Kirsty Hilton

Kirsty Hilton was born in Sydney in 1976. She began the violin at the age of 5 with the Suzuki Method before beginning lessons with Alice Waten at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music when she was 7.

She attended the Sydney conservatorium of Music High School where she was awarded numerous prizes and then completed her undergraduate studies with Alice Waten at the Australian Institute of Music.  During this time Kirsty worked with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and was concertmaster of the Australian Youth Orchestra.  In 1998 she was a postgraduate student at the GuildHall School of Music and Drama under David Takeno.

In 1999-2001 Kirsty was a member of the prestigious Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra where she performed under such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle, Mariss Jansons, Seiji Ozawa, Bernard Haitink and Lorin Maazel.  Kirsty then had a contract with the Berlin Philharmonic for a year before taking up the position of assistant principal 2nd violin in the Symphonie Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks in Munich under the direction of Mariss Jansons.  She performs regularly with these orchestras as well as with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Camerata Salzburg.

Kirsty took up the position of Assistant Concertmaster with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in September 2007 and since August 2009 has been Principal 2nd violin.

Carl Pini

Carl Pini is a musician of international reputation. He began his career in London in 1960 as Leader of the London String Quartet and from 1968 spent six years in Sydney forming the Sinfonia of Sydney and the Carl Pini Quartet with whom he made three world tours. He also conducted the Sydney, South Australian and West Australian Orchestras and conducted the English Chamber Orchestra at the 1974 Edinburgh Festival.

In 1975 he was appointed Concertmaster of the Philharmonia in London and during the next six years appeared as soloist in concertos of Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart and Prokofiev with Riccardo Muti, Sir Adrian Boult and Zdenek Maçal.

In 1980 Carl Pini was appointed Assistant Conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and from 1983 to 1988 he was Artistic Director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, leading the ACO on its Bicentennial Tours of the USA and Europe. He has conducted several seasons of opera, including La Boheme, Don Pasquale, Julius Caeser and Le Cinesi.

Carl Pini was Concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony from 1990 until 1995. In 1992 he premiered the Richard Mills violin concerto and since 1990 has conducted the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra on several occasions.
In 1998 the Carl Pini Quartet performed the complete cycle of Beethoven Quartets. He plays with various chamber music groups including Pini, Hazelwood & Friends which perform an annual concert series at Turramurra Uniting Church.

Carl Pini is an Honorary Member of the Royal College of Music in London, and has taught violin and conducting at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, Melbourne and Monash Universities and the Conservatorium of Music and the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney. He is currently the Artistic Director for the Riverina Summer School for Strings.

Susan Collins

Australian violinist Susan Collins has been lecturing at the University of Newcastle Conservatorium since January 2007.

From 1992 until 2001, Susan enjoyed a rewarding collaboration with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. In 2003 she was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal for “contribution to Australian society through opera and ballet”. From that time until the present Susan has shared her time between Europe and Australia. In 2005 she was awarded the degree of Doctor of Creative Arts through the University of Wollongong.

Susan received the Diploma of the State Conservatorium of Music (Sydney) before going to Berlin where she studied at the Hochschule der Künste under Thomas Zehetmair in 1989.  Susan received a Master of Music degree from Indiana University at Bloomington in 1991.  Prior to commencing tertiary study in Australia Susan was the recipient of a scholarship from California State University and from the American String Teachers Association, enabling a year of study in the USA.  Upon returning to Australia, she was awarded a number of scholarships and awards available to young Australian musicians.  Amongst these was a Victorian Arts Council Scholarship to participate in Master Classes with Pinchas Zukerman in 1988.  Susan pursued and completed her Masters Degree at Indiana University’s School of Music at the recommendation of Henryk Szeryng to Joseph Gingold. Susan’s primary field of study for this degree was Violin Performance, with a secondary field of Jazz Studies. She received a major grant from the Australia Council for this purpose.

During her years of study, Susan enjoyed a wide range of orchestral and chamber music experience.  As a student at Sydney Conservatorium she was Concertmaster of the National Ensemble. Whilst studying in Berlin, she was a member of Ensemble Oriol.  As a student at Indiana University, she was a member of that institutions distinguished Early Music Ensemble, working and performing with artists including Monica Huggett and John Holloway.

In 1992 Susan auditioned for and was awarded the position of Deputy Concertmaster of the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. While holding this position Susan acted regularly as Concertmaster for the AOBO. She also accepted engagements as Guest Concertmaster for the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and the State Orchestra of Victoria.

In 2002, Susan worked as Guest Concertmaster of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. She also appeared as soloist in “Opera in the Vineyards” with Yvonne Kenny, performing works including Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasie and Zigeunerweissen.

Since 2003 Susan has been performing with the Berlin Chamber Orchestra, with which she has also appeared as soloist. She has performed the Brahms violin concerto with Willoughby Symphony Orchestra in Sydney, and has enjoyed the opportunity to work with Symphony Australia as violin soloist for conductor-training modules with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

In addition Susan has recorded many times for ABC FM, and 2MBS FM radio stations in live performance broadcasts as well as studio recorded recitals. She has appeared as soloist with orchestras including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and has performed as recitalist throughout Australia and the USA, and in Europe. She also enjoys playing chamber music from early Baroque to contemporary music.
 
In 2005 Susan appeared twice in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Sunday Live series, performing duo recitals with cellist Sue-Ellen Paulsen in Hobart, and with pianist Paul Virag in Newcastle. The Hobart recital was rebroadcast as one of the “Best of Sunday Live” segments.

