Concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra since 2013, Andrew Haveron has been described by The Sunday Times as ‘…a charismatic and brilliant soloist who needs fear no comparison.’

A laureate of some of the most prestigious international violin competitions, Andrew studied in London at the Purcell School and the Royal College of Music. Andrew is a highly respected soloist, chamber musician and concertmaster. As a soloist, Andrew has collaborated with conductors such as Jiří Bělohlávek, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Roger Norrington, David Robertson, Stanislaw Skrowachewski and John Wilson, performing a broad range of well-known and less familiar concertos with many of the UK’s finest orchestras.

His performance of William Walton’s Violin Concerto with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2015 was nominated for a Helpmann Award. Andrew’s playing has also been featured on many film and video-game soundtracks, including Disney’s Fantasia game, which includes his performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the Fields. Andrew has also appeared recently in recitals around Australia with pianists Anna Goldsworthy, Piers Lane and Simon Tedeschi.

In 1999 Andrew was appointed first violinist of the internationally acclaimed Brodsky Quartet. A busy schedule saw the quartet perform and broadcast in their unique style all over the world. Amassing a repertoire of almost 300 works, they enjoyed collaborations with outstanding artists and commissioned many new works from today’s composers, and were famed for their barrier-breaking cross-genre projects. Andrew recorded more than fifteen albums with the quartet, receiving numerous industry awards. Andrew has also appeared with other chamber groups such as the Nash and Hebrides ensembles, the Logos Chamber Group, Kathy Selby and Ensemble Q.

Andrew is also in great demand as a concertmaster and orchestra director, and has worked with all the major symphony orchestras in the UK and many further afield. In 2007 he became concertmaster of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, broadcasting frequently on BBC Radio and enjoying many appearances at the BBC Proms including the famous Last Night. Joining the Philharmonia Orchestra in 2012 Andrew also led the World Orchestra for Peace at the request of its conductor Valery Gergiev, and again in 2018 at the request of Donald Runnicles. In 2004 Andrew received an honorary Doctorate from the University of Kent for his services to music.

He plays on a violin made in 1757 by GB Guadagnini; a generous loan to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra by Vicki Olsson for Andrew’s use.

Norwegian born violinist, Elise Båtnes is the first concertmaster of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, a post which she has held since 2008. Prior to Oslo she was first concertmaster of both WDR Köln and the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

She first played with the Oslo Philharmonic as a soloist when she was 10 years old under the baton of Maestro Mariss Jansons.

Elise is in great demand as a guest concertmaster all over Europe. Recently including: Chamber Orchestra of Europe; London Symphony Orchestra; Teatro Real Madrid; Philharmonia Orchestra and City or Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. She has also been a jury member for: La Maestra and Malko conducting competitions; and the Sibelius and Princess Astrid violin competitions.

Away from orchestral playing, she has won a Norwegian Grammy and a Spellemannprisen for chamber music recordings with the Vertavo String Quartet, with whom she also won 1st prize in the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition. Other solo recordings on the LAWO label include the Bartók and Prokofiev violin sonatas with the pianist Håvard Gimse.

Elise is a professor of violin at the Norwegian Academy of Music. She plays on a Stradivarius violin The Arditti, dated 1689, generously on lifetime loan from Dextra Musica Norway.

German-born Tobias Breider has been Principal Violist of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra since 2011. He previously held principal positions in prestigious German orchestras such as the Hamburg State Opera under Simone Young, the Rhine Opera Düsseldorf and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. As Guest Principal Viola he performed with the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, the Radio Orchestras of Vienna, Berlin and Cologne as well as the Qatar Philharmonic, the Las Palmas Philharmonic and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

As a concerto soloist, Tobias has performed with the SSO at the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Town Hall, the Sydney Domain and Parramatta Park. Further solo appearances include performances at City Recital Hall in Sydney, the Melbourne Recital Centre and Griffith University in Brisbane. Tobias’ recital engagements have taken him to Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales.

Sought after as a chamber musician he collaborates regularly with Australia's finest musicians and ensembles, including the Australia Ensemble, Selby & Friends, Ensemble Q, Wilma & Friends and the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra. Tobias has performed at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, UKARIA24 and the Coriole, Oberon and Blackheath Festivals. He has been a featured guest artist at the Sanguine Estate and Bendigo Festivals since their inceptions.

Internationally, Tobias has performed at chamber music festivals in the US, Germany, Austria, the UK, South Africa and New Zealand. As part of his longstanding interest in interdisciplinary collaboration Tobias presented a duo program with Australian actor and director John Bell at the 2024 Blackheath Festival. He is also an enthusiastic exponent of the Ritter viola - a 19th-century oversized viola alta - and has recently presented a lecture-recital on the subject for the Wagner Society of NSW.

