Eminence is a new and vibrant orchestra comprised of roughly 60 elite musicians. These musicians have come from many other established Symphony Orchestras such as Chen Gu who is presently Acting Associate Concertmaster at the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and other musicians who have worked with Australian Chamber Orchestra, Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and the list goes on. Many have performed as International Soloist with major orchestras around the world including the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, all major Chinese Eastern Coast Orchestras, all major Australian Orchestras and major U.S. Orchestras and features section leaders include the renown Australian cello pedagogue Georg Pederson who have given over 3,000 solo performances. Key Members of Eminence include:

Philip Chu - Conductor

Born in Hong Kong, Philip Chu is currently completing a Masters degree in conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, under the tutelage of Imre Pallo. He currently holds the post of assistant chorusmaster of the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Since his appointment in July this year, Philip has already worked with many international conductors including Charles Dutoit and Gianluigi Gelmetti, preparing the choir in works by Adams, Bach, Berlioz and Beethoven. Apart from his position at Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Philip is also musical director/conductor of the Georgian Singers, St Aloysius Symphony Orchestra and Eminence Symphony Orchestra, as well as associate conductor of Beethoven Society of Australia and assistant chorusmaster of Willoughby Symphony Orchestra and Choir. He has been guest/assistant conductor for Sydney Chamber Choir, Strathfield Symphony Orchestra, Sydney University Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Conservatorium Choirs, Macquarie University Singers, Taverner Consort and Leichhardt Espresso Chorus.

As a singer, Philip is a current member of Cantillation, Pinchgut Opera and the choir of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. He has also sung with leading ensembles including the Song Company, Sydney Chamber Choir, Christ Church St. Laurence and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.

Philip has prepared an extensive range of music for different ensembles including Orff’s Carmina Burana, Fauré’s Requiem, Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Handel’s Messiah, J S Bach’s Mass in B minor and Cantata BWV 140 (Willoughby Symphony and Choir), Vivaldi’s Gloria, Mozart’s Requiem, Poulenc’s Gloria (Beethoven Society of Australia) Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an exhibition, Mozart’s Clarinet concerto (Sydney University Symphony Orchestra).

Earlier in July this year, Philip was co-conductor in the highly successful World of John Williams concert, with Eminence Symphony Orchestra in the Sydney Town Hall. This was a follow up to his performances in their 2004 launch concerts featuring music from Studio Ghibli and the computer game, Final Fantasy. He also recently conducted Cantillation in a recording of music for the score of a forthcoming film starring Toni Collette.

Later this year, Philip will conduct Handel’s Messiah in the Sydney Town Hall, featuring the 500 voices of the combined church choir and SBS youth orchestra, as well as performances with Sydney Symphony, Musica Viva, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Pinchgut Opera and the Georgian singers.

Hiroaki Yura (Concertmaster, Solo Violin)

A violin virtuoso, Hiroaki Yura has performed as a soloist with most of the major Chinese Orchestras including the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and debuted in Japan with the Nippon Symphony Orchestra.

He is the winner of the 7th Etoh Toshiya International Violin Competition for Young Violinists and a prize winner with the Gisbourne International Music Competition in New Zealand. He is a recipient of a scholarship to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Alexey Yemtsov (Solo Pianist)

Born in Pavlograd, Ukraine in November 1982, Alexey began piano lessons at the age of seven. Alexey has won numerous awards in the International Piano Competitions including First Prize winner of the First Horowitz International Piano Competition and the Prokofiev International Piano Competition. He has performed in many major cities in the United States, Russia and China amongst many others and even has experience playing for the ex-U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1995. In March 2000, he successfully auditioned for the Sydney International Piano Competition reaching the semi-finals. Since then, he has continued touring extensively throughout Australia with the sponsorship and support of Theme & Variations Piano Services. Winner of Vladimir Horowitz International Competition and Prokofieff Competition.