Geoff Wilson’s business experience spans more than 30 years and extends across a range of sectors and leadership roles. Geoff was a Partner at KPMG from 1990 to 2017. He served as CEO for KPMG Australia from 2008 to 2013 and COO for KPMG Asia Pacific from 2013 to 2017, based in Hong Kong. Geoff became a Partner of KPMG US from 1997-2000 while based in Silicon Valley. Other roles included Head of Audit and Risk for Australia and Asia Pacific and member of the Global Audit Leadership. During his time in Hong Kong Geoff was also a member of the KPMG Asia Pacific Board and Executive Committee and worked closely with KPMG’s global leadership team.

An active leader in the not-for-profit sector, Geoff has led many initiatives advocating for change. As a founding member of Male Champions of Change – a collective committed to advancing gender equality across the country through women’s representation in leadership, talent development, and accountability, Geoff has helped raise the issue of women’s representation to the national agenda. He is also Director of Future Generation Global (FGG) – Australia’s first listed investment company providing Australian investors access to global equities and funding social investments in charities supporting youth in crises and youth mental health.

His championing of social issues has also extended across several other key areas as an Ambassador of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation, and as a Board member of Jawun and the Sydney Festival.

Geoff currently serves as a Director of HSBC Australia, TOLL Group, Nanosonics and ipSCAPE.

Geoff became Chair of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in May 2021, having joined the Orchestra’s Board in July 2019.

Andrew Baxter is one of Australia’s most trusted marketing and communications advisors.

He has worked with many of Australia's largest companies, brands and government bodies over two decades at Y&R, Ogilvy and Publicis, the latter two agencies as their CEO. Andrew is now a Senior Advisor to both KPMG and BGH Capital, and the Adjunct Professor of Marketing at the University of Sydney.

Andrew is Chair of The Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation, Tjapukai, and Deakin Business School, and is a Director of Australian Pork.

Andrew holds a Bachelor of Business in Marketing from Monash University, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute, as well as the winner of Australian Marketing Institute's Sir Charles McGrath Award for his significant contribution to the field of marketing.

He is a keen supporter of Sydney Symphony Orchestra Vanguard and has been a member of the initiative since it was founded in 2012.

Geoff Ainsworth is a committed philanthropist, with decades of support across the arts, the community and the environment.

His passion for music has led to the creation of significant new works by composers including Carl Vine, Paul Stanhope and John Adams.

Geoff is a past Director of the Bundanon Trust and a past Trustee of the Art Gallery of NSW. He is a member of the Tate International Council and a patron of the MCA and the Royal Academy of Arts.

Geoff holds a Bachelor of Arts with honours from UNSW, a Master of Arts in Counselling from Macquarie University and a Diploma in Financial Administration from UNE. In 2011, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the visual and performing arts through the promotion and support of contemporary art, and to the community.

William Barton is Australia’s leading didgeridoo player as well as composer, instrumentalist and vocalist.

William first learnt the instrument from his uncle, Arthur Peterson, an elder of the Wannyi, Lardil and Kalkadunga people and was working from an early age with traditional dance groups and fusion/rock jazz bands, orchestras, string quartets, and mixed ensembles.

Throughout his diverse career he has forged a path in the classical musical world, from the London, Berlin and Bremer Philharmonic Orchestras to historic events at Westminster Abbey for Commonwealth Day 2019, at Anzac Cove in Gallipoli and for the Beijing Olympics.

William holds honorary doctorates from both Griffith University and the University of Sydney, has released five albums on the ABC Classics label including HEARTLAND, released in 2022, with Véronique Serret and the words of William’s mother, Aunty Delmae Barton. William has been developing a new musical language, which is epitomised in this record.

William was named Queensland Australian of the Year for 2023, putting him in the running for Australian of the Year 2023. In 2022 he was recognised for his work with the Australian Chamber Orchestra for the soundtrack from the film “River”, winning two Screen Music Awards, an ARIA award and AACTA award.

His other awards include the prestigious Don Banks Music Award from the Australia Council in 2021, Winner of Best Original Score for a Mainstage Production at the 2018 Sydney Theatre Awards and Winner of Best Classical Album with an ARIA for Birdsong At Dusk in 2012.

