Second Violins

Marina Marsden: Co-Principal 2nd Violin

Marina Marsden studied violin at the Sydney Conservatorium with Alice Waten. She then studied for a Performer’s Diploma in Vienna with Gerhard Schulz (Alban Berg Quartet) with the assistance of an Australia Council Grant, a Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee award and Austrian Government stipends. While in Europe she also had lessons with Josef Suk, Sándor Végh, Valery Klimov, and Valery Gradov. 
 
In 1990, Marina Marsden was appointed as a Concertmaster of the Bruckner Orchestra in Austria, and was Associate Concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra from 1992 until 1994. As soloist, she has performed with the Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra symphony orchestras, and the Adelaide Chamber Orchestra.

In 1997, Marina Marsden travelled to Austria and the USA on a Churchill Fellowship, and in 1998 she toured Vietnam for Musica Viva as a member of Ku-ring-gai Virtuosi. She was also a founding member of Grevillea Ensemble.

Marina Marsden received a 1999 Australian Music Centre National Award for her CD of Margaret Sutherland’s chamber music on the Tall Poppies label, and has also recorded for Move Records and ABC Classics. She also edited Margaret Sutherland’s Violin Sonata for Currency Press (2000).

Marina Marsden is also active as a chamber musician. She performed at the 2008 Kowmung Music Festival in Oberon and at the 2009 Bowral Autumn Festival with members of the Australia Ensemble. She is a founding member of the Linden String Trio with violist Justine Marsden and cellist Timothy Nankervis. Engagements have included performances for the ABC Classic FM Sunday Live Series and Sydney Mozart Society.

Marina Marsden was appointed as Principal Second Violin with the SSO in 2006, prior to which she was the orchestra’s Assistant Concertmaster for eleven years.

Kirsty Hilton: Assistant Concertmaster

Kirsty Hilton was born in Sydney in 1976. She began playing violin at the age of five as a Suzuki method student before beginning lessons with Alice Waten at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, aged seven. She attended the Sydney Conservatorium High School where she was awarded numerous prizes, before completing her undergraduate studies with Alice Waten at the Australian Institute of Music.

During this time she worked with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and was Concertmaster of the Australian Youth Orchestra. In 1998 she was a postgraduate student at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under David Takeno.

From 1999 to 2001 Kirsty Hilton was a member of the prestigious Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, where she performed under such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle, Mariss Jansons, Seiji Ozawa, Bernard Haitink and Lorin Maazel. She was then contracted by the Berlin Philharmonic for a year, before being appointed Assistant Principal Second Violin in the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich, under the direction of Mariss Jansons. She still performs regularly with these orchestras as well as with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Camerata Salzburg.

Kirsty Hilton took up the position of Assistant Concertmaster with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in September 2007 and was appointed Principal Second Violin in 2010.

Emma West: A/Associate Principal

Emma West was born in Adelaide in 1971, and started violin lessons with Alita Larsens at the age of eight. She studied at the Elder Conservatorium with Beryl Kimber and Ronald Woodcock, graduating with First Class Honours in 1992. With the help of the Ernest Llewellyn Memorial Grant and the S.A Government Arts Department, she studied at Indiana University, Bloomington with Professor Franco Gulli and at State University of New York, Purchase with Professor Isaac Malkin. She also attended Meadowmount Summer String School.

An active chamber musician and soloist, she has performed at several music festivals including Camden Haven and Kowmung, and at the Australian National Museum. She toured Queensland and the Northern Territory with guitarist Karin Schaupp, cellist Trish O’Brien and the Piazzolla Project in 2006, and has also performed with the Sydney Soloists, Ensemble Offspring, and in concerts for ABC Classic FM. She has collaborated with musicians including Dene Olding, Michael Dauth, Cho Liang Lin, Kees Boersma and Roger Benedict, and with colleagues from the Sydney Conservatorium including Gerard Willems and Phillip Shovk.

In 1993, Emma West won the Adelaide Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition and was a string finalist in the ABC Young Performers Awards. Her concerto performances have included Bruch Violin Concerto No.1 with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No.1 with the Elder Conservatorium Orchestra, and she was one of the soloists in Malcolm Arnold’s Concerto for Two Violins, also with the ASO.

Emma West has twice received the Sydney Symphony Friends Scholarship, enabling her to study with Boris Belkin at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana (Siena) in 2000, and with David Takeno and baroque violinist Lucy van Dael in 2004.

Emma West teaches at the Sydney Conservatorium and tutors for the Australian Youth Orchestra, Sydney Youth Orchestra, and the Riverina Summer School for Strings.

Prior to her appointment as Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Sydney Symphony in 1997, she played with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. From July 2004 to July 2006 she was Acting Principal Second Violin of the Sydney Symphony.

Jennifer Hoy: A/Assistant Principal

After beginning violin studies as a student of the Suzuki Method at the age of four, Jennifer Hoy competed with success at numerous regional competitions in New South Wales.

