Born in Wellington, Donald Armstrong joined the NZ Symphony Orchestra at the age of 19. After subsequent violin studies at Mannes College, New York, and New England Conservatory in Boston he was appointed Principal Second Violin of the Tivoli Sinfoniorkester in Denmark and soon after become Co-Concertmaster of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice in France. He returned to New Zealand in 1987 as Associate Concertmaster of the NZSO, a position he still holds. Donald Armstrong was Music Director of the NZ Chamber Orchestra from 1987 to 2004. His incisive leadership was a major force in creating the dynamic and exciting style of the NZCO heard both in live concert and on its many commercial recordings. He has continued his passion for chamber music and performs regularly with his own chamber group, the Amici Ensemble, now in its 39th year of concerts. He has recently become Co-Artistic Director of the Martinborough Music Festival with long-time friend and colleague Wilma Smith. As a conductor Donald has conducted at the Aroha String Quartet Chamber Music Festival, The Akaroa Music Festival, Mt Buller Chamber Music Festival (Australia), NZ Chamber Orchestra, Wellington Youth Orchestra, Manawatu Sinfonia and Hutt Valley Orchestra. Donald is Resident Conductor of the Kapiti Concert Orchestra. Donald is interested in preserving and advancing New Zealand’s musical heritage. He is actively involved with Arohanui Strings+ and has seen first-hand the difference that music can make in young people’s lives. As a violinist, teacher, conductor and mentor he encourages young instrumentalists while continuing his quest for the wild, wacky and wonderful in music.

Peter Andreas Nielsen is a well-known face on the Danish and Scandinavian Music scene. He has played concerts and festivals throughout Europe and the US and is active on the Danish chamber music scene with his own piano quartet as well as often sharing the stage with prominent musicians. Peter Andreas also works regularly with the different chamber ensembles in Denmark and as a guest principal in several orchestras. Peter Andreas has won multiple prizes and awards and has received grants from foundations such as the Augustinus and Bikuben Foundations. He was also a part of Orchestra of St. Luke’s Young Artists Series in New York City. After studies with Profs. Serguei Azizian and Tim Frederiksen at the Royal Danish Academy of Music as well as with Nicholas Mann at the Manhattan School of Music he finished his Soloist Diploma studies with his final recital in March 2022 under the tutelage of Profs. Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider and Peter Herresthal. He has also studied chamber music with members of both Juilliard and Tokyo String Quartets. Peter Andreas is a keen performer of modern works, and that has resulted in a number of premieres, most notably amongst them a piece for solo violin, “Falling – fantasia”, written to him by the renowned Danish composer Bent Sørensen. In addition to this, Peter Andreas is the co-founder and artistic director behind the Danish chamber music festival Kammermusik i Præstø. The festival makes an effort to shorten the distance between stage and audience and to make classical music more accessible and approachable and has just celebrated its second edition this July with fourteen musicians and 8 concerts in just four days. Aside from his performing career Peter Andreas has also acted as assistant to Prof. Peter Herresthal at the Royal Danish Academy of Music from 2020 till 2022. Peter Andreas is playing on a Lorenzo Storioni violin from 1770 kindly lent to him by the Augustinus Foundation.

Nelson born cellist Lavinnia Rae has resided in London for six years, following her undergraduate studies in New Zealand. In London she completed a Master of Performance with Distinction at the Royal College of Music with Richard Lester. As a Leverhulme Arts Scholar, she completed a MPerf with Distinction in Orchestral Artistry in association with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, under the tutelage of LSO principal cellist Rebecca Gilliver. Lavinnia is currently on trial for tutti cello with the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast, and trialled for tutti cello with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in 2023. In the U.K. she regularly freelances with the London Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra. At home in New Zealand, Lavinnia has been on contract with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and performed in the Auckland Philharmonia, and Orchestra Wellington. This past year she appeared as acting principal cello of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. Lavinnia has attended several prestigious international music festivals including acceptance into the festival orchestra of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival in Germany, Chipping Campden Festival Academy Orchestra, and Hellensmusic Festival in the U.K. Further included is the Music Academy of the West, and Castleman Quartet Program in the United States. Her chamber music highlights are performing at the Hellensmusic Festival alongside Tom Poster, Maya Iwabuchi, and Lawrence Power, and attending the three week intensive String Quartet Seminar mentored by the Takács Quartet, at the Music Academy of the West. Additionally, Lavinnia was previously the cellist in the NZSQ’s Troubadours Quartet in 2018.

Amalia is one of Aotearoa's finest violinists and is kept incredibly busy performing with NZTrio and leading orchestras all around the world. She's joining us for the weekend fresh off performing Bartok's 2nd Violin Concerto with the NZSO, so we're incredibly lucky and excited that she's able to share her expertise with our young musicians.

