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Kevin A. Lefohn (Artistic Director / Violin) maintains an international career as recital soloist, chamber musician, pedagogue and arts administrator. He studied with Dorothy DeLay, Piotr Milewski, and Kurt Sassmannshaus at the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music (USA) and Kathryn Lucktenberg at the University of Oregon (USA). As an experienced chamber musician, he has studied with members of both the Emerson and the Tokyo String Quartets. His performance and teaching have earned international prominence, with performances, workshops, and masterclasses presented on tours throughout Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the United States, and South East Asia. He is a National Recording Artist for Radio New Zealand Concert. Much sought after as a teacher and adjudicator, he is dedicated to the technical and musical training of talented young string players and has served as a jury member of several international violin competitions. He was the founding director of the renowned Marama Strings Project at the University of Otago where he was Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Violin from 1998-2007. In 2009 he taught at the University of Oregon (USA) as visiting Professor of violin and is now the Executive Director of the Portland Youth Philharmonic in Portland, Oregon (USA).


Emma Barron (Violin - week 2) studied violin with Natalia Morozova at the Rotterdam Conservatorium of Music and with Jan Tawroszewicz at the University of Canterbury, completing a Bachelor of Music degree with first class honours in 1997. After graduating she undertook further study in Lubeck, Germany and in Italy. Emma was appointed to the first violin section of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in May 2002. Alongside a busy teaching schedule, Emma enjoys performing in chamber orchestras and smaller ensembles including the contemporary music group Stroma.


Professor Kurt Sassmannshaus (Violin) Violinist, teacher, and conductor, holds the distinguished Starling Chair at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. In 1987 he founded the Starling Preparatory String Project for exceptionally talented young string players. In September 2004 Professor Sassmannshaus premiered the website www.violinmasterclass.com, a groundbreaking internet site offering free video violin instruction. Strad Magazine called him the “King of the online violin tutorials”. With over a quarter million annual visits on this site, Prof. Sassmannshaus has easily become the most renowned violin teacher ever. In the summer of 2005 he founded the Great Wall International Music Academy in Beijing, an annual summer festival for young string soloists.


Vesa-Matti Leppänen (Violin – week 2) is Concertmaster of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and also teaches violin at the New Zealand School of Music in Wellington. Originally from Finland, he moved to New Zealand in June 2000. He studied at the Turku Conservatorium, in Turku, Finland, and then went on to study at the Sibelius Academy of Music in Helsinki. Further studies with Professor Yair Kless (Israel), Simo Vuoristo (Finland), and masterclasses with world-class soloists Ilya Kaler (USA) and Anatoli Melnikov (Russia) strongly influenced his playing. He is also active in the New Zealand chamber music scene as a member of 'Felix the Quartet' and the contemporary music group STROMA.


Martin Riseley (Violin – week 1) New Zealand violinist studied at Juilliard with Dorothy DeLay, where he completed Master of Music and Doctorate of Musical Arts Degrees. He subsequently became Concertmaster of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, where he performed and premiered a large number of concertos. He has played chamber music with some of the leading musicians of our time, including Pinchas Zukerman, Yo Yo Ma and John Kimura Parker. He is now Head of Strings at the New Zealand School of Music in Wellington.


Wilma Smith (Violin – week 1) is Concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and an avid chamber musician. Born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand, she studied in Boston with Dorothy DeLay and Louis Krasner at the New England Conservatory. She was first violinist of the Lydian String Quartet, winners of the Naumburg Award for Chamber Music and major prizes at the Evian, Banff and Portsmouth International String Quartet Competitions.  Invited to form the New Zealand String Quartet, Wilma was first violinist for five years, touring Australia for Musica Viva to considerable acclaim, before her appointment as Concertmaster of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Since moving to Melbourne she has formed the Munro/Smith/Berlin Trio and performed frequently with Ensemble Liaison.


Kristina Zelinska (Violin) born in Ukraine, began her violin study at the Kiev Special Music School and later continued studies at Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Kiev. She played with the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine and the National Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra touring Europe and Asia. She immigrated to New Zealand in 1999 and continued her study at the University of Canterbury with Jan Tawroszewicz – completing her BMusHons degree. In 2001 she took the position of third chair first violin with Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and in 2005 moved to Wellington to join the first violin section in the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. As well as playing in the NZSO Kristina enjoys playing chamber music and is involved in many chamber music projects throughout New Zealand.


Kim Uhe (Feldenkrais®) teaches The Feldenkrais^® Method on the Hibiscus Coast north of Auckland. She has been involved in music for many years and presently sings in a small choir


Sarah Watkins (Piano) is a founding member of NZTrio. She has been an official pianist for the Michael Hill International Violin Competition since its inception in 2001, and performs as a freelance player in both the NZSO and APO. After graduating from the University of Canterbury, Sarah earned both MM and DMA degrees in collaborative piano from the Juilliard School, New York. A US resident for fourteen years, Sarah was a staff pianist at Juilliard and Yale University, was coordinator of the collaborative piano program at the Music Academy of the West, and taught at (SUNY) Purchase College, New York.


Richard Liu (Piano), born in Taiwan, completed a MMus in Performance Piano at the University of Auckland with Bryan Sayers and a MMus in Piano Accompanying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Graham Johnson, Susan Tomes, Robin Bowman and Eugene Asti. He has performed within New Zealand and abroad collaborating with singers, instrumentalists, choirs and orchestras. These include recitals with soprano Morag Atchinson, soprano Katie von Kooten, soprano Carla Caramujo, counter-tenor Dean Sky-Lucas, flutist William Dowdell, flutist Julie Koiden, clarinettist Murry Kouri, Voices New Zealand, Auckland Chamber Choir, Key Cygnetures Choir, and concerto performances with Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Opus, Auckland Youth Orchestra and Auckland Symphony Orchestra. Previously a performance staff in piano and chamber music at the Academy of Music, he now works as a staff accompanist and vocal coach at the University of Auckland, pianist for Auckland Choral Society, as well as having a thriving private teaching studio.


Kirsten Simpson (Piano) graduated from the University of Canterbury with a MMus, studying with Diedre Irons. She studied at the Royal College of Music in London with Gordon Fergus-Thompson, John Blakely and Roger Vignoles, and graduated with a PGDip adv., sponsored by the Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Dame Malvina Major and Solti Foundations. She has performed with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Hayley Westenra, Dame Malvina Major, Sir Howard Morrison, Anna Leese, Natalia Lemeiko and Yuri Zhislin. Every year she accompanies on the Solti Te Kanawa Accademia Di Bel Canto in Italy. She has recently been awarded AMP and Adastra scholarships for further study.