Who is your biggest inspiration?
Joshua Batty: A tough one, but I think anyone who knew them would have no dispute in saying it has to be my recently passed grandparents. As many grandparents are, they were so supportive, honest, warm and real. They were massive supporters of classical music, and though they weren't musicians themselves, they were always my toughest critics! I'll be eternally grateful for all they did for me.

What other hobbies and creative pursuits do you have?
I try ('try' being the operative word!) to keep fit either by running and exploring Sydney and the Blue Mountains, or at the gym. Other things range from studying psychology, drawing, being an avid supporter of Netflix and trying to keep our hilarious boxer puppy (Mr G) under some semblance of control.

If you could invite three people to dinner, who would it be and why?
Whitney Houston, Pablo Picasso and Jacqueline du Pré because they move me the most in their respective art forms.

What's one piece of advice that you were given and still carry with you to this day?
Don't dwell on the mistakes, just make the next thing you do twice as committed to make up for it! I try and apply this to concerts but also my life, again 'try' being the operative word!

What’s your all-time favourite classical piece?
Cliché though this answer may be, I don't really have one. Of course, I have composers and works that hit me more profoundly, but I find it all so contextual. The conductor, the interpretation, the performance, the hall, the sense of unity as an ensemble etc. If I had to select one without too much thought it would be Adagio from Mahler's Ninth Symphony, his incomplete Tenth Symphony or Hindemith's Mathis der Maler.