VIOLIN

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 twelfth 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.

CELLO

Although New Zealand remains the place of birth and childhood to him, Matthias is a well traveled cellist, and a frequent conspirator of musical shenanigans since the spritely age of three. After over two decades of assimilating the four-stringed beast, his passion for the cello has only grown, and his odyssey to bring what approximates the sound of music to the stage, ever prolonged. His relationship to music was a natural affair, growing up in a household with six bundles of musical talent older than he, and with of course the two remarkable facilitators of it all. The nine of them together played and toured the globe, entertaining the worlds of Folk, Celtic and beyond, before separately pursuing varying paths of profession and livelihood.

Sally-Anne Brown was the first of the legends to ignite the wick and guide him through the madness of the classical music world. Next came James Tennant, the fierce and fluffy, who never settled for good, rather pushed the boundaries beyond their limits. It was with him that Matthias graduated at the University of Waikato with his Bachelor degree at the age of seventeen. World renowned Pieter Wispelwey, the untameable, is the current culprit for feeding the fire, as Matthias continues his studies at the Robert Schumann Hochschule für Musik in Düsseldorf.

Matthias can be found on stage throughout Europe, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, and more, and is a seasoned performer as both a soloist and chamber musician, performing a large repertoire including several contemporary works commissioned for him. He is also a member of the Ares Trio, along with two absolute warriors, Andrea D’amato, Piano, and Carlotta Malquori, Violin.

PIANO

One of Australia’s most exciting young musicians, Laurence Matheson is in demand across the country as a soloist, chamber musician and collaborative pianist. He studied at the Australian National Academy of Music with Timothy Young as one of their youngest ever students and became a Fellow of the Academy in 2016 after winning the Directors’ Prize.

Laurence is regularly broadcast on ABC Classic and 3MBS FM, and has appeared as soloist with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria and the Australian Ballet, as well as in recital at the Melbourne Recital Centre and Sydney Opera House. His festival appearances include the Bendigo, Dunkeld, Brisbane Baroque, Music by the Springs and Melbourne Festivals and he was invited to perform alongside many of Australia’s greatest musicians at the Melbourne Recital Centre’s 10th Anniversary Gala concert. He records for Decca Classics and ABC Classic.

Laurence has a particular passion for chamber music and has performed with the Aurora Ensemble, Anthony Marwood, the Australian String Quartet and Kathryn Stott, while his regular duo partners include Suyeon Kang, Grace Clifford, Dale Barltrop, Sophie Rowell, and Tim Young. He is also a mentor and pianist for many of Australia’s promising young violinists, including Decca Artist Christian Li and Edward Walton, as well as appearing in recital with some of Australia and the world’s top musicians.

Aside from piano, Laurence has also play-directed multiple concerto projects from the keyboard, is an accomplished harpsichordist and was commissioned to write for Victorian Opera’s 2012 production of Cinderella during studies with Richard Gill.