In 2006 Susan began working with a newly formed Piano Trio, with cellist Sue-Ellen Paulsen and pianist Duncan Gifford. She was also engaged as soloist for two programs with Orchestra Victoria, performing works by Mozart and Chausson. Susan is engaged again to work with Symphony Australia and the ASO as violin soloist for a conductor-training module in 2008, playing both Brahms and Tchaikowsky violin concertos.

Susan has edited the complete works for violin and piano by the Australian composer Raymond Hanson. She has recorded these works with pianist David Miller for a CD being released by the Tall Poppies label. These projects were undertaken as part of a Doctor of Creative Arts degree at the University of Wollongong.

Throughout her performing career Susan has been a dedicated teacher. She has taught at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She has taught scholarship students from Pymble Ladies’ College and Ravenswood School and maintained for many years a personal commitment to a private studio of advanced students. Successes of her students include many eisteddfod and concerto competition prizes throughout Sydney, and a number of her students have now entered the music profession.

Sun Roh

Sun Roh currently, the second concertmaster of the Symphony Orchestra St.Gallen in Switzerland. Ms Roh was born in Seoul, Korea. At age 12, she made her debut in Seoul, Korea performing Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4 with the Greenpeace Orchestra, conducted by Kenneth Kiesler. Ms. Roh was then invited to study at the Korean National Institute of the Arts and at the Yae-Won School of Arts with Prof. Nam-Yun Kim.

In 1995, she emigrated to Australia and performed in numerous halls as a soloist. She performed Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Harding. At age 17, she won 1st Prize at the National Youth Concerto Competition, playing Prokofiev Violin Concerto in g minor with the Queensland Youth Orchestra, taking Overall Winner Prize at the Kurringai Concerto Competition, and took 2nd Prize at the Gisbourne International Music Competition in New Zealand.

From 2000 to 2004, Ms. Roh was awarded a full four-year scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Mateja Marinkovich and graduated with first class honors bachelor. During her studies, she won the Alfred J. Waley Prize and the David Martin/Florence Hooton Concerto Prize, and had the honor of performing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto as a soloist with the Royal Academy of Music Concert Orchestra. Later on, she was invited to perform Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with the Horsham symphony Orchestra in England conducted by Benjamin Pope.

In August of 2006, Ms. Roh was awarded a Masters degree from University of Sydney, studying with Prof. Goetz Richter.

In November 2009, Ms Roh obtained her Soloist Diploma from the Menuhin Academy in Switzerland studying with Oleg Kaskiv.

Since 2007, Ms. Roh has been a member of the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra and has worked with world leading conductors including Zubin Metha, Charles Dutoit, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mikhail Pletnev and Sir Andrew Davis. The orchestra toured throughout the USA, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland and France with Charles Dutoit.

In 2007, Ms. Roh was invited as a soloist performing a concerto movement, specially written for her and for 100th anniversary for Edward Grieg with the St.Petersburg Academy Capella Orchestra and gave recitals in Sheremetive Palace in Petersburg and at a national museum in Moscow, Russia.

Ms Roh has attended various music festivals, such as, Kuhmo chamber music festival, Academie de Musique Lausanne, Accademia Musicale Chigiana and Verbier festival. She had many master classes with finest musicians, such as, Lord Menuhin, Giuliano Carmignola, Philippe Graffin, Pierre Amoyal, Bruno Canino, Michaela Martin, Alberto Lysy, Christoph Richter, James Buswell and many others.

Since 2009, Ms Roh is working full time as a second concertmaster of Symphony Orchestra St.Gallen in Switzerland. She was invited to play the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante by as a soloist with her orchestra in St.Gallen in March, 2011.

Marianne Broadfoot

Marianne has been a member of the Sydney Symphony first violins since 2008. She is co-currently completing her PhD in Music Performance with Wanda Wilkomirska at the Sydney Conservatorium where she holds an APA Scholarship. She gained her Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours from the Canberra School of Music in 2004, studying with Barbara Jane Gilby and Alice Waten.

Marianne has performed extensively as a contract and casual player with the Australian Chamber Orchestra since 2006 when she was chosen for their Emerging Artists Program and last year was invited to play second violin in the Australian Chamber Orchestra string quartet in a concert tour of North Queensland.

In 2004 and 2005 Marianne studied with Igor Ozim at the International Summer Academy in Salzburg with the assistance of the E.V.Llewellyn Memorial Fund. Marianne was the winner of the Kendall National Violin Competition in 2002 and gave a recital tour of the region with Edward Neeman as part of the prize. In 2004 Marianne was awarded first prize in Australian Concerto Competition in Townsville and later that year was awarded the 2nd prize at the Gisborne International Music Competition in New Zealand.

In 2003, Marianne performed with The Queensland Orchestra in the ABC Young Performer's String Final and in 1999, as recipient of a Young Artists Award, recorded a movement of Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2 with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Marianne has also appeared as soloist on two occasions with both the Barrier Reef Orchestra and the Melbourne Youth Orchestra, as well as with the Sydney Conservatorium Orchestra, Melbourne University Orchestra and the Canberra Chamber Players, performing works by Beethoven, Bruch, Edwards, Mozart, Prokofiev and Szymanowski.

Marianne is the first violinist with the Enigma Quartet who regularly play at the Art Gallery of NSW and have also been broadcast on ABC Classic FM for their Sunday Live program and given a concert tour of the South Island in New Zealand. She is also a tutor at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music High School and has played in masterclasses with Pinchas Zukerman, David Takeno, Anthony Marwood, Vivane Hagner, Charles Castleman, Rudolf Koelman, Valerie Oistrakh and Jack Liebeman.