Faculty & Artistic Leadership

Learn from Australia's Finest

Coaching and mentorship from internationally acclaimed professional musicians across Australia's leading ensembles.

Artistic Director & Founder

Adele Ohki

Violin

Violinist and educator specialising in advanced string pedagogy and chamber music, with an international performance career spanning Australia, the United States, and Europe.

Head of Strings, Newington College
Acting Director of Strings, Barker College
Music Academy of the West (festival artist)
Australian Opera · Omega Ensemble · Australian Haydn Ensemble
AMEB Examiner · Sydney & Ryde Eisteddfod Adjudicator

Adele Ohki is an Australian-born violinist, educator, and arts leader whose international career spans Australia, Europe, and the United States. She has performed as soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player with the Australian Opera Orchestra, Australian Haydn Ensemble, Omega Ensemble, National Symphony Orchestra of Sweden, and the Boston Opera and Ballet orchestras, and has appeared at leading festivals including the Music Academy of the West.

A student of Charles Castleman at the Eastman School of Music, Adele holds postgraduate degrees in modern and baroque violin performance from Northwestern University and Boston University. She is a former soloist of the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM).

Adele is Founder and Artistic Director of the Sydney Chamber Music Institute, which connects emerging musicians with leading professional artists through mentorship, ensemble training, and innovative performance experiences. Her teaching develops independent, collaborative musicians through a rigorous, artist-led approach to ensemble playing, and she has held senior teaching and leadership roles at leading Sydney schools. She has also contributed as a guest artist within El Sistema-inspired programs.

Upcoming engagements include performances with the Hourglass Ensemble at the Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House, and with Emergence at ACO on the Pier, as well as guest speaker at the Australian National Band and Orchestra Conference (ANBOC) 2026, presenting Leading with the Baton: Teaching Leadership from the Concertmaster Chair.

Distinguished Faculty

Simon Cobcroft

Cello

Principal Cello, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (2014–2023). Founding member of the Lyrebird Trio. Performed at Aldeburgh, Salzburg, and Pacific festivals.

Simon has held positions of Associate Principal Cello with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Sub-Principal Cello with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. He is a graduate of the Queensland Conservatorium and the Australian National Academy of Music, and has been a frequent guest performer with London's Philharmonia Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony, and Denmark's Esbjerg Ensemble. In 2016 he was awarded the Adelaide Critics Circle Prize for his performance of the Elgar Cello Concerto.

Rebecca Herman

Cello

British cellist and Meaker Fellow at the Royal Academy of Music. Studied with Professor Josephine Knight. Founding member of the Castalian Quartet.

Bex won major awards from the Countess of Munster Musical Trust and Help Musicians UK. Her fellowship at the Royal Academy included the 12-month loan of a 1692 'Segelman' Stradivarius cello. Her fellowship year culminated in the performance of "eSACHERe", a set of twelve solo cello pieces commissioned for the 70th birthday of Paul Sacher.

Vatche Jambazian

Piano

Juilliard-trained pianist. Principal Pianist, Omega Ensemble. Academic Lecturer, Australian Institute of Music. Performed at Carnegie Hall and Sydney Opera House.

Sydney-born, Vatche completed his Master of Music at The Juilliard School. He was awarded 2MBS Young Performer of the Year, was a finalist in the ABC Young Performer of the Year, and a prize-winner at the Los Angeles International Piano Competition. He has been featured on ABC Classic FM and performed with baritone David Greco and the Orava Quartet.

Skye McIntosh

Violin · Artistic Director, Australian Haydn Ensemble

Founder and Artistic Director of the Australian Haydn Ensemble. Specialist in baroque and classical period violin. Regular member of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra.

Skye has appeared as Principal 2nd Violin for Pinchgut Opera, has been principal 2nd violin with the Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra, and was a regular member of The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra between 2008–2014. She has a wide range of experience in Historical Performance, having worked with distinguished performers such as Catherine Mackintosh, Stefano Montinari, and Monica Huggett.

Peter Clark

Violin · NZSQ

Joined the New Zealand String Quartet in 2024. Former Principal Violin, Omega Ensemble. First violinist of ACO's Inspire Quartet. Carnegie Hall debut at age twenty.

Peter has performed as concertmaster with New Zealand Opera, Sydney Chamber Opera, Victoria Opera, and Royal New Zealand Ballet. He has appeared as Associate Concertmaster of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Principal Second of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Dublin. He is passionate about the intersection of artistry with music's potential as a force for good.