She is a graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where she studied with Goetz Richter. Her undergraduate years encompassed chamber music performances at the Barossa International and Camden Haven Festivals, short-term study with the Alban Berg, Vertavo, and Australian string quartets, and international touring with the Sydney Conservatorium Chamber Orchestra, Australian Youth Orchestra, and Camerata Australia.

After graduating with First Class Honours, Jennifer Hoy undertook a Master of Music degree with Alice Waten at the Australian Institute of Music and was appointed to the First Violins of the Sydney Symphony in 2001.

Jennifer Hoy has participated in masterclasses at the Mozarteum Salzburg, Domaine Forget, Orford Music Sessions and the summer school of the Köln Hochschule für Musik in Montepulciano, studying with David Takeno, Mihaela Martin, Lorand Fenyves, and Maciej Rakowski.

In 2004 she undertook a six-month secondment as Assistant Principal Second Violin for the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra in Germany, and in 2006 she worked with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra as Guest Assistant Concertmaster, participating in their tour to China and leading the WA Opera season of Nabucco.

Jennifer Hoy has performed and recorded for groups as diverse as the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Schubert Society, Silverchair, CODA, the Seymour Group, and The Whitlams. She has been on the staff of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music since 2001 and is in demand as a teacher, adjudicator, and tutor for organisations such as the Sydney Youth Orchestras and the Sydney Conservatorium High School.

Maria Durek: Second Violin

Maria Durek was born in Poland and studied with Professor Stanislaw Lewandowski at the Academy of Music in Katowice. Her first professional engagement was with the Orquesta Sinfónica Maracaibo in Venezuela.

Having spent two years in South America, Maria Durek returned to Poland and completed her Master’s degree, graduating with honours. Following her studies she was appointed to the second violin section of the Polish Radio Orchestra in Katowice.

In 1977, she was appointed to the position of Principal Second Violin with the Nuremburg Philharmonic Orchestra, where she worked for two years. Following this, she lived in Brazil for eight years, having won a position as concertmaster with the Minas Gerais Symphony Orchestra in Belo Horizonte. During this time she also worked as a guest concertmaster in the Municipal Theatre in Rio de Janeiro for a season with the Bolshoi Ballet, as well as performing as a soloist with various Brazilian orchestras and chamber ensembles. 

Maria Durek was appointed professor of violin at the Universidade Federale de Minas Gerais in 1983, where she worked before moving to Australia at the end of 1986.

Maria Durek joined the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 1987.

Emma Hayes: Second Violin

Emma Hayes began playing the violin at the age of three with Hiroko Primrose. She received her AMusA in 1988, and commenced her Bachelor’s degree at the Canberra School of Music the following year. She studied with Miwako Abe and graduated with Distinction in 1992. 

In 1991, Emma Hayes was a finalist in the Adelaide Violin Competition, and in 1992, was the ACT finalist in the Wendkart Competition. In the same year, she was awarded a Big Brother Scholarship, which she used to further her studies in London and Manchester. 

Emma Hayes was a member of the Australian Youth Orchestra between 1989 and 1992, and led the second violin section on numerous occasions, including tours to North and South America, and Indonesia. She joined the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra in 1993, and was appointed to a position in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra the following year.

Emma Hayes received a Sydney Symphony Friends Scholarship in 1997, and travelled to London, where she studied with David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music. 

She has also worked with numerous orchestras throughout Australia, including the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.   Emma Hayes has played with a number of chamber music groups including the Sydney Symphony’s Music for Spring Series, and the Sydney Soloists. She has also acted in the position of Assistant Principal Second violin.

Shuti Huang: Second Violin

Following the completion of his music studies at China’s prestigious Shanghai Conservatorium, Shuti Huang came to Australia in 1980 under an Australia-China Council Scholarship. He undertook further studies at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music and obtained his Postgraduate Diploma in Music with Distinction from the University of Tasmania.

Shuti Huang has played in many Australian orchestras including The Queensland Orchestra, with whom he toured to China, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, and the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra.

From 1985 to 1988, Shuti Huang was a principal violin in the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1986, he was the Hong Kong representative to the World Philharmonic Orchestra in Brazil, under the baton of Maestro Lorin Maazel.

He was a member of the Adelaide Chamber Orchestra, concertmaster of the Hong Kong Camerata, soloist with the Tasmanian Chamber Players, a principal violinist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and a founding member of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. Shuti Huang has given many solo performances on RTHK, ABC Classic FM, and Sydney 2MBS-FM.

Shuti Huang has also performed as concertmaster and soloist with several community orchestras including the East-West Orchestra, the Balmain Symphonia, and more recently, the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra and the North Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He is also involved with music education, tutoring regularly for the Sydney Youth Orchestra and leading classes at various music camps. 

Shuti Huang became a permanent member of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 1989.

Benjamin Li: Second Violin

Benjamin Li was born in 1959 in Beijing, China. He started playing the violin at the age of 10 and entered the Beijing Music School when he was 13 years old. After his graduation in 1977, Benjamin Li joined the Beijing Art Ensemble as Principal First violinist, and performed as a soloist for seven years.