With his prodigious musicality and building on his Kalkadunga heritage, William has vastly expanded the horizons of the didgeridoo.

William joined the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors in 2023.

Brian Abel Chair

Born in the Netherlands, Kees Boersma graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts before returning to the Netherlands to study at the Sweelinck Conservatorium, Amsterdam. He then worked with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra for two years, performing at the Salzburg Festival, BBC Proms, and on tours to Montreux, Lucerne, Paris, Vienna and Berlin. Returning to Australia, he performed as principal with the State Orchestra of Victoria and Australian Chamber Orchestra, before joining the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as Principal Double Bass.

He was a founding member of contemporary music group ELISION, with whom he has recorded several CDs and toured Italy and Germany, including performances at the Ultraschall Festival in Berlin. He also performs with the Sydney Soloists, and appears regularly with the Australia Ensemble. In 2004, he performed Schubert's Trout Quintet and Brett Dean's Voices of Angels with the Australia Ensemble during a national tour for Musica Viva. He also appeared in the inaugural Melbourne Spoleto Festival, performing chamber music with Joshua Bell, Colin Carr and Carter Brey. His musical interests include contemporary music and the solo double bass repertory of 18th-century Vienna, and in his solo appearances with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra he has performed Bright's Double Bass Concerto, Dittersdorf's Divertimento for viola and double bass, and Bottesini's Concerto for two double basses. In 2013 he gave the premiere performances of Mary Finsterer's double bass concerto, Lake Ice, commissioned by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Kees Boersma plays a double bass made by John Lott Snr (London, c.1810).

John & Jane Morschel Chair

Rosemary Curtin has been a member of the Sydney Symphony’s Viola section since 2014 and is an alumna of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Fellowship program.

Rosemary began her music studies on the violin at the age of four with the Suzuki method. She changed to the viola when she entered the Sydney Conservatorium High School, studying with Winifred Durie and was the recipient of numerous scholarships from organisations including the Queen’s Trust, the Big Brother Movement and the Australian Youth Orchestra.

Rosemary has over twenty five years’ experience working as an orchestral musician. Her professional career commenced in Europe working with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields following graduate studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich.

After returning to Australia, Rosemary held the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Viola Fellowship in 2003 and pursued an active freelance career with other Australian orchestras, including the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Opera Australia Orchestra and the Australian World Orchestra before joining the viola section of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as a permanent member. In June 2017 she represented the orchestra performing with the New York Philharmonic in their Global Orchestra Project.

Rosemary’s enduring interest in orchestral management also began with work and studies in Europe. She has been deeply involved with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Musicians’ Association (SSOMA), serving as its President for six years, and Vice-President for the year prior to that, during which time she sat on the Executive of Symphony Orchestra Musicians’ Association (SOMA), the national body for Australia’s professional orchestra musicians. She has also been a member of the Classical Music, Opera and Choral Artform Advisory Board for Create NSW. Rosemary holds a B.Mus (Syd), a Diploma in Management Studies from the University of Cambridge, UK and has graduated from the Australian Institute of Company Directors Course.

Rosemary plays on an A.E. Smith viola made in Sydney in 1930.

Susan Ferrier has been the National Australia Bank’s (NAB) Group Executive, People & Culture since October 2019.

Prior to NAB, Susan was National Managing Partner, People & Culture at KPMG Australia for six years before being promoted to Global Head of People for KPMG International, and she sat on the Global Management Team. Susan led the Global People & Culture agenda responsible for the people strategy for over 200,000 people across 155 countries.

Susan has over 35 years of international experience working with Boards and executive teams, including HSBC, Deutsche Bank, ING Barings and Barclays. She has worked for more than a decade in Chief Human Resources Officer roles.

Susan is a member of Chief Executive Women (cew.org.au) and World 50 (world50.com). In 2010, she was awarded the AHRI Dave Ulrich HR Leader of the Year and the AHRI Sir Ken Robinson Award for Workplace Flexibility. She is a Fellow of the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI).

Susan is a Board Member of the Committee for Sydney and the Financial Executives Institute of Australia (FEI). She is a former Board Director of The Royal Hospital for Women Foundation.

