Sydney Mozart Society

                     Photograph: Wendy McDougall

Kathryn Selby, Piano

Hailed by the Australian press as a ‘formidable talent’ and ‘Australia’s pre-eminent chamber music pianist’, Miss Selby is the Artistic Director and founder of both the popular nationally touring Selby & Friends concert series and A Little Lunch Music at Sydney’s City Recital Hall. She was honoured with being appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia, receiving the ‘AM’ on Australia Day 2013. She is the recipient of both the prestigious Churchill and Australia Council Fellowships. She began her piano studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and then attended the famed Curtis Institute of Music and Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia, and earned her Master’s degree from New York’s Juilliard School.

Miss Selby has performed with the American Chamber Orchestra and was a founding member of the Philadelphia Orchestra Chamber Group. Those she has been guest artist with include the Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Pops Orchestra, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Saint Louis, San Francisco Philharmonic, Hartford Chamber Orchestra, the ACO, and the Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, and West Australian Symphony Orchestras. She has performed at the Athens, Spoleto, Caramoor, Aspen, Marlboro, Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville, ASQ Festival in Victoria, Sydney Mozart and Sydney Festivals. She has performed with the Tokyo, Endellion, Goldner and Australian String Quartets amongst others.

In 1988 Ms Selby was officially appointed the first Musician-in-Residence at Macquarie University, Sydney. She held this position until 1992 at which time she merged her Residency into the creation of an ensemble in residence at Macquarie University - the popular Macquarie Trio which toured and recorded from 1992 - 2006.

Miss Selby has recorded extensively including an all-Gershwin disc for the NAXOS label, a solo piano recital disc for the ABC Classics label, a chamber CD with Canberra Wind Soloists and another with artists from the Australian Festival of Music, and with Macquarie Trio, a series of discs for the ABC Classics labels of Beethoven and Piazzolla piano trios and the complete piano trios of Schubert, Mendelssohn, Brahms and Dvorak.

Andrew Haveron, Violin

Andrew Haveron joined the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as Co-Concertmaster in 2013, arriving in Sydney with a reputation as one of the most sought-after violinists of his generation. With his unrivalled versatility, he is highly respected as a soloist, chamber musician and concertmaster.

As a soloist, he has played concertos with conductors such as Colin Davis, Roger Norrington, Jiří Bělohlávek, Stanisław Skrowaczewski and John Wilson, as well as David Robertson, performing a broad range of well-known and less familiar repertoire with many of the UK's finest orchestras.

As first violinist of the internationally acclaimed Brodsky Quartet (1999-2007), his work included collaborations with artists ranging from Anne-Sofie von Otter and Alexander Baillie to iconic crossover work with Elvis Costello, Björk, Paul McCartney and Sting. He recorded more than 15 albums with the quartet, many of which won awards such as Diapason d'or and Choc du Monde de la Musique. He has also appeared with numerous other chamber groups, such as the Nash and Hebrides ensembles, the Logos Chamber Group, Kathy Selby, and the Omega Ensemble.

Andrew Haveron is in great demand as a concertmaster and director, and has worked with all the major symphony orchestras in the UK and many others around the world. In 2007 he became concertmaster of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and in 2012 he joined the Philharmonia Orchestra. He also led the World Orchestra for Peace at the request of Valery Gergiev, and he has been the leader of the John Wilson Orchestra since its inception. 

Born in London in 1975, Andrew Haveron studied at the Purcell School and the Royal College of Music and in 1996 was the highest British prize winner at the Paganini Competition for the past 50 years. In 2004 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Kent for his services to music. 

            Photograph (edited): Keith Saunders

 Julian Smiles, cello

Julian Smiles has been a central figure in cello performance and teaching in Australia for over 25 years. He began his professional career when he was appointed Principal Cellist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra at the age of 19 and rapidly gained prominence as a chamber musician in performances for Musica Viva, Kathryn Selby and Friends and at the Huntington Estate Music Festival. In 1991 he was invited to join the Australia Ensemble@UNSW, and in 1995 formed the Goldner String Quartet with colleagues Dene Olding, Dimity Hall and Irina Morozova. With these two groups he has performed to critical acclaim at major venues and festivals throughout the world, made over 30 CDs on leading labels, and premiered many works by Australian and international composers.

He is also active as a soloist, having performed with such orchestras as the Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra Symphony Orchestras, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Willoughby Symphony and the Australian, Sydney and Canberra Youth Orchestras. Recent artistic collaborations include such musicians as Piers Lane, Daniel de Borah, Bernadette Harvey, Dimity Hall and James Crabb and he appears regularly as a guest artist with Selby and Friends.

In 2007 Julian was a member of the international jury for the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, and has since 2004 played as a guest musician performing chamber works with semi-finalists in the Sydney International Piano Competition of Australia.

Since his years with the Australian Chamber Orchestra he has also remained in demand as a guest principal cellist, performing in that role with the Sydney, Canberra and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras and with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra.

Julian grew up in Canberra, studying with Nelson Cooke at the Canberra School of Music. He also benefited during this time from mentoring by such luminaries as Charmian Gadd, Richard Goldner and John Painter. Following completion of his degree he undertook post graduate studies with renowned teacher Janos Starker at Indiana University.

As a product of his studies and experience as a performer Julian has developed a school of cello playing based on thorough and ongoing analysis of musical and technical issues that sees him sought after as a teacher and chamber music coach. He has held teaching positions at the Australian Institute of Music and Canberra School of Music, and in 2013 was appointed as Lecturer in Cello at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Julian plays on a Lorenzo Ventapane cello made in 1827.

Samuel Jacobs, horn

Samuel Jacobs is the Principal Horn of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, having recently moved to Australia after spells as Principal Horn of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London.  While in the UK, Samuel’s freelance work included performing as guest Principal Horn with most of the leading symphony orchestras; whilst in this hemisphere Samuel’s highlight was the epic project of the 2016 Ring Cycle in Melbourne on Principal Horn.

Samuel has made numerous commercial recordings for the film and pop industries, including albums with Sting, Sam Smith, Heaven’s Lieutenants and Florence & the Machine, and soundtracks for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Interstellar, The Martian and Spectre, as well as scores for television and video games, including the Halo franchise.  Samuel has also recorded on the LSO Live label and on numerous live BBC Radio 3 broadcasts, and as Principal Horn on the Deutsche Grammophon, Dutton Epoch and RPO record labels.  Personal career highlights include performing with Sting at the Hollywood Bowl, New York Met and MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and touring America, Canada and Europe playing Principal Horn with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra on their Star Wars In Concert tour.

Samuel’s solo experience includes concertos by Haydn, Mozart, Hoffmann, Franz Strauss and Richard Strauss, as well as Schumann’s Konzertstuck on Principal Horn.  Samuel has recorded John Rimmer’s Horn Concerto with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and his performance of Mozart’s 4^th Horn Concerto with Sinfonia Viva was broadcast on Classic FM.  Samuel also toured this concerto around the country with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in 2016, and toured Richard Strauss’s 1^st Horn Concerto with the NZSO in 2019.

Previous teachers include Richard Kennedy, Beccy Goldberg, Julian Plummer, Martin Owen, Michael Thompson and Richard Watkins; and Samuel has given masterclasses at the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music. Samuel taught horn at the New Zealand School of Music at Victoria University Wellington, and is now teaching at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.  Outside of music, Sam has been an extra in the hit Bollywood movie ‘Blue’ and appeared on four UK television quiz shows, including Countdown.