As a viola teacher Tobias has held engagements with the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh (UK), the Shanghai Academy, Stellenbosch University (South Africa), the Sydney Conservatorium and the Australian National Academy of Music. He has recently been appointed to the faculty of The University of Melbourne Conservatorium of Music where he will commence his role as Senior Lecturer in Viola Performance in 2027.

British violist Richard Waters is the recently appointed Principal Viola of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. In addition to his orchestral duties, he maintains an active freelance career that includes orchestral, solo and chamber music performances.

Previously, Richard served as Co-Principal Viola with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and has frequently acted as a guest principal with esteemed ensembles such as the Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, and Aurora Orchestra. His notable solo engagements include performing Strauss' Don Quixote with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Vladimir Jurowski and Kristine Blaumane. He is excited to be performing Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2027, a piece he has cherished since childhood, playing it with his sister on violin and his mother on piano.

An avid chamber musician, Richard has appeared at prestigious venues worldwide, from Wigmore Hall in London to Iguazu Falls in Brazil. His performances have garnered significant acclaim, with critics praising him: ‘The highlights were the solo passages of Richard Waters’ viola (…) elegantly played, delicately balanced’ (Bachtrack) and ‘the solos, led by principal viola Richard Waters, seemed especially unearthly’ (The Arts Desk).

Richard began his musical studies with Patricia Noall in Cornwall, enduring regular travel sickness on his way to lessons - Patricia couldn’t believe he still wanted to learn! He furthered his education at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Mark Knight, earning a Concert Recital Diploma, and then at the Royal Academy of Music with Paul Silverthorne, where he received a DipRAM. Richard was elected an associate of the Royal Academy of Music in 2018.

Cellist Louisa Tuck is the Solo Cello of the Oslo Philharmonic, a position she took up late 2015. Since 2026, alongside her job in Oslo she is additionally the principal cello of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. Prior to this she spent eight years as Section Leader cello of the Royal Northern Sinfonia.

Louisa has collaborated for many years with pianist Anna Tilbrook, enjoying a varied programme of duo to larger ensemble repertoire. Other recent UK based chamber music has been with The Nash Ensemble and folk artist Kathryn Tickell OBE and her group The side.

As of January 2023, Louisa has been appointed Professor of Cello at Barratt Due Institute in Oslo. She was awarded Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London, FRAM in 2025 for her services to Music.

In 2019, as a soloist with the Oslo Philharmonic in Strauss Don Quixote, Louisa featured on a recording with Principal Conductor Vasily Petrenko. Recorded on the LAWO label. This was named a Gramophone ‘Editors choice’.

'For Don Quixote Petrenko follows the score’s lead in casting his orchestra’s superb principal cello, Louisa Tuck, as the Knight. Her playing is beautifully integrated and superbly eloquent – the hush and tenderness of the final minutes is especially moving...'
Hugo Shirley, Gramophone magazine.

Louisa plays a 1745 Nicolo Gagliano cello, kindly on loan from Dextra Musica Norway.

Described as an exhilarating performer with faultless technique and fearless command of the piano, Australian based pianist Konstantin Shamray enjoys performing on an international level with the world’s leading orchestras and concert presenters.

In 2008, Konstantin burst onto the concert scene when he won First Prize at the Sydney International Piano Competition. He is the first and only competitor to date in the 40 years of the competition to win both First and People’s Choice Prizes, in addition to six other prizes. He then went on to win First Prize at the 2011 Klavier Olympiade in Bad Kissingen, Germany, and, he was awarded the festival’s coveted Luitpold Prize for ‘outstanding musical achievements.’

Since then, Konstantin performs extensively throughout the world. In Australia recent and future highlights include engagements with the Sydney Symphony (with Umberto Clerici) Australian Chamber Orchestra, West Australia Symphony (with Dmitri Matvienko) Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (with Andrew Litton) Tasmania Symphony (with Otto Tausk) Queensland Symphony (with Benjamin Northey) and the Dunedin Symphony (with Umberto Clerici).

Konstantin has also enjoyed highly successful consecutive season national tours with Musica Viva with players of ANAM directed by Sophie Rowell, and most recently with Avi Avital. Outside of Australia, he has performed with the Russian National Philharmonic, the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Moscow Virtuosi, Orchestre National de Lyon, Prague Philharmonia, Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra and the Calgary Philharmonic.

Chamber music plays a strong role in Konstantin’s musical career and collaborations include engagements with the Australian String Quartet, Richard Tognetti, Satu Vanska, Li-Wei Qin, Kristian Winther, Daniel Muller-Schott, Jeroens Berwaerts, Kristof Barati and Andreas Brantelid to name a few. He is a firm favourite at the Ukaria Cultural Centre appearing frequently each season. Konstantin is also a regular guest artist at the Adelaide Festival, the International Piano Series and the Melbourne Recital Centre. He performs frequently for Piano+ and was appointed their Artistic Director of their OutWest Festival. Konstantin is also Senior Lecturer in Piano at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music at the University of Melbourne.