Anne Loeser studied violin at the Frankfurt Musikhochschule and joined the first violin section of the NZSO in 2000. Before emigrating to New Zealand, Anne played in the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn and Hesse State Theatre Orchestra in Wiesbaden. She was also a member of the award-winning Orfeo Quartet which won a scholarship for a year’s post-graduate study with Sandor Devich of the Bartok Quartet in Budapest. With the Quartet she toured throughout Europe and in South America. During her teenage years Anne's principal violin teacher and mentor was Prof. Helmut Heller, Wilhelm Furtwängler's concertmaster in the Berlin Philharmonic. Since then she has worked with many inspiring musicians, among them Norbert Brainin of the Amadeus Quartet, Thomas Kakuska of the Alban Berg Quartet, Hermann Voss and Peter Buck of the Melos Quartet, Shmuel Ashkenasi of the Vermeer Quartet and members of the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Anne's love for chamber music has seen her play in various ensembles, ranging from baroque on authentic instruments to modern, throughout Europe and New Zealand. Anne is a member of the Koru Piano Trio and concertmaster of the Days Bay Opera Orchestra. She has played with Aroha Quartet on many occasions. Anne was the musical director and leader of Camerata, a Wellington based chamber orchestra dedicated to performing Haydn’s early symphonies. She has been a regular guest concertmaster of the Hawke’s Bay Orchestra and more recently guest concertmaster for Dunedin Symphony Orchestra. Anne is an active performer on baroque violin, leading the Orion Quartet and performing the complete Biber Rosary Sonatas several times, and including a very well received RNZ Concert broadcast. Anne has played with NZ Barok and performed with the Darmstädter Barocksolisten and L’arpa festante Munich. In Wellington she led the Renaissance Ensemble for Eternity Opera’s production of Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo” and she plays with the historical performance group The Night Watch. As soloist Anne has appeared in various cities in Germany, Russia and New Zealand.

Born and raised on New Zealand’s West Coast, violinist Manu Berkeljon began her musical studies in her mother’s studio before continuing with Isidor Saslav and Jan van den Berg. She made her solo debut with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra at age fifteen, having joined the orchestra the previous year. After completing a Master of Music (Performance) from the Sydney Conservatorium Manu continued her violin studies with Janet Davies. Manu’s orchestral career has encompassed contracts with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Since 2011 she has been Associate Principal Second Violin with Dalasinfoniettan in Sweden, where she has also acted as Associate Concertmaster. A passionate chamber musician, Manu has performed across New Zealand, Australia and Scandinavia. Highlights include performances at Vinterfest International Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music New Zealand national tours, concerts with Dalecarlia String Quartet in Japan and a Composer Portrait concert of Anthony Ritchie in Sweden. She was guest violinist with NZTrio for their series SOAR. Her recordings with the Dalecarlia Clarinet Quintet (Fjärran, Atoll Records) and Klara Kollektiv (Nära, Rattle Records) both received critical acclaim — Fjärran winning the New Zealand Music Award for Classical Album of the Year and Nära shortlisted for the same award. As soloist, Manu has performed with orchestras including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Cape Philharmonic Orchestra (South Africa), and a number of ensembles in Sweden and Australia. A devoted advocate for contemporary music, she has premiered several works written for her, including Anthony Ritchie’s Violin Sonata No. 3. Manu continues to balance an active performing life with a love of teaching, collaboration, and creative projects that cross musical boundaries.

One of Aotearoa's most versatile violinists, Arna Morton is a passionate performer, educator, and composer, equally comfortable as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral leader, improviser, and commercial event entertainer. After completing Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the New Zealand School of Music, Arna earned her PhD in Violin Performance from the University of Melbourne, where her research explored a personal, authentic, and collaborative approach to interpretation, with a significant focus on Britten’s Violin Concerto, which she performed with the University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 2016 after winning the University of Melbourne Conservatorium of Music’s Concerto Competition. Arna was a prize-winner at the 2016 Gisborne International Music Competition and joint-winner of the 2014 NZ National Concerto Competition, leading to performances of Szymanowski’s First Violin Concerto and Ravel’s Tzigane with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, where she has served as Principal Second Violin since her appointment in 2021. Chamber music holds a special place in Arna’s career, appearing first as an emerging artist at the 2016 Mimir Chamber Music Festival with Melbourne’s Curve Quartet, followed by the 2017 Adam Chamber Music Festival as part of the Troubadour Quartet. She is a core member of CSO’s Arvida Quartet, performing regularly around Ōtautahi Christchurch, and in 2017, she co-founded the Morton Trio with her husband, horn player Alex Morton, and pianist Liam Wooding. In 2019, the trio toured the UK with Pettman/ROSL Arts, later performing several times across Aotearoa with Chamber Music New Zealand, and released their debut album (2024, Atoll Records) featuring Arna’s original composition ‘Summer’ alongside Brahms’ Horn Trio Op. 40 and her own arrangement of his Piano Trio Op. 8 for horn trio. Arna has appeared as a Guest Artist with the New Zealand String Quartet and performs on a 1900 Joseph Hel violin, generously on loan from the CSO Foundation. Though deeply rooted in classical music, she thrives equally in commercial settings, regularly switching over to her electric Spur violin for luxury weddings, corporate events, and cabaret shows.