Sydney Symphony Fellowship 2010

Mariana Green, violin

Mariana Green lives in Sydney, where she performs with ensembles such as the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Sydney Philharmonia, and the ARCO Chamber Orchestra.
Following six years of study with Alice Waten at the Australian Institute of Music, she graduated with a Masters degree in 2004. As a student she was a member of the Sydney Sinfonia and participated in the Australian National Academy of Music Master Course program. In 2005 she attended the Mozarteum International Summer Academy in Salzburg, where she studied with Igor Ozim and Pierre Amoyal, then moved to New York City to study with Joey Corpus.
She attended the 2007 Aspen Music Festival and School, where she studied with Cornelia Heard and David Perry, performed with the Aspen Chamber Symphony, and received chamber music coaching with members of the American String Quartet. Her quartet was invited to perform in the festival’s chamber music series. Soon after, she won a fellowship with the New World Symphony, led by Michael Tilson Thomas. During this time she also received lessons and attended masterclasses with members of the leading American orchestras. Mariana Green continues her studies with Janet Davies and the support of long-time mentor violinist Jemima Littlemore.

Claire Herrick, violin

Born in England, Claire Herrick took up violin at the age of seven. She has studied with Alice Waten since 2004, having previously studied with John Harding, William Hennessy and Julian Quirit. She graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2006, continued her studies in the Advanced Performance Program at the Australian National Academy of Music, and is currently undertaking postgraduate studies at the Sydney Conservatorium. Last year she participated in masterclasses with Dora Schwartzberg at the Mozarteum summer school in Salzburg.
At 15 she won a Melbourne Symphony Young Artist Award, and the many scholarships, prizes and awards she has won since include the 2009 Hephzibah Menuhin Memorial Award and the Santalucia Property Group prize in the 2007 Australian Concerto and Vocal Competition.
She has appeared as a soloist with the Frankston, Preston and VCA symphony orchestras, and in 2008 performed as guest artist with the Melbourne Musicians Orchestra. Her recital and chamber music performances include the National Gallery of Victoria and Art Gallery of NSW, as well as broadcasts on 3MBS FM and ABC Classic FM.
She has performed with Chamber Music Australia and the MSO Orchestral Project, led the VCA chamber and symphony orchestras, appeared several times as concertmaster of the Sydney Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra, and worked with the Victorian Opera Orchestra.

Arabella Bozic, viola

Arabella Bozic completed a Bachelor of Music degree at the Sydney Conservatorium, studying with Roger Benedict. She is currently a casual member of the Sydney, Melbourne and Tasmanian symphony orchestras.
She began learning violin at the age of three, and at the age of 14 began studying viola as well. Her teacher for both instruments was John Speer. In her HSC year (2005) she studied viola with Anne-Louise Comerford and violin with Christopher Kimber. In 2008, two merit scholarships enabled her to take lessons at the Royal Academy of Music and Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Last year she attended the Australian String Academy to study with Nobuko Imai.
She has played in the Sydney Conservatorium Early Music Ensemble and as principal viola with the symphony and chamber orchestras. Since 2008 she has also played with the Sydney Sinfonia and Australian Youth Orchestra, and has participated in the AYO’s Orchestral Fellowships (MSO and TSO), Classical Style Workshop (Geoffrey Lancaster), National Music Camp and Chamber Music Camp (Anthony Marwood).
She has participated in chamber music masterclasses with the Goldner String Quartet, Grainger String Quartet, New Zealand String Quartet, Hermitage String Trio and St Lawrence String Quartet, and attended the 2007 Australian Festival of Chamber Music Winter School in Townsville.

Maike-Karoline Drabe, viola

Maike-Karoline Drabe was born in Cologne, Germany, and moved with her family to Sydney as a child. She began studying viola at the age of 14, having previously studied violin and piano, and attended the Sydney Conservatorium High School, where she received lessons from Mark Lakirovitch and Alex Todicescu.
In 2001 she began a performance degree at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, studying with Anne-Louise Comerford. She continued her degree in Germany at the Hochschule fur Musik, Cologne, with Professor Matthias Buchholz before completing her degree in 2007 at the Hoogeschool Zuyd, Conservatorium Maastricht in Holland, studying with Mikhail Kugel. During her studies participated in summer courses and masterclasses given by Oleg Llev, Igor Sulyga (Kopelmann Quartet), Garth Lubbe (Gewandhaus Orchestra), Gerhard Dierig (Gürzenich Orchester), Sebastian Burger (Essen Philharmoniker) and the Incanto Ensemble.
Maike-Karoline Drabe has performed with the SBS Youth Orchestra, International Youth Orchestra and Oviedo Symphony Orchestra (Spain), Ahrensburger Kammerorchester, German Youth Orchestra, Junge Kammeroper Koln, Cologne New Philharmonic, Kolner Klassik Ensemble, Klassische Philharmonie Bonn and Eminence Symphony Orchestra. She has performed in Great Britain, Denmark, Holland, Germany and China, and made numerous broadcasts and recordings with SBS and West German Radio (WDR).

