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Best suited to Years 7–12, our Open Rehearsals invite students into the heart of the Sydney Symphony’s creative process. These sessions offer a unique opportunity to observe how a conductor shapes the music with the Orchestra and how musicians collaborate to bring a performance to life. 

Open Rehearsals are approximately 60-90 minutes subject to rehearsal requirements. Please note repertoire and duration are at the discretion of the conductor. 

Possible repertoire to include

Elena KATS-CHERNIN

Wild Swans: Suite 

TCHAIKOVSKY

Violin Concerto 

SIBELIUS

Symphony No.5 

Artists

Eva Ollikainen

Conductor

With her elegant, expressive body language, natural stage presence and infectious musicality, Eva Ollikainen is one of the leading conductors of our time. She has held previous positions as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, and Chief Conductor of the Nordic Chamber Orchestra.

The 2026/2027 season sees Ollikainen debut with the New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra Washington, Bamberger Symphoniker, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and Singapore Symphony Orchestra, among others. She also returns Los Angeles Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Wiener Symphoniker, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and Warsaw Philharmonic, alongside further international engagements.

Highlights from recent seasons include debuts and appearances with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Münchner Philharmoniker, WDR Sinfonieorchester, SWR Symphonieorchester, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and NHK Symphony Orchestra. She also returned to the BBC Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and led the Iceland Symphony Orchestra on their European tour. In the opera house, Ollikainen has conducted at the Staatsoper Berlin, Semperoper Dresden, Royal Danish Opera, Kungliga Operan Stockholm, Finnish National Opera, and Gothenburg Opera.

Curious about contemporary music, Eva Ollikainen has performed a wide range of repertoire with the Iceland Symphony during her tenure as Chief Conductor. In April 2026, Ollikainen and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra released Arvo Pärt: Complete Symphonies on Chandos to critical acclaim. In 2023, Ollikainen and the orchestra also released Anna Thorvaldsdottir's ARCHORA / AIŌN on Sono Luminus; the album was selected as part of The New York Times’ ‘Best Classical Music Albums of 2023’ and The Boston Globe's ‘10 best classical albums of the year’.

A former student of Leif Segerstam and Jorma Panula at the Sibelius Academy, Ollikainen won the Jorma Panula Conducting Competition at the age of 21. Today, the support of young musicians is close to her heart. She teaches regularly at the Sibelius Academy and leads masterclasses at the Fiskars Summer Festival, NordiskCommentHighlight Dirigentforum, and institutions such as the Peabody Institute, Royal Danish Academy of Music, and Universität der Künste Berlin. She founded the Iceland Symphony‘s Conducting Academy in 2021.


Eva Ollikainen

Inmo Yang

Violin

Inmo Yang is a violinist of rare depth and poetic insight, recognized internationally for his beguiling sound, emotional precision, and unwavering technical prowess. Hailed by The Boston Globe for his ‘seamless technique and a tender warmth of tone,’ Yang has emerged as one of the most distinctive violinists of his time.

Launching the season on a high note with his sold-out BBC Proms debut with Marie Jacquot and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the 2025/26 season sees several debut appearances with Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Münchner Symphoniker, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, SWR Symphonieorchester, Taipei Symphony Orchestra and Macao Orchestra.

During this season, he returns to BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Festival Strings Lucerne for a subscription debut following their successful Asia tour a year prior, as well as Carnegie Hall for chamber music concert with Kirill Gerstein.

Yang’s solo career has brought him to major stages around the world, performing with the New York Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Dresdner Philharmonie, Berliner Barock Solisten on tour, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra among others. He has collaborated with many of today’s most esteemed conductors, including Marin Alsop, Myung-whun Chung, Roberto Gonzales-Monjas, Hannu Lintu, Tianyi Lu, Fabio Luisi, Jonathan Nott, Sakari Oramo, Kristiina Poska, John Storgårds, Osmo Vänskä and Jaap van Zweden.

He first captured global attention by winning the 2015 Premio Paganini Competition in Genoa—the first prize awarded since 2006—where he also received special distinctions for best performance of a contemporary piece and audience favourite. In 2022, he further solidified his standing with the First Prize at the Jean Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki.

Inmo released his second Deutsche Grammophon album The Genetics of Strings in 2021. His debut album – 24 Caprices by N. Paganini – was recorded live as part of the Kumho Art Hall residency and released under the same label in 2019.

Inmo studied with Namyoon Kim at Korea National University of Arts, Miriam Fried at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and Antje Weithaas both at Kronberg Academy and Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, where he currently resides in.

Inmo Yang plays a violin made by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù in Cremona in 1743, known as the ‘Carrodus,’ on generous loan from a member of the Stretton Society.


Inmo Yang

Nina Korbe

Soprano

Award-winning soprano, Nina Korbe, is quickly establishing herself as one of Australia’s leading young sopranos.

She has been praised for her creamy tone, brilliant top notes and sensitive performances – which continue to delight critics and audiences.

Nina received her Bachelor of Music (with Distinction) from the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University and her Master of Arts (Performance - with Distinction) from the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Performance highlights throughout her studies included Arminda (La finta giardiniera), Héro (Béatrice et Bénédict), Ilia (Idomeneo) and Little Miss Manifest in the world premiere of Freya Walley Cohen’s Witch.

Nina has started 2026 starring in Vic Opera’s production of The Pirates of Penzance and appearing as the titular Drover’s Wife in the momentous world premiere of the new opera The Drover’s Wife the Opera by Leah Purcell, co-produced by OA and QPAC.

In 2025, Nina was seen as Young Heidi in Follies for Victorian Opera, Musetta in La bohème for Opera Queensland, Tina in Flight for State Opera South Australia, as Soloist for OQ’s Festival of Outback Opera, Pearls for Southern Cross Soloists, QSO’s Cinematic: The Oscars, Opera Australia’s NYE Gala and much more.

In 2024, Nina made her Opera Australia début as Maria in West Side Story and as Lisette in Puccini’s La rondine for Victorian Opera and appeared as Mabel in Prospero Arts’ production of The Pirates of Penzance at Queensland Performing Arts Centre. She was Artist in Residence for Queensland Youth Orchestras from 2023-2025 and in this capacity, she has sung Ravel’s Shéhérazade at the Musikverein in Vienna, Stiftung Mozarteum in Salzburg and Laieszhalle in Hamburg.

For Opera Queensland (OQ), she has appeared in their productions of La bohème, Die Fledermaus, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Peter Grimes and Verdi's Requiem. In concert, she has been engaged as soloist by Camerata Chamber Orchestra, Queensland Ballet, Southern Cross Soloists, Opera Queensland, Queensland Pops Orchestra and the Goldner String Quartet. In 2023 and 2024, Nina was a scholar with Melba Opera Trust as the recipient of the Ruskin Opera Scholarship.

As a proud Koa, Kuku Yalanji, Wakka Wakka woman, she is actively involved in the championing of First Nations Voices; Nina serve as the First Nations advisor to the Australian Music Foundation, as an advisor to the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, and is a board observer to Australian Women in Music.

Nina Korbe