined the Wellington Youth Orchestra, sitting assistant concertmaster 2018-22. He was accepted into National Youth Orchestra (NZ) 2019-2022 in the first violin section, leading as Concertmaster in 2021-23.

Peter is blessed to be playing on a 2017 Tobi Widemann (Christchurch) Violin.

Lisa Grosman was the Director of the Viola Programme at Monash University. She has recently been appointed Head of Strings at Camberwell Grammar School. Lisa has also taught at Melbourne Conservatorium as part of the Young Artists Academy at the University of Melbourne. She was the viola tutor for the Australian Youth Orchestra’s 2024 programme, and a faculty member at the Elder Conservatorium’s String Quartet Course at the University of Adelaide.

For 15 years, Lisa was a member of the Irish Chamber Orchestra, during which time she toured extensively throughout Europe, America and Asia. Lisa was also the Director of Strings for the Irish Chamber Orchestra’s Education and Outreach Project, “Sing Out with Strings” – an El Sistema inspired programme involving more than 300 children from under resourced communities. 

Since returning to Australia, Lisa has performed with ensembles such as the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Opera Australia Orchestra and Orchestra Victoria. 

With the Fidelio Quartet she has performed the entire Beethoven String Quartet Cycle at the Melbourne Recital Centre, as well as making numerous broadcasts on 3MBSFM.

Lisa began learning Suzuki Method violin at the age of five, and went on to be the Concertmaster of the Australian Youth Orchestra.  She studied with Alice Waten at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Australian Institute of Music before receiving a scholarship to study viola with Professor Bruno Giuranna at the University of Limerick, where she completed her Master of Arts in Classical String Performance. She continued her studies with Professor Giuranna for a further two years at the Walter Stauffer Institute, Corso di Perfezionamente, in Cremona.

Lisa plays a viola made by Giuseppe Vignali, purchased with assistance from the E.V.Llewellyn Memorial Fund.

Angelina Kim infuses the stage with energy and passion. Her dedication to storytelling through music has opened doors for both national and international performances and collaborations. While studying for her Bachelor’s degree at Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, Angelina was awarded the FW and EG Harmer Memorial Scholarship. She also received prizes for the John Curro Viola Prize in 2022 and the Basil Jones Sonata Prize in 2023. In 2023, she had the pleasure of performing one of her favorite viola concertos, the Bartók Viola Concerto, with the Queensland Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra.

Angelina has cherished every moment spent in AYO programs, creating music with fellow musicians and drawing inspiration from renowned conductors. She is looking forward to being a part of the 2025 flagship AYO, touring internationally to the Netherlands, Germany and Austria. In 2024, she had the privilege to tour with the Queensland Youth Orchestra, performing in Singapore, Austria, and Germany.

One of her most treasured opportunities was being Ensemble Q's Featured Young Artist in 2023, where she worked with some of the Australia’s finest musicians. Angelina began her studies at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) in 2024, studying with Caroline Henbest. During her first year, she has enjoyed a plethora of performing opportunities, including Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, collaborating with fellow musicians and ANAM Artistic Director Paavali Jumppanen on Schoenberg’s Ode to Napoleon, and performing under the baton of Brett Dean.

Noah is a dynamic young musician hailing from Bendigo, Victoria. He has performed side-by-side with most of Australia’s professional orchestras, and also as chamber musician and soloist at the Bendigo Chamber Music Festival and Port Fairy Spring Music Festival. He was the principal cello of the Australian Youth Orchestra in 2024. Having completed three years of study under Howard Penny at the Australian National Academy of Music, he is excited to take the next step as Fellow with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2025. His goal is always to connect and share with audiences and fellow musicians alike; he loves nothing more than being on stage and in the moment.

Tian Tian has completed his Bachelor of Biomedicine and a Diploma in Music at the University of Melbourne, and is currently completing his final year of the Doctor of Medicine. He has performed as a pianist in Australia and internationally, with his recitals broadcast on 3MBS and 4MBS. Tian Tian has appeared as soloist with several local orchestras, including the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.3, the Zelman Symphony Orchestra, the Melbourne University Biomedicine Students’ Orchestra, the University of Melbourne Medical Students’ Orchestra and Old Scotch Symphony Orchestra. He was the first medical student to appear as soloist with the nationwide Australian Medical Students’ Orchestra, performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in 2022. Tian Tian has been awarded numerous prizes in local and international piano competitions, including prizes for best recital, best performance of a work by Franz Liszt, and best performance of a Prelude and Fugue at the 2021 Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition. 

Beyond solo work, Tian Tian is a keen chamber musician; in 2018, he appeared with Wilma Smith and Friends in Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet, and Brahm’s Horn Trio in E Flat alongside international artists. Tian Tian is also an experienced orchestral string player, completing his LMusA on violin in 2014 with Leonid Zeyde. He is an active first violinist and violist in several community, university and doctors’ orchestras.

