Robin Wilson (Australia)

Violin

Internationally regarded pedagogue, Dr. Robin Wilson is Head of Violin at the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and the Valdres Festival in Norway. His students are the winners of many national and international competitions, including the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition. In 2018 he was honored with a National Award from the Australian String Teachers Association for outstanding services to string teaching in Australia. Robin has performed widely throughout Australasia, the USA and the UK. Solo and chamber recordings appear on Decca, ABC Classics, Ode, Vexations840, and VDE-Gallo. He is a member of the acclaimed ensemble Ironwood and the Australian Octet, is the former leader of the ARCO Chamber Orchestra and has appeared as guest violinist with many leading Australian ensembles. Robin’s research was awarded the prestigious 2014 Geiringer Prize from the American Brahms Society. He has presented lectures at leading universities throughout the USA and the UK and given masterclasses throughout Australasia, Singapore, the UK and the USA. He studied with Alice Waten and Janet Davies in Sydney and at the New England Conservatory of Music, USA. He plays a violin by the Gagliano family, made in Naples in 1784.l

Kristy Chen (USA)

Violin

Kristy Chen, 17, began playing the violin at the age of 6, and studies with Philadelphia Orchestra violinist Hirono Oka. She has performed as a soloist with the Temple University Orchestra, Sinfonietta Nova, the Kennett Symphony and various other orchestras in the Pennsylvania area. She has also performed in masterclasses taught by Ilya Kaler, Philippe Graffin, Nadja Salerno Sonnenberg, Stefan Jackiw, and Qian Zhou as well as quartet masterclasses taught by the Takacs, Borromeo and Johannes Quartets. Her diverse violin achievements have opened doors for her at concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, the Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center, the Harpa Concert Hall in Iceland, the Haydn Esterhazy Hall in Austria, and beyond. Most notably, Kristy has been named a 2018/19/20 National YoungArts Foundation Winner.l

Mitzi Gardner (Australia)

Violin

Australian violinist Mitzi Gardner is in her second year of study holding a Helen Worswick Scholarship at The Royal Academy of Music in London, under the tutelage of Levon Chilingirian. She previously studied with Professor Goetz Richter and Janet Davies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in the Rising Stars Program. Mitzi’s performance highlights have been performing as a soloist in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall for “Encore”, and performing Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No.1 in D Major with the Queensland Youth Orchestra under the baton of John Curro. Mitzi has also recently enjoyed playing under the baton of Sir Mark Elder, performing an all Berlioz program with the Royal Academy Symphony Orchestra. Most recently, Mitzi competed in the finals of the Australian Music Foundation Competition and was awarded a generous scholarship.l