Staff

Donald Armstrong (Violin – Week 1) is Associate Concertmaster of New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and an artist teacher at the New Zealand School of Music (NZSM). He completed a post-graduate diploma at Mannes College, New York, and a Masters degree at the New England Conservatory in Boston, studying violin with Masuko Ushioda and Josef Gingold, and chamber music with Louis Krasner, Eugene Lehner and Laurence Lesser. He has held the positions of Principal Second Violin of the Tivoli Sinfoniorkester in Denmark and Concertmaster of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice in France. He was Music Director of the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra (NZCO) from 1987 to 2004 and has appeared as soloist with the both NZCO and NZSO. He has conducted the NZCO as well as other New Zealand orchestras including “Hot Young Strings” a string orchestra made up of talented students from NZSM. He also performs regularly with his own chamber group, the Amici Ensemble. He plays a violin by Nicolo Gagliano of 1754.

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.

Eyal Kless (Violin – Week 2) born in Israel, completed his BA studies with honors at the Rubin Academy, Tel Aviv University, Israel, under his father, and Masters at the Academy fur Kunst und Musik, Vienna, Austria, under esteemed professors Reiner Kuchl, Michael Frischenschlager and Igor Ozim, winning numerous national and international awards. He has performed and taught throughout the world, fast establishing himself as a dynamic and versatile musician. A member of the Manchester Piano Quartet, he has also performed with colleagues such as Martin Rosco, Dr. John Oconor, Adrian Brendel. Eyal is a Professor at the Royal Northern College of Music, Chethams School of Music in Manchester and Tel Aviv Buchman-Mehata Academy. His students have won 1st prize in and are laureates of numerous international and national competitions. He gives lectures and masterclasses throughout the world including Ireland, Israel, USA, Germany, Italy, Austria and France. Professor Kless is regularly invited to be part of the Jury panel of international competitions.

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.

Kathryn Lucktenberg (Violin) is Associate Professor at the University of Oregon and Concertmaster of the Eugene Symphony (USA). Prior to joining the University of Oregon faculty in 1993, she was Concertmaster of the Honolulu Symphony for 11 seasons. A fourth-generation violinist, Lucktenberg entered the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia at age 15 studying with Jascha Brodsky, Jaime Laredo, and Ivan Galamian. She was a national winner in the competition arena and a semifinalist in the Indianapolis and Flesch International Competitions. She now serves on adjudicating panels, and regularly sends her own students to major competitions. She has performed widely in the western United States and Asia with concerts in Taiwan, Thailand, Korea, New Zealand and Hawaii. She has given recitals at Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center, the Musician’s Club of New York and has performed on the popular Bargemusic series in Brooklyn. In addition to solo engagements, Lucktenberg concertises extensively with the Oregon String Quartet and as a member of Trio Pacifica. She has recorded for CRI and Koch labels.

Kristina Zelinska (Violin – Week 1) 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 around New Zealand.

Kim Uhe (Feldenkrais®) is a certified Feldenkrais® practitioner, teaching group "Awareness Through Movement®" classes and individual "Functional Integration®" lessons on the Hibiscus Coast north of Auckland. She has for many years been involved in music education in New Zealand.

Sarah Watkins (Piano) is a founding member of NZTrio, Ensemble in Residence at The University of Auckland, and Lecturer in Piano at the School of Music. A graduate of the University of Canterbury, she holds 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) completed a MMus in Piano Performance with Bryan Sayer at the University of Auckland and a MMus in the Professional Accompanist's Course at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with Eugene Asti, Robin Bowman, Graham Johnson, and Susan Tomes. He is a staff accompanist and vocal coach at the University of Auckland. He has performed in New Zealand and Europe collaborating with singers, instrumentalists, choirs and orchestras.

All information is accurate at the time of publication. Management reserves the right to make changes as necessary without prior notice.