MARIANNE BROADFOOT (winner)
Marianne is currently completing her PhD in Music Performance with Wanda Wilkomirska at the Sydney Conservatorium. She graduated from the Canberra School of Music in 2004 with First Class Honours, studying with Alice Waten and Barbara Jane Gilby. Marianne joined the Sydney Symphony first violins in 2008.

Marianne was an Emerging Artist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in 2006 and has since performed and toured extensively, both nationally and internationally with the orchestra. This year she was invited to perform as second violinist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra Quartet on a concert tour of North Queensland.

She has been the recipient of an Australian Postgraduate Award and the E.V.Llewellyn scholarship, which enabled her to study with Igor Ozim at the International Summer Academy in Salzburg in 2004 and 2005.

Marianne was the winner of the Kendall National Violin Competition in 2002 and the Australian Concerto Competition on 2004. In the same year she was the 2nd prize winner in the Gisborne International Music Competition in New Zealand.

In 2003, Marianne performed with The Queensland Orchestra in the ABC Young Performer's String Final. As recipient of a Young Artists Award in 1999, Marianne performed with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. She has performed as soloist with the Sydney Conservatorium Orchestra, Melbourne University Orchestra, Melbourne Youth Orchestra and the Barrier Reef Orchestra.

She is currently first violinist with the Enigma Quartet who performed on Sunday Live for ABC Classic FM and toured New Zealand in 2008. She is a tutor at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music High School and has played in masterclasses for Pinchas Zukerman, David Takeno, Anthony Marwood, Vivane Hagner, Rudolf Koelman and Valerie Oistrakh.
June 2010

NEELA DE FONSEKA
Neela has been studying in Berlin with Professor Nora Chastain for the last year, and has performed with the "Kaleidoskop" chamber orchestra in Berlin (a new group which specialises in modern and contemporary music) and also the American "Absolute Ensemble" conducted by Kristjan Jaarvi. She has completed a 12 month fellowship with the Deutsche Oper Orchestra in Berlin and will be starting a 2-year contract with the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester in September 2007.

After completing her Diploma from the University of the Arts in February 2006 she embarked on a Konzertexamen Diploma (further postgraduate solo studies), studying still with Nora Chastain, and having successfully finished that course, she has recently started a 1st Violin job with the Deutsche Oper in Berlin.

Neela plays regularly with the Absolute Ensemble and also works with the Radio Symphony Orchestra and the opera orchestra in Berlin. She has been awarded a generous scholarship from the University of Sydney-- the Eleanor Woods Memorial Scholarship-- for which she will be awarded $40,000 over two years to support the completion of her study overseas.

The Absolute Ensemble will be touring in New Zealand in March and later that month playing in Sarajevo with Balkan Folk cult figure Goran Bregovic.

Through her work with Absolute Neela has discovered a definite leaning towards fusion music, and different styles generally. She took a course in improvisation over the Summer and plan to develop that side of her playing as much as possible.
June 2009

HIROAKI YURA
Hiroaki Yura (born July 21, 1981) is a Japanese violinist who is the founder and Artistic Director of the Eminence Symphony Orchestra in Sydney, Australia.

The founder of the Eminence Symphony Orchestra, the Eminence Audio Production company, and a violin virtuoso, Hiroaki has extensive solo experience ranging from recitals to solo concerto performances. He has played for heads of state, international delegates and officials such as Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Ambassadors and Consulate Generals to many nations.

Hiroaki has performed with exalted and revered musicians such as Prof. Chikashi Tanaka (violin), Maestro John Harding (violin), Alexev Yemstov (piano), Alexander Gavriluk (piano), and has had a wealth of experiences with top composers around the globe. Hiroaki Yura has performed as a soloist with most of the major Chinese Orchestras including the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Hangzhou Symphony Orchestra, and Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Nanjing Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Youth Orchestra, Woollahra Symphony Orchestra, and debuted in Japan with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra.

Hiroaki has won numerous competition internationally and locally, including the 7th Etoh Toshiya International Violin Competition for Young Violinists, was a prize winner at the Gisbourne International Music Competition in New Zealand, received multiple scholarships to study at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and has received scholarships with a number of other institutions.

Hiroaki has been critically acclaimed by many leading artists such as Pinchas Zukermann, Salvatore Accardo, and Wanda Wilkomirska.

He now directs all orchestral recording for Interactive Entertainment and Films. Amongst his notable credits are Diablo III, Soul Calibur IV, and The Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk.
July 2010