Turnovsky Jubilee Ensemble

Victoria Jones

1966 & 1967 Chamber Music Contest Participant

Victoria Jones

1966 & 1967 Chamber Music Contest Participant

NZSO 1979 - 2012

A hard musician to overlook, Victoria is known for her vivacious ever-changing hair colour and brilliant bass playing on the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra stages for more than 30 years!

She took part in the Chamber Music Contest as a cellist but admits that a high point in her music career was switching from cello to bass in 1977.

On this tour Victoria plays double bass in Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No 3 in G and Orchestral Suite No 2 in B minor, Britten's Simple Symphony Op 4 and Lilburn's Allegro for Strings and Diversions for Strings.

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Wilma Smith

1972 Chamber Music Contest National Finalist

Wilma Smith

1972 Chamber Music Contest National Finalist

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster 2003-2014 / Founding member of the New Zealand String Quartet

"Wonderful friends playing music we all love for a celebration that means so much to all of us - that's a recipe for some serious chemistry!"

Contest Alumnus, Wilma Smith leads the Ensemble on their tour around New Zealand with 15 concerts from Whangarei to Invercargill. Wilma combines her love of the symphonic repertoire with a busy chamber music life that all began when she took part in the Chamber Music Contest as a teen.

"My involvement in Chamber Music New Zealand's secondary school's Contest reinforced the idea that playing with other people is the most fun one can have in music."

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Euan Murdoch

1973 - 1977 Chamber Music Contest Participant

Euan Murdoch

1973 - 1977 Chamber Music Contest Participant

Director of Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music

As a cellist and chamber musician Euan has recorded widely and appeared in all the major New Zealand festivals and in concert halls throughout the world.

"Like tens of thousands of other Kiwis since 1965, I participated in the Contest during my teens and vividly recall these experiences in full stereo and technicolour."

Euan makes a guest appearance on the Turnovsky Jubilee Ensemble tour performing in four of the concerts.

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Gillian Ansell

1972 Chamber Music Contest Participant

Gillian Ansell

1972 Chamber Music Contest Participant

Founding and current member of the New Zealand String Quartet

Gillian loves the chocolate and red wine colour of the viola and was inspired to become a chamber musician by playing some of the greatest music ever written.

Throughout her musical career Gillian has been regularly involved in the Chamber Music Contest as adjudicator and coach.

"I always try to set a good example to my students - you'll have to ask them if I succeed!"

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Justine Cormack

1983, 1984 & 1986 Chamber Music Contest Winner

Justine Cormack

1983, 1984 & 1986 Chamber Music Contest Winner

Current member of NZTrio

"Everyone in the Turnovsky Jubilee Ensemble project has a profound love for chamber music and a belief in the power of collaboration. The end result will be hugely powerful and moving."

Justine is not only one third of NZTrio, she also regularly performs as a recitalist and concerto soloist. Her Contest wins as a teen were in a group with pianist Sarah Watkins. It was the beginning of a life-long relationship as the two now share the stage with Ashley Brown in NZTrio.

"We'll be bringing together so much experience and representing the 50 years of music making through the Contest."

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Bridget Douglas

1985 - 1988 Chamber Music Contest Participant

Bridget Douglas

1985 - 1988 Chamber Music Contest Participant

NZSO Principal Flute

"The Contest was my first ever experience doing chamber music properly and I loved it – I was hooked from that moment on."

Bridget joins the Turnovsky Jubilee Ensemble in selected concerts on the tour to perform Bach's Orchestral Suite No 2 and Mozart's Flute Quartet No 1.

While Principal Flute with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra she loves performing chamber music and has toured with the duo Flight and wind quintet Zephyr.

"The intimacy and direct connection to the other chamber players and to the audience is such a unique experience - it feeds my soul musically! "

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Ashley Brown

1986 & 1988 Chamber Music Contest Winner

Ashley Brown

1986 & 1988 Chamber Music Contest Winner

Current member of NZTrio

"The Mendelssohn is a really rich work packed with thrills - it'll be a privilege to perform, and a unique experience for people to witness."

