Philip Chu

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

The gregarious violin virtuoso has performed as a soloist to great acclaim in many of the worlds leading concert halls. His concerto appearances include the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the Nippon Symphony Orchestra.

He has participated in many international violin competitions and is the winner of the 7th Etoh Toshiya International Violin Competition for Young Violinists and a prize-winner with the Gisborne International Music Competition in New Zealand. Hiroaki is currently studying under Professor Zhang as a scholarship student at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.




TaikOz

Formed in 1997, TaikOz has risen to become one of Australia's most exciting and energetic drumming groups.

The group has performed at the Bangkok International Festival of Music and Dance, the Melbourne International Festival, the Adelaide Fringe Festival and Sydney Opera House.

TaikOz has played with Japan's greatest solo taiko player - Eitetsu Hayashi and have featured throughout the years with Sydney Festivals as well as a solo performance with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and toured with Musica Viva.

"a uniquely Australian approach to Japanese traditional music"
- Sydney Morning Herald

"a concert of stunning energy, visual delight, and powerful, pounding, magical sounds...
thunder has a new name, and it is TaikOz"
- CityHub

"One of the most extraordinary moments of the Sydney Festival...the very rhythm of life"
- Sun Herald

"high energy action... hand and drumstick seem almost to melt into each other in a perfect synergy of man and instrument"
- The Australian

Shakuhachi Grand Master Riley Lee

Riley Lee began playing the Japanese bamboo flute in 1971. He is the recipient of two of the oldest and most venerated lineages of traditional shakuhachi that is traced back to the Zen Buddhist komuso, or "priests of nothingness" of Japan's Edo period. Riley is the first non-Japanese to be honoured the rank of dai shihan or Grand Master.

He has toured internationally and his meditative music has been used in yoga and tai chi classes and acupuncture worldwide.

"[Lee's] sound is so astonishingly pure:
it aches with the sadness of loss and the sadness of wisdom,
pulses with the joy of being alive and whispers of an elegance almost too exotic to be true."
- Sydney Morning Herald

"Affecting, moving, admirable, the performing techniques involved,
especially the breath control, defy belief".
- International Herald Tribune

"He is, by any standards, a remarkable musician with an amazing command of fractional inflections of tones, achieved with a wide range of finger and breath attacks on every note."
"... Beautifully evocative sounds".
- Sydney Morning Herald

"Lee could serve as any performer's model in his ability to capture the attention
of his audience immediately and straightforwardly".
- The Australian