Tobias Breider

Viola · Principal, Sydney Symphony Orchestra

Principal Viola, Sydney Symphony Orchestra since 2011. Former Principal Viola with Hamburg State Opera, Rhine Opera Düsseldorf, and Konzerthaus Berlin.

As a soloist with the Sydney Symphony, Tobias has performed at the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Domain, Parramatta Park, and Sydney Town Hall. A sought-after chamber musician, he regularly collaborates with ensembles such as the Australia Ensemble, Selby & Friends, Ensemble Q, and the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, and appears at festivals throughout Australia. As a pedagogue, Tobias has 20 years of experience teaching individual viola students, coaching chamber music, and tutoring orchestral repertoire.

James Eccles

Viola

Sydney-based violist performing with Opera Australia, the Australian Haydn Ensemble, Pinchgut Opera and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. Principal Viola, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.

After several years studying and working in Germany, James returned to Australia to perform with many of the country's leading ensembles, including the Sydney Dance Company. Known for his versatility, he has specialised across early music, jazz, rock, pop and world, experimental and classical repertoire, appearing at Australia's leading arts festivals, among them the Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Wangaratta Jazz Festivals. As a champion of new Australian music, James has premiered, commissioned and created many new works as violist with Ensemble Offspring, as Director and violist of The Noise String Quartet, and as Artistic Director of Aurora Festival. He holds a Master of Arts in Classical String Performance and a Graduate Diploma in Arts Management, and is a graduate of ANAM. Alongside his performing work, he currently runs the Music Program at Forest Lodge Public School and conducts ensembles at Forest Lodge and St Mary's Cathedral College.

Alexander Yau

Piano

Juilliard-trained pianist. Soloist with the Royal Philharmonic and Queensland Symphony Orchestras. Lecturer at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

A versatile musician who works as chamber musician, vocalist, clarinettist, conductor, composer and arranger, Alexander has appeared as concerto soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Rachmaninov's Third, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in the First, and on a major Australian tour with the SBS Youth Orchestra in the Second. Winner of the Sydney Conservatorium Concerto Competition, he went on to perform Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 2 at the Conservatorium Gala Concert, and has taken prizes at the Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition, the Australian International Chopin Piano Competition and the Australian National Piano Award. He has performed at Alice Tully Hall in New York, Troldhaugen (Grieg's home in Norway), Yamaha Ginza in Tokyo and the City Recital Hall in Sydney, and gave the US premiere of Grete von Zieritz's rediscovered Piano Sonata (1928) at Lincoln Center's FOCUS festival. In 2022 he released a debut album with clarinettist Deborah de Graaff on the ABC Classic label. Alexander is a Lecturer at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. In 2023 he was assistant conductor for Madama Butterfly at Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour. He completed his Master of Music at The Juilliard School under Professor Matti Raekallio, having graduated with First Class Honours from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Artistic Patron

Dene Olding AM

Violin

Recognised as one of Australia's most outstanding violinists, Dene Olding is the first violinist of the Goldner String Quartet and the Australia Ensemble, and Concertmaster Emeritus of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Concertmaster Emeritus, Sydney Symphony Orchestra
First Violinist, Goldner String Quartet
Founding member, Australia Ensemble (UNSW)
Laureate, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International Violin Competition
Juilliard School graduate (scholarship student of Ivan Galamian)
Member of the Order of Australia

As a soloist, Dene has worked with all of the Australian Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, performing over forty concertos with conductors including Edo de Waart, Sir Charles Mackerras, and Vladimir Ashkenazy. He gave the Australian premiere of Lutoslawski's Chain 2 with the composer conducting, and has premiered violin concertos by Carl Vine, Ross Edwards, and Richard Mills. He previously held the position of Leader and Director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra and has served as Artistic Director of the Mostly Mozart Festival at the Sydney Opera House. His recording of Ross Edwards' Maninyas won the 1994 ARIA Award for Best Classical Recording, and his Elgar recordings with the Goldner Quartet were selected as Gramophone magazine's Record of the Month. He attended the Juilliard School from age fourteen as a scholarship student of Ivan Galamian, graduating with a Master of Music and the Morris Loeb Prize, and in 1985 became a Laureate of the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International Violin Competition.

Learn from Australia's Finest

Adele Ohki

Distinguished Faculty

Simon Cobcroft

Rebecca Herman

Vatche Jambazian

Skye McIntosh

Peter Clark

Tobias Breider

James Eccles

Alexander Yau

Dene Olding AM

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