William Hewer, cello

William Hewer began studying cello with Catherin Gibney at the age of seven, through a scholarship at Sydney’s Scots College. His teachers since have included Sue Pickering and Sue-Ellen Paulsen (Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra). In 2009 he graduated from the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music, where he studying with Uzi Wiesel (Tel Aviv String Quartet) and was awarded a String Scholarship.
He has participated in many festivals and camps, including the Australian Youth Orchestra's National Music Camp and the Australian String Academy, as well as lessons and masterclasses with cellists such as Timothy Eddy, Joel Krosnick, Pieter Wispelway, Alban Gerhardt, Li Wei and David Soyer.
His competition successes include second prize in the Gordon Prizes for Excellence in Chamber Music and finalist in the 2007 Musica Viva Chamber Music Prize, and he was a recitalist in the 2006 National Youth Concerto Competition. In 2007 and 2008 he was a finalist in the Nelson Meers Scholarship of the McDonalds Performing Arts Challenge (now Sydney Eisteddfod), he won the Nelle Ashdown Memorial Award in 2006, 2007 and 2008. He has also performed in broadcasts on Edge Radio and ABC Classic FM.

Josef Bisits, double bass

Following his early training in piano and trumpet, Josef Bisits took up the double bass at the age of 14, studying with Paul Laszlo. After playing with various ensembles in Newcastle, he joined the Sydney Youth Orchestra and participated in the Australian Youth Orchestra’s Young Symphonists and National Music Camp programs in 2006. That same year he won the SYO’s concerto competition, which led to a concert performance of Serge Koussevitzky’s double bass concerto.
In 2007 he began a Bachelor of Music degree at the Sydney Conservatorium, studying with Alex Henery, and continued as Principal Bass of the Sydney Youth Orchestra. Since 2008 he has held the Corinna d’Hage Mayer string scholarship and has performed with the Sydney Sinfonia and Australian Youth Orchestra, as well as playing as a guest musician with the Sydney Symphony.

Alexandra Carson, clarinet

Alexandra Carson began her music studies at the Sydney Conservatorium at the age of eight. Throughout high school she studied clarinet with Christopher Tingay. She is completing a performance degree at the Sydney Conservatorium, studying with Francesco Celata. In 2007 she was invited to join the Golden Key Honour Society, an organisation for outstanding academic achievement in Australian universities.
She has played as a guest musician of the Sydney Symphony and as a member of the Sydney Sinfonia since 2007 and of the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra since 2008. She has also played with the Australian Youth Orchestra since 2006 and in 2007 she was principal clarinet in the Sydney Youth Orchestra. Also in 2007, she was a finalist in the Sydney Conservatorium and SYO concerto competitions. In 2008 a Big Brother Scholarship enabled her to study with Andrew Marriner and Antony Pay in England. She has also participated in masterclasses with Peter Schmidl, David Bourque, Peter Jenkin and Paul Dean.
Alexandra Carson has also performed extensively as a singer, appearing in the Opera Australia children’s chorus, as a member of Australia’s leading children’s choirs, and with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Sydney and Melbourne symphony orchestras.

Chloe Turner, bassoon

Chloe Turner began learning bassoon at Toorak College in 2000.  After secondary school she received a full scholarship to study with Brock Imison at the University of Melbourne, completing her Bachelor of Music degree with honours in 2008. Since 2006 she has participated in numerous Australian Youth Orchestra programs, and was the AYO Principal Bassoon in 2008. That same year she was a prize winner in the Sydney Double Reed Competition. For the past four years, she has enjoyed the support of the Tallis Foundation, a bursary fund administered by the Peninsula Music Society for the benefit of gifted young musicians. She is currently a student of Elise Millman at the Australian National Academy of Music, where she is enjoying the opportunity to develop as a soloist. Chloe Turner performs regularly with the Melbourne and Tasmanian symphony orchestras.

Francesco Lo Surdo, horn

Francesco Lo Surdo began playing the French horn at the age of nine. As a student at the Newtown High School of the Performing Arts, he took part in a number of youth orchestras and ensemble programs including the Performing Arts Unit ensembles and the Sydney Youth Orchestra.
Since his time studying with Ben Jacks at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, he has appeared with the Australian Youth Orchestra, Sydney Sinfonia, Sydney Symphony, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra.
In 2008, he held a rank and file contract with the Queensland Orchestra for 13 months. He was also invited to take part in the Bayreuth Young Artists Festival in Germany. Last year, in addition to completing his performance degree, Francesco Lo Surdo played with the Australian Chamber Orchestra on their November national tour.