As a cellist, James plays with the Adelaide and Canberra Symphony Orchestras, the Australian Youth Orchestra, and appears regularly in solo and chamber recitals at embassies and venues around Canberra and further afield.

Alongside his music, James is completing his honours year in theoretical physics at the Australian National University and has just returned from Europe, where he performed in various international programs and festivals and completed an exchange semester at ETH Zürich in Switzerland. His music, physics, and mathematics studies have been supported by several scholarships, including the ANU Friends of the School of Music Performance Scholarship, the Ruth Pfanner Scholarship, and the Wesley Scholars program. He has also received notable awards such as the Erika Haas Prize and the Fankhauser Travelling Fellowship.

James has performed numerous concerti with university and community orchestras. His dynamic performance of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with the National Capital Orchestra in 2023 earned him “wild acclaim”, with reviewer Helen Musa of Canberra City News describing him as a “dynamo on the cello.”

Fiona Sargeant is a classical musician known for her exceptional talent as a viola player. She discovered her love for music performance while studying at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School. Fiona's further studies included chamber music and viola performance under Hermann Voss, Melos Quartet at the Hochschule für Musik und Dartstellende Kunst in Stuttgart

Fiona has had the privilege of studying under Ulrich Koch, Wolfram Christ, and Gérard Caussé. During her time in Germany, Fiona achieved the distinction of being a Finalist at the Maurice Vieux International Viola Competition.

Throughout her career, Fiona has held esteemed positions, including Principal Violist of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and the Det Jyske Ensemble in Denmark, as well as Associate Principal Violist of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, she was honoured to be a founding member of the viola section of the Australian World Orchestra, collaborating with renowned conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Simone Young, Sir Simon Rattle, and Alex Briger. Fiona's chamber music endeavours have seen her perform alongside esteemed musicians such as Emmanuel Ax and James Ehnes at the Melbourne Recital Centre. Notable festival appearances include performances with the Australian String Quartet and Seraphim Trio at the Port Fairy Festival, where she also showcased her talent in performing 'Harold in Italy' with pianist Piers Lane. Fiona has also participated in festivals such as the Schwetzingen Festspiele, the Oberstdorf Music Festival joining the Melos Quartet, and the Pablo Casals Festival in Puerto Rico.

Fiona's repertoire as a solo viola performer encompasses a wide range of works, including concertos by Bartók and Hoffmeister, as well as the Hummel Fantasy, Schubert Arpeggione, and Max Bruch's double concerto for viola and clarinet, which she has performed with orchestras in Stuttgart, Melbourne, including the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and Baden Baden Philharmonic. In addition to her performance career, Fiona has held various teaching positions at esteemed institutions such as the Australian National Academy of Music and the University of Melbourne.

Winner of the 1993 BBC Radio Two Young Musician of the Year, Yuri studied at the Royal College of Music in London.

Described by The Strad magazine as "a musician with lyrical talent and truly romantic temperament", Zhislin appeared as a soloist with the orchestras worldwide, including the BBC Concert Orchestra, the London Mozart Players, the Oxford Philharmonic, the Belgrade Philharmonic, the Queensland Symphony  and the Santiago de Chile Symphony among others. Yuri has worked with conductors including Fabio Mastrangelo, Olari Elts and Alex Walker.

In 2014, Zhislin made his debut at the legendary Carnegie Weill Hall in New York.

Yuri's chamber music partners have included Maxim Vengerov, Natalie Klein, Maria Joao-Pires,
Sergei Nakariakov and his wife Natalia Lomeiko.

He has made a number of recordings for Naxos, SOMM Recordings, Nimbus Alliance and Orchid Classics with Camerata Tchaikovsky string orchestra, of which he is an Artistic Director.

A CD by Camerata Tchaikovsky, founded by Zhislin in 2004, was chosen "BBC Music Magazine orchestral CD of the month" in April 2016 and in December 2021, their Christmas Without Words EP reached No.12 on the US Classical Billboard Chart.

Yuri has made a number of arrangements, including Glazunov's Saxophone Concerto arranged for viola and strings, described by The Strad as a "revelatory arrangement", and Christmas favourites for the Camerata Tchaikovsky Christmas EP album.

As a conductor, he has worked with orchestras in Russia, Spain and the UK. His recent appearance as a Guest conductor with the Bristol Ensemble at St George's Bristol has been described as "a concert wonderfully held together by Yuri Zhislin".

Zhislin is a professor of violin and viola at the Royal College of Music and gives masterclasses across Europe. He is also regularly invited as a Jury member and President of numerous International Violin Competitions.