Susan holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney and an MBA from Nyenrode Business University, The Netherlands.

The Hon AJ (Tony) Meagher was a judge of the New South Wales Court of Appeal between 2011 and 2024.

Before his appointment he practised for many years as a barrister. He holds Degrees in Commerce and Law from the University of New South Wales and a Master of Laws from London University (London School of Economics). He and his wife, Fran, are enthusiastic supporters of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Kate is an experienced leader of enterprise risk management, governance and control consulting services to senior executives and boards across the public sector and large corporate organisations.

Kate is a Partner at KPMG Australia and currently leads the firm’s Governance, Risk and Controls practice in NSW as well as being the Sydney Geographic Lead for the Consulting division.

Over a career of 25 years, Kate has worked within government, investment banking, insurance and professional services. As a consultant her clients include State and Federal government agencies, universities, large listed and unlisted companies across the retail, technology and energy sectors, and not-for-profit entities.

Kate is an outspoken advocate for diversity and led the establishment of KPMG’s Disability Inclusion pillar in 2020. She is Chair of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Vanguard Collective, a young patrons membership program. Kate is a former Board Director of SHINE for Kids, which provides support to families with a parent in prison.

Kate has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the Australian National University and a Masters of Business Administration from Macquarie University.

Julie Sibraa has served at the highest levels of state and federal government over a two-decade period, including senior roles in the offices of a NSW Premier and Treasurer and, in 2022, a six-week contract in the office of the Prime Minister. Between the years 2019-2022 Julie served as Chief of Staff to the Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations and Shadow Minister for the Arts.

In her time away from working as a ministerial adviser, Julie spent two years as National Policy Manager with Infrastructure Partnerships Australia and also worked in strategic public affairs and government relations over several years.

Julie is deeply involved with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Limited and has served on its board, representing the Manly-Warringah Rugby League Football Club, for ten years. In addition, she is currently Chair of the Manly-Warringah Rugby Leagues Club.

Julie holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Sydney and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Julie currently advises the NSW Minister for Industrial Relations and Work, Health and Safety on a part-time basis.

Catherine brings more than 25 years of financial, operational and risk expertise.

Before joining Wollemi, Catherine had a 20 year career at Macquarie Group, most recently as Global CFO and Global COO for Macquarie Capital, which includes the group’s principal investing business. In that role she had global responsibility for financial planning and analysis, capital management, data, systems, non-financial risk and marketing and communications.

Prior to that Catherine performed various roles within Macquarie’s Financial Management Group, focusing primarily on supporting Macquarie Capital and what is now the Macquarie Asset Management Real Assets division. She was also Financial Controller of 2 listed infrastructure funds in Australia.

Catherine started her career in audit at PwC, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of Sydney.

She is a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

Craig Whitehead is recognised as one of the most experienced and successful arts managers in Australia.

In a career spanning 23 years, Craig has led arts organisations across theatre, opera, symphony orchestras, and has extensive experience managing performing arts venues. Craig joined the Sydney Symphony as Interim Chief Executive in December 2021. Previously he was the Chief Executive of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra from 2019 to 2021, Chief Executive of West Australian Symphony Orchestra and Chief Executive of WA Venue and Events (the operator of the Perth Concert Hall) from 2008 to 2018, Chief Executive of West Australian Opera from 2006 to 2008, and the General Manager of La Boite Theatre Company and the company’s venue the Roundhouse Theatre from 1998 to 2006.

Craig has also served as a Director on a number of industry and government boards and committees. He has previously been the Chair of Symphony Services International, and a Director of the Australian Major Performing Arts Group. He was a committee member of the National Cultural Committee of the Australia China Business Council, a director of industry training body, Future Now, Youth Arts Queensland, Brisbane Writers Festival, and was a committee member of the Brisbane City Council’s Music and Performing Arts Advisory Committee, and a member of the Queensland Department of State Development’s Creative Industries - Performing Arts Segment Group. Craig has a Bachelor of Arts from the Queensland University of Technology, a Graduate Diploma in Business from the Queensland University of Technology, an MBA from the University of South Australia and completed the Advanced Management Program at INSEAD Business School in 2015.