Ashley is looking forward to bringing Mendelssohn’s exuberant Octet to life on the Turnovsky Jubilee Ensemble tour.

Before studying music in Canterbury, Yale Auckland and London, and becoming a professional musician, he made it to the National Finals and won the Contest twice!

"The Alumni tour promises to be an intense collaboration of experience, wisdom, fire and chops."

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Lara Hall

1995 & 1996 Chamber Music Contest Winner

Lara Hall

1995 & 1996 Chamber Music Contest Winner

Current member of NZ Chamber Soloists

Music has been a part of Lara’s life for many years. She began violin at age three and gave her first concert at age five, television appearance at age seven and orchestra concerto recital at the age of nine.

Now Lara is concertmaster of the Opus Chamber Orchestra and a member of NZ Barok as well as playing in the NZ Chamber Soloists. She says her experience in the Chamber Music Contest was a key moment in her early music years.

"It was preparing for the Contest that really fostered my love of chamber music."

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Victoria Simonsen

1999 Chamber Music Contest Winner

Victoria Simonsen

1999 Chamber Music Contest Winner

Philharmonia Orchestra, UK

"I'm thrilled to return to NZ for this tour. The Chamber Music Contest played a very important role in inspiring me to become a professional musician."

After graduating from the University of Auckland, Victoria studied in the UK. She has since spent her time as a professional musician in Europe and London.

"There is nothing like our Chamber Music Contest in Europe. My group had a real sense of camaraderie in the Contest, having worked together intensely over the year to arrive at that point. We are all still in touch today even though we are spread across the globe!"

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Natalie Lin

2005 Chamber Music Contest Winner

Natalie Lin

2005 Chamber Music Contest Winner

"I'm looking forward to performing Britten's Simple Symphony and Lilburn's Diversions. I was introduced to them in high school and they made a huge impression on me, so it'll be a lot of fun revisiting and mastering them again!"

Not only was Natalie the first Kiwi in a decade to be a finalist in the 2013 Michael Hill International Violin Competition, she also took the Audience Choice award in the prestigious violin competition.

"I'm excited to reunite with fellow kiwis making their mark in music. The fact that we all share the experience of being Contest Alumni makes us interconnected in an especially meaningful way."

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Bryony Gibson-Cornish

2007 & 2008 Chamber Music Contest Winner

Bryony Gibson-Cornish

2007 & 2008 Chamber Music Contest Winner

"This ensemble is literally a who's who of the New Zealand music scene - it's an honour to join such incredible musicians onstage!"

A two-time Contest winner, Bryony has degrees from the University of Canterbury, and from New York's Juilliard School. She is a member of the New York Baroque Inc. and principal violist for the Juilliard415 Ensemble.

"The Mendelssohn Octet is an emotional journey you can never forget. I can't believe he was younger than I am now when he wrote it!"

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Matthias Balzat

2013 Chamber Music Contest Winner

Matthias Balzat

2013 Chamber Music Contest Winner

"The thing I am most looking forward to on this tour is sharing these wonderful works around New Zealand."

Matthias is the youngest member of the Turnovsky Jubilee Ensemble and makes a guest appearance on the tour in six concerts. Since winning the Contest in 2013 at age 14 he has gone on to study at the University of Waikato and was joint winner of the National Concerto Competition.

"The music we're performing is a great contrast, from late baroque music by Johann Sebastian Bach all the way to Douglas Lilburn's 20th century music for strings."

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Victoria Jones

Victoria Jones

Wilma Smith

Wilma Smith

Euan Murdoch

Euan Murdoch

Gillian Ansell

Gillian Ansell

Justine Cormack

Justine Cormack

Bridget Douglas

Bridget Douglas

Ashley Brown

Ashley Brown

Lara Hall

Lara Hall

Victoria Simonsen

Victoria Simonsen

Natalie Lin

Natalie Lin

Bryony Gibson-Cornish

Bryony Gibson-Cornish

Matthias Balzat

Matthias Balzat

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