While working with the Beijing Art Ensemble, Benjamin Li undertook further study with Professor Lin Yoaji at the Central Conservatorium of Music for four years with the financial assistance of the Beijing Art Ensemble. In 1981 he completed his Bachelor’s degree at the Central Conservatorium. In 1984 Benjamin Li joined the First Violin section of the Central Philharmonic Orchestra of China. In 1987 the orchestra undertook a 24-city tour of the USA, as well as tours to Hong Kong and Macau.

Benjamin Li migrated to Australia in 1988 and joined the National Ensemble of Sydney. In 1989 he joined the West Australian Symphony Orchestra as a rank and file violin player, before taking up a position as Associate Concertmaster of the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra. He also plays first violin with the Brahms String Quartet.

Benjamin Li joined the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 1990.

Stan Kornel: Second Violin

Stan Kornel began his violin studies with Josette Esquidin-Morgan and then Ernest Llewelyn at the Canberra School of Music. From 1969 to 1983 he studied at the Bydgoszcz Conservatorium of Music and later at the Academy of Music in Lódz (Poland) where he received his Masters Degree and Diploma with Distinction, studying with Zenon Ploszaj.

During his early studies he obtained a bronze medal in the Henryk Wieniawski International Young Violinist competition and placed second in the Pomerania Violin Competition. He formed a student chamber orchestra and held leading positions with the Pomeranian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Torun Chamber Orchestra, and the TV/Radio Symphony Orchestra in Lódz.

From 1983 to1985, he was a senior lecturer at the Torun Conservatorium of Music before moving to Italy, where he worked at La Scala, the Verona Amphitheatre Summer Festival and Teatro la Fenice in Venice. He also formed two string quartets and performed Vivaldi concertos at the Santa Maria della Pietà in Venice.

In 1987 he returned to Australia where he worked with a number of Sydney based orchestras before joining the SSO in1988.

Stan Kornel has taught at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and other Sydney institutions, as well as tutoring youth orchestras and giving masterclasses. He has performed with the Sydney Bach Ensemble, Bicentenary Trio, Gallery Players Ensemble and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, given recitals in Canberra and Sydney, and recorded music by Dulcie Holland, Derek Strahan and Alan Holley.

Stan Kornel studied baroque violin and viola d’amore with Catherine MacIntosh and Sigiswald Kuijken. In 1996 he founded The Sydney Consort, an early music ensemble with which he has toured extensively and recorded five CDs.  

Philippa Paige: Second Violin

Philippa Paige began her musical studies in Sydney and was a scholarship student with Robert Pikler at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. After graduating, she continued her studies with Bela Katona and Eli Goren in London, and completed a Licentiate in Teaching at the Royal Academy of Music. In London, she participated in masterclasses with Igor Ozim, Sándor Végh, Philipp Naegele, Kato Havas, Edouard Melkus and Nannie Jamieson, and with Gerald Fischbach in the USA.

Philippa Paige joined the Sydney Symphony in 1986 having worked for some years as a freelance violinist with a number of London orchestras and chamber ensembles, and as a member of the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra in Spain. In Australia she has appeared as a guest with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra and Sydney Alpha Ensemble. She is a regular performer at the Kowmung Music Festival at Oberon and is involved in the artistic management of the festival.

Philippa Paige teaches at the Sydney Conservatorium and is currently the String Advisor to the AMEB in NSW. She presents masterclasses, lectures and workshops and has worked extensively as tutor and advisor to organisations such as the Sydney and Australian youth orchestras.

She has a particular interest in the areas of string teacher training and curriculum design and has recently completed a Masters degree in Music Education. She has collaborated with a number of Australia’s leading composers, including the editing and promotion of their works. Philippa Paige received the 1999 Australian Music Centre Education Award for her publication of Australian Violin Music: Concert Pieces (Currency Press).

Biyana Rozenblit: Second Violin

Biyana Rozenblit was born in Odessa, Ukraine, and began playing the violin at the age of 7 as well as taking piano lessons. At the age of 15, she won the string section of the All-Ukranian Music Schools competition. She was accepted into the Stolyarsky State Music School in 1968 and continued her studies with Professor Veniamin Z. Mordkovich. She finished high school in 1972 and attended the Azerbaijan Conservatorium of Music where she studied with Professor Azad Aliev. She won a number of competitions during her studies and led the Conservatorium Chamber Orchestra for two years. She graduated in 1977 and was awarded her diploma with distinction.

Biyana Rozenblit’s first professional engagement was with the Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra in the country’s capital, Baku. She returned to Odessa in 1978 and worked at the Odessa Musical Theatre where she was appointed leader of the orchestra in 1980.

Biyana Rozenblit moved to Australia in 1984 and was appointed to the Second Violin section of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 1985. She is also active as a chamber musician, and is a permanent member of the Leonora Ensemble, a group that performs both classical and folk repertoire, with an emphasis on Klezmer music. Biyana Rozenblit also acts as a mentor to players in the SBS Youth Orchestra and she participates in the Sydney Symphony’s educational programs.